Story highlights Japanese lawmaker under fire for anti-LGBT stance

Sugita has made controversial comments in the past

(CNN) A Japanese politician has come under fire for questioning whether LGBT taxpayers should receive equal welfare benefits to the rest of Japan.

Lower House member Mio Sugita called gay couples "unproductive" and wondered whether it was "appropriate to spend taxpayer money on them" in a magazine article published last Wednesday.

Sugita, who belongs to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is no stranger to controversial statements.

She has previously denied the existence of comfort women, victim-blamed the leader of Japan's MeToo movement, and garners more than her fair share of media attention for a junior lawmaker, according to Temple University professor Jeff Kingston.

"Within the party, she's essentially a nobody," Kingston said. "But because of her prominent right-wing views, she gets a lot of media attention."

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