TOKYO, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- A 79-year-old assemblyman in Tokyo on Tuesday apologized for saying last month that his municipality in the capital would "cease to exist" if sexual minorities' rights are protected by law.

The apology from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Masateru Shiraishi came following a sizable public outcry comprising protests against the 11th term politician's remarks made last month.

"I sincerely apologize to all the people who were hurt by my remarks. I regret my actions and will make efforts to accept different sexualities from now on," Shiraishi said in an assembly session of Tokyo's Adachi Ward.

While a censure motion against Shiraishi submitted by opposition parties was voted down in the assembly, Shiraishi retracted remarks he made that could have been construed as blaming Japan's LGBT community for Japan's rapidly declining birthrate.

A demonstration of around 30 people was held before the assembly session against Shiraishi in front of the city office building. Almost 600 complaints were filed against the assemblyman over his gaffe.

Separate petitions and protests were also arranged by a number of different civic groups, with one international petition by an advocacy group garnering more than 30,000 signatures from 30 different countries around the world.

"As a person who was born and raised in Adachi Ward, I felt sad and disappointed when I first heard Shiraishi's remarks," Satoko Nagamura, a 38-year-old chairperson of Kodomap, an organization advocating for sexual minorities who wish to have children, was quoted as saying. Enditem

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