Skip to main content

New top story from Time: What Asia’s LGBTQ+ Movement Can Learn From Japan

https://ift.tt/31ykN3O

On Mar. 17, a district court in Sapporo, Japan ruled that the government’s failure to recognise same-sex marriage was “unconstitutional.” The court also found that the official view of marriage—as exclusively a union between “both sexes”—contravened constitutional commitments to equality for all Japanese.

Japan is the only G7 state without laws to prohibit discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, let alone laws to permit same-sex marriage. But the Sapporo judgment could well change this, heralding as it does a shift in Japanese society.

It also comes off the back of decades of perseverance from activists and allied politicians. The strategies, successes, and great patience of the LGBTQ+ movement in Japan offer a valuable glimpse into how queer activism can flourish in the socially conservative and culturally homogeneous societies of East Asia.

Three lessons can be drawn.

A gradual approach to LGBTQ+ rights pays off

First, an incrementalist approach can and does work in building critical political momentum for change. Instead of seeking to transform national attitudes and discourse at once, the Japanese movement strategically targeted local courts, and municipal governments, gradually pressing them for concessions and reforms.

In February 2015, for example, a new procedure was established in the Shibuya district in Tokyo by which same-sex couples could apply for proof-of-partnership documentation, granting members access to hospitalized partners and other shared benefits. The measure’s architect, local councillor Ken Hasebe, was inspired by San Francisco’s vibrant LGBTQ+ scene and Tokyo’s transgender community. Shibuya’s move was subsequently echoed in major cities across the country, such as Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Osaka, as well as in smaller communities.

Read more: Marriage Equality Comes to Taiwan in a Historic First for Asia

In the six years that have elapsed, the recognition of same-sex partnerships has become a salient political issue on the national level, aided by established parties seeking a more modern public image. The governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)—traditionally no friend to the LGBTQ+ cause—has substantially moderated its position, even if some accuse it of paying more than lip service.

In the 2016 elections, the party pledged to “promote understanding of sexual diversity” in its manifesto. This was a response to both international pressure on the country to improve civil rights in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics, as well as internal pressure from members frustrated by the LDP’s intransigence on social matters—among them Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. (She quit the LDP in 2017 and founded a new political party that incorporated LGBTQ+ progressivism into a platform that was otherwise conservative on social matters.)

JAPAN-RIGHTS-COURT-LGBT
JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty ImagesSupporters react to the Sapporo District Court’s decision that it is unconstitutional to not allow same-sex marriage in Sapporo, Hokkaido prefecture on Mar. 17, 2021.

LGBTQ+ progress in health, schools and employment

Secondly, the movement has benefited from its quiet focus on specific areas where consensus can be built—healthcare, education, and employment—while avoiding those guaranteed to alienate conservative voters, such as ideological assertions of gender identity and sexual orientation.

For one, pioneers in the movement framed trans rights as a public health issue in 1990s. Gender confirmation surgery was legalized in the late 1990s, as a “treatment” for gender dysphoria. Aya Kamiwaka, the first-elected Japanese trans politician, then successfully pushed for trans citizens to be permitted to change their gender in official registration documents, on the grounds that doing so would enable “broader recognition and support” for those who have undergone surgery.

Bullying in schools and universities has meanwhile been a long-standing issue in the country, where suicides on campuses are poignant reminders of the dearth of mental health support for vulnerable young people, LGBTQ+ youth among them. The death of a gay graduate student in 2015 was invoked by campaigners as evidence of the urgent need for a zero-tolerance policy on harassment and hate speech.

Read more: Here’s What’s Next for LGBTQ+ Rights in Japan

In 2017, the education ministry amended its national bullying policy to enable schools to address bullying on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. Anti-outing laws were passed in some localities, with the mental health and well-being of students uniting politicians across the aisle. Even the conservative ruling party proposed the LGBT Understanding and Enhancement Bill in 2019, with the stated aim of “realizing a tolerant society that accepts the diversity of sexual orientation and gender identity”.

The movement adopted similar tactics in advocating employment rights. The Equal Employment Opportunity Law, to this day, does not offer protection to LGBTQ+ workers, but in 2013, the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare added a clause to the model Rules of Employment given to employers, forbidding harassment “related to sexual orientation or gender identification.

The change emerged from liaison between labor unions, legal counsel, and political advisors to the ministry, with the aim of making working in Japan more attractive to foreign talent. Putting forward a strong economic case enabled the movement to gain traction among leading business networks and even blue-collar workers, who often look to the country’s oligopolies for political cues.

Tokyo Rainbow Pride Parade 2017
Damon Coulter / Barcroft Media via Getty ImagesColourful costumes and signs seen during the parade at the sixth annual Tokyo Rainbow Pride event, on May 7, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan.

LGBTQ+ rights and family values in Japan

Finally, the movement has sought to reconcile LGBTQ+ rights with the traditional family values espoused in mainstream Japanese discourse.

Feudal Japan had been tolerant of homosexuality, but the Meiji Restoration and post-World War II era saw the ascent of Christianity in the country, precipitating the outward conservatism that still pervades much of Japanese society. A 2013 poll found that just 54% of the population agreed that homosexuality should be accepted in society; 36% said that it should not.

Against this background, the movement has devoted substantial effort to demonstrating the compatibility between the family and diversity in sexual orientation. Through working with churches, paralegal groups, and community associations, activists have sought to dispel popular narratives and tropes concerning gay and lesbian individuals, explicitly invoking the centrality of marriage to a stable family structure as grounds for marriage equality.

Read more: Homophobia Is Not an Asian Value

East Asia remains a region where social tradition and sexual progressivism often find themselves at loggerheads. Yet this need not be the case. Same-sex marriage, trans rights, and recognition of nonbinary identities are all causes that can be advanced in alignment with traditional values. For instance, the view that parents and educators ought to support more robust LGBTQ+ protections, because doing so is an important mental health issue for the significant minority of youth who are so identified, has gained traction across both Mainland China and Hong Kong.

In societies where dominant cultural mores remain inimical to progressive ideals, advocates must seize upon the opportunity to make themselves understood and welcome in mainstream discourse. The path ahead for the Japanese LGBTQ+ movement is by no means clear. But it exemplifies many virtues that others in East Asia can emulate.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bihar: Stages collapse during Congress rallies in Darbhanga, West Champaran https://ift.tt/37QFnks

The stage on which Congress candidate from Jale assembly seat, Mashkoor Ahmad Usman was addressing a rally broke and collapsed in Bihar's Darbhanga on Thursday. In a similar incident, another stage collapsed and took down party leaders Imran Pratapgarhi and Akhilesh Singh along with several party workers who were on the dias, during a Congress rally at Bagahi Deoraj in Champaran.

New Dashboards Give a Window into Muni Service Changes

New Dashboards Give a Window into Muni Service Changes By Kate McCarthy An inspector manages Muni service. New dashboards that help inform changes to Muni service are now live at SFMTA.com/MuniData Many factors inform our decisions about Muni service adjustments. These include making sure changes to service support the SFMTA’s values, which are economic vitality, environmental stewardship, trust and equity. We also evaluate travel patterns. You can now explore these patterns using the new Muni data dashboards  (SFMTA.com/MuniData). When looking at possible Muni service changes, the first thing we do is turn to the Muni Service Equity Strategy for guidance. Using the Muni Service Equity Strategy, we prioritize providing Muni service along routes that more often serve people of color, members of low-income households, and/or those who are dependent upon transit service, including people with disabilities and seniors. We also use ridership data to analyze where riders are boa...

India reports first 6 cases of new coronavirus strain after UK returnees test positive https://ift.tt/3pA0T2j

India on Tuesday reported the first six cases of the new coronavirus strain after six people who had returned from the United Kingdom were tested positive for the new UK variant genome. According to the details, the new coronavirus strain cases were reported from Hyderabad, Pune and Bangalore. Samples of 3 UK returnees were tested and found positive for the new UK strain in NIMHANS, Bengaluru. The other two cases were tested at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad; while the last case was tested at the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

FOX NEWS: Ohio amusement park shut down after multiple fights break out Kings Island in Mason, around 20 miles north of Cincinnati, closed down 30 minutes early Saturday night after several fights among teenagers occurred, reports suggest.

Ohio amusement park shut down after multiple fights break out Kings Island in Mason, around 20 miles north of Cincinnati, closed down 30 minutes early Saturday night after several fights among teenagers occurred, reports suggest. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3wsn8uI

PM Modi lauds IFS officers for their work towards serving nation, furthering national interests https://ift.tt/36HoEzw

Greeting Indian Foreign Service officers on IFS day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that their work towards serving the nation and furthering national interests globally are commendable. Their efforts during the Vande Bharat Mission, which was launched to bring Indians home from abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic as international travel came to a halt, and other related help to our citizens and other nations is noteworthy, Modi added.

FOX NEWS: Bride's father asks stepdad to help walk her down the aisle in sweet viral moment A selfless gesture by the father of a bride was shared on social media in a viral moment of him surprising the girl’s stepfather by asking him to help walk her to the altar.

Bride's father asks stepdad to help walk her down the aisle in sweet viral moment A selfless gesture by the father of a bride was shared on social media in a viral moment of him surprising the girl’s stepfather by asking him to help walk her to the altar. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/ZkQ1Rpt

Better Connections from Bayview and Hunters Point to Downtown

Better Connections from Bayview and Hunters Point to Downtown By Enrique Aguilar To better connect southeast San Franciscans with downtown, the SFMTA debuted the 15 Bayview Hunters-Point Express in late January, coinciding with the return of T Third train service. Within weeks, average daily boardings reached 1,000 customers on this new service. The 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express  We added this route based on community feedback from the Southeast Muni Expansion Project in 2018, which prioritized a more direct trip to downtown from the Bayview. With the sudden rise of the COVID-19 pandemic and its disproportionate impacts on communities in the Bayview and Hunters Point, fast-tracking the project became critical to our transit planning. Adding service capacity and a direct connection between these neighborhoods and downtown is a crucial step in supporting the City’s economic recovery and increasing job access for essential workers using transit. Using data from the SFMTA Equ...

Plan Your Next Golden Gate Park Trip with Muni

Plan Your Next Golden Gate Park Trip with Muni By Eillie Anzilotti   A map of San Francisco showing Muni lines that offer direct service to Golden Gate Park, including: The 18 46th Avenue, the 29 Sunset, the 5 Fulton and 5R Fulton Rapid, the N Judah, the 44 O’Shaughnessy, the 33 Ashbury/18th Street, the 7 Haight/Noriega, the 43 Masonic and the 28 19th Avenue. Around each bus route shown on the map, a red zone shows the range within 1,000 feet of a stop, orange shows within 2,000 feet of a stop, and yellow shows within 3,000 feet. Here’s a fun fact: 70% of San Franciscans are within a 15-minute walk of a transfer-free Muni ride to the largest public space in our city: Golden Gate Park.   Especially as COVID-19 has heightened the importance of outdoor recreation and park access, SFMTA has made efforts to update Muni service to get people to Golden Gate Park. As of now, ...

New top story from Time: ‘I Should Be Presumed Innocent.’ Hong Kong Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai Criticizes His Arrest

https://ift.tt/342b8VJ Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai said he was arrested on “trumped up” charges, pushing back against landmark national security legislation that has raised questions about press freedoms and the future of the democracy movement. “They’re trumped up. I can’t go further on the details,” Lai said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday morning. “Before any evidence, they just claimed and presumed that I’m guilty. This isn’t the way the law is. I should be presumed innocent. We have never supported the independence of Hong Kong.” He said Hong Kong’s future as Asia’s main financial hub was uncertain if there was no respect for the rule of law under the new security measures. “The future of Hong Kong is the future of any other Chinese city,” he added. “Without the rule of law, the international financial center will be finished.” He added that the law sent a “very negative” message to the business community in Hong Kong and overseas. Lai has ...

Smarter Traffic Signals Prioritize Transit and People

Smarter Traffic Signals Prioritize Transit and People By Robert Lim Have you ever wondered how traffic signals could better balance the needs of all road users, whether driving, bicycling, walking or taking Muni? The SFMTA is rolling out its Connected Corridor Pilot this month to use transit platform and traffic signal sensor data to inform signal timing adjustments. The pilot also aims to collect information to support transit efficiency and street safety improvements.  Traffic engineers use signal timing adjustments as a tool to prioritize the flow of travel in specific directions or for different travel modes – Muni, people walking or driving – to meet the changing demands of the road network across different timepoints in a day. The Connected Corridors Pilot seeks to push the envelope of innovation by investing in advanced technologies, funded through a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) grant. These tools will better position the city to serve the potential future ne...