Last winter, in 2018, I went to hear Judith Butler talk at Todai (she is a famous scholar in queer theory).
One thing I had found interesting was how hesitant she was in answering a question that (sort of) required knowledge in the Japanese context of LGBT.
I thought that was very respectful of her. At the same time, I noticed how difficult it must be for those outside of Japan to understand the actual circumstances of being LGBT and what-not here.
So to contribute in filling this vacuum of information, I decided to share my insight from my side. I need you to acknowledge a few shortcomings(?) though.
- I am a cisgender-gay; therefore, I do not have the experience of any other sexuality such as lesbian, bisexual, transgender, asexual etc.
- My personal experience is just that – a personal experience. My Tokyo-Chiba experience should not represent Japan as a whole; nor should it represent the Japanese cisgender-gay. I mean, how the hell can I represent anybody anyways?
- I’m going to talk mostly in assumptions; no concrete data (but really, we don’t have much data in the first place).
- Please bear with my awkward English (and if it’s not, that’s great!)
I hope you understand!
①People don’t mind about LGBT – but they do.
“I don’t mind if someone’s gay- except if my son is.”
This kind of view, I believe, is quite dominant in contemporary Japan (maybe we see it all over the world. I don’t know).
As long as you’re not a family member of that person, I seriously doubt that anybody would care if you’re gay or not. If you’re transgender or transvestite, matters might differ, but a cisgender gay? Nah, probably not.
②Some people don’t realize LGBT is real.
“What, are you gay?” (in a jokingly manner)
The expected answer is always “no”. That’s why people get surprised when they’re told the contrary.
It’s basically a rhetorical question – it’s not a “real” question. The reason why it’s not a “real” question is because the speaker thinks being gay isn’t “real”. They don’t notice that the person in front of them might be gay.
The difficult part is that they are often actually tolerant; it’s just that they’re not prepared to find a real gay person in front of them.
③The gap between generations are huge.
The younger (40 and under) people in Japan tolerate gay people fairly well. However, the older (50 and above) do not.
Let me show you why I think so:
The above graph shows the percentage of people who are for same-sex marriage. The bottom numbers represent the ages (18-29, 30’s, 40’s, etc.) of the monitored.
The older you are, the more probable you are against gay marriage. Just look at the gap between younger generations (18-29, 30’s, 40’s) and the older (50’s and above); quite amazing how cohorts can differ this much.
It’s pretty depressing to think that over 40% of the Japanese population is over 50 years old. Seriously.
Of course, support towards same-sex marriage doesn’t necessarily equal gay-friendliness, but it sure is one index to consider.
④The LDP includes members who lack knowledge in LGBT issues
The LDP has some members who are notoriously ill-informed of LGBT issues
(And I can understand why; I mean, the average age of our parliament members is over 50 years old. Add that with point ③ and voilà).
谷川とむ「同性愛は趣味みたいなもの」
柴山昌彦「同性婚で少子化に拍車がかかる」
杉田水脈「LGBTは生産性がないから支援は不要」
平沢勝栄「LGBTの人たちだけになれば国は滅亡する」
小田博士「LGBT支援は過剰。同性パートナーシップは不要」自民党だらけ！理解増進法なんて何の役にも立たない。 pic.twitter.com/yWkPWnoxE3
— Monad (@suryagudang) 2019年1月5日
The most famous amongst them is probably Mio Sugita.
杉田 水脈（すぎた みお） 公式ブログ : 今年最初の質疑は…。 https://t.co/V5UMLb0voz
— 杉田 水脈 (@miosugita) December 30, 2018
In the June of 2018, she wrote in an article that “the LGBT do not have productivity” (in the context of whether policies for the LGBT are necessary).
This sparked outrage among some of the Japanese LGBT and those who are against such views on referring to “productivity” as a reason to (not) make policies.
Another lawmaker, Katsuei Hirasawa, recently shocked some members of the LGBT community when he said that Japan would “collapse” if everyone became LGBT.
Considering that the LDP is the government right now and that the current regime (Shinzo Abe as of now in 2019 January) is said to be quite conservative, the political landscape is pretty bleak for the Japanese LGBT, I have to say.
It’s only a matter of time.
As we saw in ③, the younger generation is more tolerant of gay people.
I think it’s only a matter of time until Japan becomes LGBT friendly. The process is probably irreversible.
So I guess I’m pretty fortunate to be a young gay man in Japan right now.
I’m hoping for the best.
That’s it for now. Thank you for reading!
This article was brought to you by Subaru Minna.
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