It’s Not a Crime to Be Gay in Japan. But Does That Mean They’re Embracing Us?
“Japan’s legal system does not ban or regulate one’s sexual orientation. But marriage is allowed only between a man and a woman. Although courts nowadays examine the details of civil or common-law marriages for heterosexual couples, including shared assets and duration of relationships, they give no such consideration to gays and lesbians. There are a few gay spots or hangouts across Japan, mainly in big cities. The district known as Shinjuku 2-chome in central Tokyo is the most famous. It houses a few hundred gay bars and stores, making itself known as the hub of gay subculture. ‘Unlike in some countries, gays and lesbians in Japan do not get a death penalty or get punished in a court. But that does not necessarily mean the country is friendly toward the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community,’ said Kanako Otsuji, an LGBT rights activist in Japan, whose office sits in the middle of Shinjuku 2-chome. … If people saw two women or men holding hands, they usually will not go up to them and beat them up. But that does not mean people have no feelings toward us.’” [ABC News]
Wow. We really have work to do in Japan. Is there any legislation coming up in the Diet?
Who is on a DIET?
earl trowbridge,
Essentially:
Congress is to the USA, as the Diet is to Japan.
Sadly this isn’t a surprise. The Japanese saying “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down” unfortunately rings true with GLBT people, too. It’s crazy to set yourself apart from the crowd in any way there, so the idea of coming out is pretty bizarre. Conformity in all ways is tops.
It’s just anecdotal but a lot of the younger people I’m friends with don’t care as much, but they’re very separated from the political realm. A lot of them are leaving the country, though.
The japanese are some of the most racist people on earth.
@Prof. O. G. Whataschnozell:
True. “Sambo” dolls are very popular amongst the japanese, and antisemitic books about global jewish conspiracy theories are bestsellers.
Sadly, japanese are somewhat unapologetically homophobic, sexist, racist people. They’re the placid equivalent of jamaicans.
Japan’s attitude towards homosexuality is so weird. They’re very conservative, yet this is the country where yaoi is all the rage and androgynous men are seen as hot. I don’t get it.
Now here this. Gay pornography is/isn’t allowed. You can film to me having sex but you can not show the genitals. In other words they show the acts but blur out the penis. You go figure.
A japanese guy I know at the gym brought two dvd of cute, very nelly japanese boys in a sex dvd and that is what they did. The guys were actually cute but you never saw how big they were. Weird.