What is LGBTQ ?----written by A.H
According to Amnesty International (2023, para. 1), LGBTQ can be divided into lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. Since it is common in the world for men to love men and women to love women, LGBTQ identity people are discriminated against.Also, discrimination and violence against LGBTQ people can come in many forms, from name-calling, bullying, harassment, and gender-based violence, to being denied a job or appropriate healthcare (Amnesty International, 2023, para. 2). Ho (2023, March, 6, para. 1) stated that more than one in three Americans who are LGBT lgbt face discrimination. In addition, 62% of transgender people report discrimination.
Also, many LGBT people have not been able to confess to others that they are LGBT. According to a survey, none of the four people actually confessed (Gruberg et al., 2020, October 6, para. 1). In fact, because of this trend, there are times when people feel uncomfortable being avoided in the workplace without malice and that they are different from others, and they become isolated in the community.
According to Medley et al. (2016, 2016, para. 1), Compared to the sexual majority, sexual minorities tend to have mental health problems. Some LGBTQ people probably feel pressure or stress because of their gender identity and feel like hiding away from the social shame they feel.
From Amnesty International (2023, para. 2), I learned that rotests to uphold the rights of LGBTQ people also face suppression across the globe.
What Kind of Efforts Does Japan Make Toward the LGBTQ people?- written by M. N.
Through this project study, I learned about LGBTQ-friendly initiatives at IKEA JAPAN and LGBTQ-friendly initiatives at school. According to the Zenbird Editorial team (2023, May 25), efforts at IKEA JAPAN are being made to bridge the inclusion gap, both in the workplace and in the wider community. Thirty-eight percent of LGBT+ employees reported hesitation in expressing their true selves. The study highlighted the size of the "inclusion gap" between organizations and the wider society, especially among younger generations of LGBT+ communities who feel unacceptable and undervalued. IKEA stores across Japan have taken the first step toward addressing the gap by featuring room sets that reflect the diversity of modern society (Zenbird Editorial team, 2023, para. 2). Each room set is designed with a specific persona in mind that covers various attributes such as age, gender, family structure, income, and lifestyle. I thought it was wonderful that a well-known company called IKEA is trying to fill the inclusion gap in consideration of its identity in order to make it easier for LGBTQ people to live.
According to Inoue (2023, August 18), both male and female uniforms are popular in Japan. Slacks were introduced at my junior high school, but not many people wore them, so as I learned from this article, I thought it would be very nice to make slacks for both men and women to protect against the cold so that they can easily wear slacks that take into account gender.
At this time, I focused on this issue in Japan. In Japan, the perspective on this issue needs to be somehow changed or compared to other countries such as countries in Europe or America. There is a big difference between these countries, for example, in the field of education, the Nordic countries are known as regions where people are friendly to LGBT (Go!Go!Nihon Staff, 2022). Students discuss the issue from both cultural and scientific perspectives, so that students can see a more multifaceted viewpoint. However, the Japanese government has a policy of not dealing with topics concerning LGBT in the field of education (Go!Go!Nihon Staff, 2022). Japanese people might be advertising from LGBT problems or LGBT people. In this research, I searched for information concerning how the LGBT problem is traded in Japanese companies. At first, I knew that the condition where LGBT people or LGBT employees are not respected by most Japanese companies, but the condition is worse than I thought. According to Nippon.com (2020, November 10, 2020), a “Survey Reveals Few LGBT Employees Coming Out in Japan,” the question was, do you think your company has a system for supporting LGBT people? And 50% of people answered no more than only 20% of people said yes (Nippon.com, 2020, November 10). I think this condition is one of the worst conditions in the world. I think I need to find some solutions and reasons why that condition is really bad. Japanese companies tend to treat employees in a bad way. You can see this kind of problem in your company or something like that.
I thought that the article about genderless toilets in Kabukicho referred to in this article was very fresh in my memory (Uchida, 2023, September 13). In fact, when this toilet was established, it was trending on Twitter, and I saw the opinions of various people. However, I was surprised because I did not know that the toilets were actually abolished and gender-different. Moreover, I was surprised that this happened in just four months.
I think about this toilet. For LGBTQ people, the toilet problem is very serious, and in Japan, where genderless toilets are not available, people are worried about entering multipurpose toilets and do not know which one to use. When I learned about LGBT in another class the other day, my teacher told me that genderless toilets are mainstream overseas. The students were surprised at that. I was surprised, too. LGBT people need genderless toilets, but I am a little reluctant to use them because I use them separately from men's and women's toilets with the sense of security that men cannot see them. I thought like this after reading this article.
First of all, I learned about the hardships of dual minorities for the first time through this article by the Zenbird Editorial Team (2023, November 2). The social facilities for people like them are not enough yet, so I thought it was necessary to create a world where they could live easily. Also, being from Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, I felt this problem very close to me, and at the same time, I was proud of my hometown of Fukuoka City. I think the use of sign language is widespread due to the influence of dramas, so I thought I would gradually proceed with things like learning sign language so that these people can live in a better world.
How Alies Can Support the LGBTQ Community and What We Thought -written by K.D
According to Inoue (2022, June 30), Middle school textbooks adopted in the spring of 2021 showed a significant increase in references to sexual diversity. The author mentioned that in middle school textbooks, only five companies and six textbooks previously mentioned LGBT, but in 2021, it increased to nine and 17. Furthermore, the number of subjects they cover has expanded from ethics to include the Japanese language, history, citizens, family economics, art, and physical education (Inoue, 2022, June 30). Japan is still far from achieving the perfect balance of including gender and sexuality issues in school curricula and textbooks, but the revolution is slowly taking place. I think it is necessary for the reform that this textbook teaches from an early age. Since there is not much understanding of gender in the world, I think that gender-related discrimination can be eliminated by understanding that there are people with various identities from an early age, and it is very difficult to live in the world.
Also, according to Uchida (2023, September 13), In some airports, multi-purpose toilets are built between the men's and women's toilets so that anyone can easily access them. Famous companies such as TOTO and LIXIL are working to install and popularize all-gender toilets that are easy to use for people who are concerned about using toilets due to their gender identity (Uchida, September 13). I think there are high hurdles, such as secretly taking pictures, but I think it is possible to lower the hurdle of multipurpose toilets by creating multipurpose toilets that respect LGBTQ people in a convenient position. I also think it will be necessary to increase the number of multipurpose toilets in the future.
During this time, I researched solutions, suggestions, or what improves the condition concerning LGBT issues. According to Updated Resources & Tools to Support LGBTQIA2S+ Communities (n.d), as an ordinary approach, there are seven ways to help LGBT youth or youth who disclose their LGBT identity. I would like to analyze those. The first way to support LGBT people is a good thing for those who don't want to talk openly about their personal identity, but some people might still not open their mouths to this. Let me turn attention to the second approach, pink triangle, rainbow, or ally flag are representative examples for this (Child Welfare Information Gateway, n.d). This is so good for expressing that communities are LGBT communities. Next, not discriminating and enabling them to participate in any activities they want to are always important. The fourth approach has a big significance. You can use this example, instead of, "Do you have a girlfriend?" ask, "Are you dating anyone (Child Welfare Information Gateway, n.d.)?” I cannot deny that choosing words properly for that kind of person. Though some words are none of their business for those who don't mind; those could be things that hurt them. This is what we should recognize. When it comes to celebrating diversity, the fifth approach is effective. I don't have to mention the importance of education or understanding of that. From the viewpoint of supporting others, supporting people with problems by their friends or their families is really helpful to them. You can learn a national action plan by checking NHS England. (n.d). LGBT action plan priorities. The main four action plans are effective enough to improve LGBT health priorities. These are really easy to understand and you can start to support LGBT people.
After reading (2023, para. 1), I was surprised that LGBT people are a small percentage in Japan. Three to nine percent means there are a lot of people around, and there could be a few in the class. They are by no means few. In the meantime, I think it is very important to support those who have become patients. I think this Ally Map, which can save not only patients, but also medical professionals and ordinary people who are related to such patients. I believe that further development of this initiative will bring LGBT issues closer to being resolved.
I also felt very familiar with the articles about uniforms. When I was a junior high school student when I first entered the school, there were still boys and girls with completely separate uniforms and no consideration for gender people, but when I became a third-year student, girls' slacks were introduced in my junior high school. When it was first introduced, few people used it, but a few months later, many girls were wearing slacks. This is very important for gender people, and I thought that even if you are not an LGBTQ person, going to school dressed freely would be an opportunity to change old Japanese customs. Also, I thought it would be nice if such schools became common and middle and high school students could spend their time in whatever clothes they wanted.
Conclusions
We did research on LGBTQ, and through this learning, we learned about the current situation that people with various genders feel unequal because their identities are not respected. We strongly hope that the initiatives being carried out now and the initiatives that will be carried out in the future will be more pervasive.
References
Amnesty International. (2023). LGBTI rights: Discrimination. Discriminatiohttps://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/discrimination/lgbti-rights/
Child Welfare Information Gateway. (n.d.). Updated resources and tools tosupport LGBTQ2+ communities. https://content.govdelivery.com/landing_pages/35467/b5a04e313d8cd0d2b5c5668970120dbd
Concern Worldwide USA. (2022, August 12). Gender equality facts: Explainingsustainable development goal no. 5. https://concernusa.org/news/gender-equality-facts/
Go! Go! Nihon Sstaff. (2022, April 2022). LGBTQ life in Japan. https://gogonihon.com/en/blog/lgbt-life-in-japan/
Gruburg, S., Mahowald, L. & Haplin, J. (2020, October 6). The ctate of the LGBTQcommunity in 2020. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/state-lgbtq-community-2020/
Ho, V. (2023, March 6). The discrimination pushing LGBTQ workers to quit. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20230303-the-discrimination-pushing-lgbtq-workers-to-quit
Inoue, E. (2022, June 30). Japan takes small steps in a big change to recognizing LGBTin education. Zenbird. https://zenbird.media/japan-takes-small-steps-in-a-big-change-to-recognizing-lgbt-in-education/
Inoue, N. (2023, August 18). Welcomed introduction of genderless uniforms atsome high schools. Zenbird.https://zenbird.media/welcomed-introduction-of-genderless-uniforms-at-some-high-schools/
Cheris,L. (2021, March 7). Gender school uniforms is beneficial for all students inJapan. Zenbird.https://zenbird.media/genderless-school-uniforms-is-beneficial-for-all-students-in-japan/
Medley, G., Lipari, R. N., & Bose, J. (2016, October). Sexual orientation and estimatesof adult substance use and mental health: Results from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. NSDUH Data Review.https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-SexualOrientation-2015/NSDUH-SexualOrientation-2015/NSDUH-SexualOrientation-2015.htm
NHS England. (n.d.). LGBT action plan priorities. https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/equality/equality-hub/patient-equalities-programme/lgbt-health/lgbt-action-plan-priorities/
Nippon.com. (2020, November 10). Survey reveals few LGBT employeescoming out in Japan. Nippon.com. https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00851/
Uchida, H. (2023, September 13). Go beyond labels. Japan’s all-gender restrooms dilemma. Zenbird. https://zenbird.media/go-beyond-labels-japans-all-gender-restrooms-dilemma/
Youth Engaged Change. (n.d.). What does LGBT mean? Know the basics.https://engage.youth.gov/resources/what-does-lgbt-mean-know-basics
Zenbird Editorial Team. (2023, November 2). Fukuoka NPO provides complimentary support for LGBTQ deaf community. Zenbird. https://zenbird.media/fukuoka-npo-provides-complimentary-support-for-lgbtq-deaf-community/
Zenbird Editional Team. (2023, May 25). IKEA Japan unveils #facethegap campaign for inclusivity. Zenbird. https://zenbird.media/ikea-japan-unveils-facethegap-campaign-for-inclusivity/
Zenbird Education Team (2023, November 24). Ally map to connect LBGTQ patients with healthcare providers for stress-free visits. https://zenbird.media/ally-map-to-connect-lgbtq-patients-with-healthcare-providers-for-stress-free-visits