anyway here is a summary of my panel with hiroaki kawakami, a japanese lawyer who legally represents many LGBT+ individuals and movements:
legally there is nothing protecting same sex marriage in japan, HOWEVER currently different lawsuits are making their way to the supreme court. while a lot of the supreme court officials are very conservative, because the japanese economy also relies on good relations with foreign countries they are receiving a lot of pressure from younger generations and those investors to find compromise
the sad thing is that transgender individuals (like the united states) are becoming a scapegoat from many political sectors and the recipient of a lot of political and digital harassment
HOWEVER. the general japanese public is in favor of LGBT+ rights/respect (70% of the country reported to be in support of the legalization and protection of gay marriage) and obviously the work of queer activist/organization groups has not gone unnoticed
currently one big issue faced by queer activist groups in japan is that they are not televised or reported on - the younger generation is communicating via social medias like tiktok and this has allowed for some shift in the narrative. especially as this allows national attention which (in the words of the speaker, not mine) japanese legislators and investors do care about
when i asked what it is we can do best for our friends in japan, he said that publicizing the lives and stories of LGBT+ individuals in japan, talking about the positive effects of protections for LGBT+ individuals would have on the country and express desire publicly for such a thing to happen, as well as general words of support/kinship - these things are what we can best do as those outside the country (according to him!)
its extremely heartwarming as well as a bit bittersweet that we are fighting similar battles in different countries, i hope that in the future we can all have good news to share with eachother
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