Tokyo Rainbow Pride Comes Back

The celebration returned after four years in Tokyo's already vibrant Shibuya and Harajuku neighbourhoods, as campaigners worked to build support for more inclusive LGBTQ laws.

 

More than two hundred thousand people attended this year's Tokyo Rainbow Pride, making it one of the biggest LGBTQ gatherings on the continent. The parade's slogan was "Press on Till Japan Changes." However, the LGBTQ population in Japan is facing difficulties since it is unclear whether a measure that would encourage tolerance for LGBTQ persons will be adopted by the Japanese government before May's G7 leaders conference in Hiroshima. Nearly three months earlier, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's administration had been under fire when a senior adviser was fired for making derogatory statements about homosexual couples.

Although several important cities in Japan are beginning to recognise same-sex relationships in recent years and survey results suggest that the general population is strongly in favour of legalising gay marriage, Japan remains the only G7 country without a legislation safeguarding the rights of LGBTQ individuals. Nevertheless, a release will be presented to the G7 nations before the Hiroshima meeting.

In light of Japan's slow progress on LGBTQ related regulations, attendees at the Pride celebration stressed the importance of their presence. Legalising same-sex marriage would be a huge victory for the LGBT community in Japan, as supporters said they will keep pushing for equality until the law changes.

Businesses like Indeed and Takeda Pharmaceutical attended Tokyo Rainbow Pride to demonstrate their commitment to diversity and inclusion.

"[…] people [should] be able to be themselves and not feel too much pressure to conform because at the end of the day, we are all human beings who have feelings and desires and they deserve to feel welcomed wherever they are," the official Indeed statement quotes.

The final statement for Pride 7 was released just five days before the commencement of the Tokyo Pride celebration, proving that the organisers were serious about their intentions.

Despite the fact that the document's proposals aren't aimed at any one nation in particular, P7 leader and co-director of the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation Natsuo Hayashi said it was a solid starting point during a conference in March.

According to Hayashi, the organisers "hope to take initiative and leadership to drive this discussion" since Japan is "still much behind of the international community." As the statement says, the communique will also include some suggestions for the following necessary actions.

 

Source: japantimes.co.jp