How should Japanese Sexual Minorities Be More Accepted?
According to the national census, the number of sexual minorities is 3-5% of the whole population. In other words, 1out of 40 people is sexual minorities in Japan, which means half of the section mate in ICU has at least one sexual minority student (Sunagawa 6). This statistics shows how they are closely related to non-sexual minorities. Then, who are the sexual minorities? They are mainly divided into three categories: Homosexual who are sexually attracted to the same gender (between women is called Lesbian, and between men is called Gay) (Campos 5), Bisexual who are sexually attracted to either gender (Campos 6), and Transgender who feel a sense of incongruous between their biological sex and gender identity (Campos 6).
In Japan, these sexual minorities’ names are getting familiar through media due to increasing of TV stars such as Ai Haruna who had declared themselves to be sexual minorities (Sears 474). However, they still feel difficulties living in the present world. Simon Forrest who works at Durham University as a trustee of AVERT, The AIDS Education and Research Trust, complained that the names became much more familiar, but their bad environment such as violence or discrimination still remains until now (111-119). The solution for this situation is that Japanese people need the correct understanding of what makes sexual minorities live in difficult life, and what individual non-sexual minority people should do toward them to make the situation better. The way of making people understand those issues effectively is education. Therefore, Japanese government should make a curriculum including sexual minority education in schools.
As mentioned above, the curriculum of sexual minority education is the important key to solve the bad environment toward sexual minorities. According to the survey of Stonewall, the UK national organization lobbying for lesbian, gay and bisexual equality and justice, 48% of sexual minorities under eighteen years old have experienced a violence attack (Cole 117). This data might seem not high percentage than expected, but majority of bullying toward sexual minorities is non-physical attacks
, such as sneering or staring them nastily. Thus, most of the sexual minorities have been attacked in either physical or non-physical ways (Cole 117). This situation makes them difficult to go to school. One of the young gay men who live in Britain said that half of the time in his school life was to find places to hide, and the other half was to wait for the class mates to tease him. The recording of the sexual minorities’ themselves experience reported by Simon Blake, CEO of fantastic young people's sexual health charity Brook, warns how lonely and isolated they are, which should not be happen.
The reason why this problem happens in Japan is that Japanese students don’t have a chance to learn about sexual minorities’ reality at school. The Ministry of Health compiled statistics on the saturation level of sexual minorities’ education, which result was 78.5% of the students have never learned about those issues, and 10.7% of the students have learned, but the content was negative (Inaba 3). As a result, it can be said that Japanese people don’t have the correct understanding which occurs to be negative image of them, or homophobia. If there were chance to learn the reality of them, many Japanese people would change their view of them. Japanese people just don’t know sexual minorities’ reality. Therefore, the education of sexual minorities is a good possibility to change their environment such as in schools, or work places.
In addition, the education of sexual minorities can be a solution of acquiring their rights in society. Even though the law toward them became much supportive, they still have discrimination and violation of rights, for example in their job and marriage (Gupta 36 37). Especially in Japan, this issue is not discussed and there is no supportive law of giving their rights (“Seiteki Mainoriti No Jinken Mondai”). Increasing Japanese people who correctly understand the inequality of sexual minorities’ rights will make them easier to acquire their rights. Consequently, following two problems are expected to solve by introducing the curriculum of sexual minorities’ education: 1) Bad environment in school or work place 2) The inequality of sexual minorities’ rights
Then, what is the ideal curriculum that makes effective changes in the present Japanese sexual minorities’ problem? First of all, Japanese government should reexamine the present situation of education. According to Akiko Inaba, the concept of gender appeared in Japan by the time of 1980’s. However, the concept was indicated that it reproduced the sexual discrimination, so in the late 1990’s, Japanese government introduced “Gender-Free Education”, which is to teach the inequality of men and women by the gender’s point of view (1). This education didn’t include the content of sexual minorities. In other words, their existence was eliminated by this “Gender-Free
Education” (2). Of course, it is important to learn the difference of social position between men and women, but that should not exclude the concept of sexual minorities. Therefore, Japanese government should at first add the content of sexual minority in the text book and the curriculum.
Also, the way of teaching sexual minorities’ concept is important. The ideal way is introducing discussion in the class because it can widen each student’s point of view, and it is much more effective than one-way class because teacher might have some sense of prejudice about them too. Another way is to invite the lecturer who is actually sexual minority. The junior high student who took lecture given by sexual minority said that the lecture made her to think the sexual minorities’ problem more seriously, and to feel the reality of sexual minorities (“The Making of Learning about Sexual Diversity in Junior High School”).
However, the most difficult part lies on changing the Japanese government supportive to this suggestion, introducing the curriculum of sexual minorities’ education. In the past, there were actually some movements to change Japanese educational system toward sexual minorities. For example, Legislative Bodies of the Diet and Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly asked government to introduce sexual minorities’ supportive teaching material, but the conservative politicians opposed it, and those institutions were forced to cancel the idea (Sears 474). If the Japanese government doesn’t become supportive, achieving sexual minorities’ confortable living place all over Japan is absolutely difficult.
There are many actions taken by sexual minorities to change this situation. On a world scale, sexual minorities unite together, and promote their rights and better life in the present world. For instance, IDAHO, International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia, created event for making non-sexual minorities’ more familiar to sexual minorities on May 17th (IDAHO). These actions should be more promoted.
As sexual minorities are moving to change the government, non-sexual minorities should move more to complain the government. In fact, Japanese non-sexual minorities are actually complaining to the government to introduce the curriculum of sexual minorities’ education. However, according to the research of Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education, only 52%of elementary school and 15% of junior high school in Tokyo planned a year curriculum of sexual minorities’ education (Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly). Japanese non-sexual minorities still need the effort to increase the percentage of introducing curriculum. Showing both sexual minorities and non-sexual
minorities effort toward the present situation is the best way to change the government’s traditional idea of gender.
Sexual minorities are of course “minority”, but they are certain to exist everywhere in the world. However, taking the case in Japan, they are not accepted by society because Japanese people had no chance to learn about their difficult situation, and Japanese people’s knowledge toward them is only from media. Therefore, Japanese government should reexamine their idea of gender, and be supportive to introduce the curriculum of sexual minorities’ education. Although, this essay doesn’t mention about affection of media, so it might be better to see in what way media is biased and how Japanese people can utilize it to promote the understanding toward sexual minorities.
The expectation by introducing the curriculum of sexual minorities’ education in schools is that sexual minorities will be more accepted in the present world. Equal rights between sexual minorities and non-sexual minorities, and more comfortable place to live by not feeling that they are “minority” is the ideal world. “I’m proud to be gay!” (IDAHO). Hope all the sexual minorities will be proud of themselves.
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Works Cited
Campos, David. “Diverse Sexuality and Schools”: 2003. Print.
Cole, Mike. “Education, Equality and Human Rights”. 2006. Print.
Gupta, Indrani Sen. “Human Rights of Minority and Woman’s: Human Rights and Sexual Minorities”. 2005. Print.
Inaba, Akiko. “ gakko kyouiku ni okeru sexual minority[ Sexual Minority Youth in Public School Education: Recommendations for the Change Process ].” .http://daigakuin.soka.ac.jp/assets/files/pdf/major/kiyou/22_kyoiku1.pdf web.13 Oct. 2011.
International Day Against Homophobia & Transgender
http://www.dayagainsthomophobia.org/-IDAHO-english,41- web. 13 Oct. 2001.
McLelland, Mark J. Queer Japan from Pacific war to the internet age “”. 2005. Print.
Sears, James Tomas. “Youth, Education, and Sexualities”. 2005. Print.
Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. “ heisei jyugonendo tokyotogikai kaigiroku daiyongou.” http://www.gikai.metro.tokyo.jp web. 13 Oct. 2011.
