My essay final draft, Sexual Minority:)

How Can Japanese Sexual Minority Be More Accepted?

Ⅰ. Introduction

According to Hideki Sunagawa who is a gay activist and cultural anthropologist, 1 or 2 out of 40 people is sexual minority in Japan. In other words, it might be possible to have a sexual minority student in each ELP section in ICU (“TOKYO jinken” 6). This statistics shows how they are closely related to non-sexual minority. Then, who are the sexual minority? 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).

James Thomas Sears, the editor of the international Journal of LGBT Youth and teacher at Trinity College, said that these sexual minority’s names are getting familiar through media due to increasing of TV stars such as Ai Haruna who had declared themselves to be sexual minority (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 (qtd. in Cole 111-119). The solution for this situation is that Japanese people need the correct understanding such as what makes sexual minority live in difficult life, or 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.

Ⅱ. Two Reasons for introducing sexual minority’s education

              As mentioned above, the curriculum of sexual minority education is the important key to solve the bad environment toward sexual minority. According to the survey of Stonewall who is a national organization lobbying for lesbian, gay and bisexual equality and justice in UK, 48% of sexual minority under eighteen years old have experienced a violence attack (qtd. in Cole 117). This data might seem not high percentage than expected, but majority of bullying toward sexual minority is non-physical attacks, such as sneering or staring them nastily. Thus, most of the sexual minority 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 minority’s 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 (qtd. in Cole 114).

The reason why this problem also happens in Japan is that Japanese students don’t have a chance to learn about sexual minority’s reality at school. The Ministry of Health compiled statistics on the saturation level of sexual minority’s education in 2009, 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 (qtd. in 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 minority’s reality. Therefore, the education of sexual minority is a good possibility to change their environment such as in schools, or work places.

             In addition, the education of sexual minority can be a solution of acquiring their rights in society. Even though the law created by Human Rights Committee made them 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 minority’s rights will make them easier to acquire their rights. Consequently, following two problems are expected to solve by introducing the curriculum of sexual minority’s education:

1) Bad environment in school or work place

2) The inequality of sexual minorities’ rights

Ⅲ. The Ideal curriculums of sexual minority’s education

Then, what is the ideal curriculum that makes effective changes in the present Japanese sexual minority’s problem? First of all, Japanese government needs to 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 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 did not include the content of sexual minority. 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 minority. 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 minority’s 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 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 minority’s problem more seriously, and to feel the reality of sexual minority (“The Making of Learning about Sexual Diversity in Junior High School”).

Ⅳ. The way to change Japanese Government’s traditional idea of Gender

              However, the most difficult part lies on changing the Japanese government supportive to this suggestion, introducing the curriculum of sexual minority’s education. In the past, there were actually some movements to change Japanese educational system toward sexual minority. For example, Legislative Bodies of the Diet and Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly asked government to introduce sexual minority’s 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 minority’s confortable living place all over Japan is absolutely difficult.

There are many actions taken by sexual minority to change this situation, and these actions should be more promoted to convince the government. On a world scale, sexual minorities unites 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 minority more familiar to sexual minority on May 17th (IDAHO).              

As sexual minority is moving to change the government, non-sexual minority should also take an action to complain the government. In fact, Japanese non-sexual minority are actually complaining to the government to introduce the curriculum of sexual minority’s 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 minority’s education (Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly). Japanese non-sexual minority still need the effort to increase the percentage of introducing curriculum. Showing both sexual minority and non-sexual minority’s effort toward the present situation is the best way to change the government’s traditional idea of gender.

Ⅴ. Conclusion and Expectation

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 does not mention about how media influence sexual minorities, 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).  Japan should create a society where all the sexual minorities will be proud of themselves. (1522 words)

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 & Transphobia. Home Page.

http://www.dayagainsthomophobia.org/-IDAHO-english,41-     web. 13 Oct.2011.

Sears, James Tomas. “Youth, Education, and Sexualities”. 2005. Print.

“Seiteki mainoriti no jinken mondai” [ The Problem of Human Rights Toward Sexual Minority]. http://www.pref.tottori.lg.jp/secure/538013/kihonhoushin2_03-10.pdf

     Web. 15 Oct. 2011.

Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. “ heisei jyugonendo tokyotogikai kaigiroku daiyongou.” http://www.gikai.metro.tokyo.jp      web. 13 Oct. 2011.

Tokyo Metropolitan Human Rights Promotion Center. “TOKYO jinken” [ TOKYO human rights ]. http://www.tokyo-jinken.or.jp/jyoho/47/tokyojinken47.pdf    Sep. 2010. web. 12 Oct. 2011.

Watanabe, Daisuke. Kusunoki, Yuko. Tashiro, Mieko. Ushitora, Kaori. “Chugakko ni okeru sei no tayousei rikai no tame no jyugyou zukuri ” [The Making of Learning about Sexual Diversity in Junior High School]. 1 March. 2011. Web. 13 Oct. 2011.