Japanese lesbians

[Sarah Heather Cardin]

i found this little tidbit in the online version of the sydney
morning herald ...

sarah heather cardin/saara-karnerva
newshound boots

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Japan's lesbians step out with pride

By RUSSELL SKELTON and ANDREW DONALDSON in Tokyo

They came with drums and whistles, some dressed in dark blue salary
man suits, others draped in rainbow flags, and they marched through
Tokyo streets to the music of k.d. lang.

It was Japan's first gay march in support of lesbian rights.
Although the crowd was small - just a noisy and assertive 200 - they
stopped Tokyo's midday shoppers.

Some onlookers were amused, some just curious. The elderly seemed
bewildered.

"The lesbian community here is hardly visible, it's not like the
United States or Australia," said a spokeswoman for the march, Ms
Maria Miho Hiramatsu.

"The problem with lesbians in Japan is that they are connected with
pornography. The image of lesbians follows men's ideas of what women
are, which is very different from women's idea of what women are,"
she said.

A leading member of the Lesbian Mothers' Association, Ms Hiramatsu,
dressed in gold lame and purple feathers, was accompanied on the
march by her two young sons.

"I am divorced. I have come out," she said. "I have told my friends
and my boss even that I am a lesbian, and I have not received any
reaction from him. I think this is because he probably doesn't
understand what it means."

In Japan, gay culture is officially ignored. Laws permit homosexual
acts between consenting adults over the age of 18, but because of
the strict and conformist nature of Japanese society, most
homosexuals still live in a subterranean world of hidden gay bars
and lifestyles.

Lesbians marching yesterday said they believed discrimination would
be far greater in Japan if gays were open about their sexuality.

"We are not visible. The problem is not there to fight or to talk
about, and that in itself is a problem. We can be lesbians only in
the closet," one said.

The march started in the Shibuya district, a mecca for young people,
which includes a mix of designer shops, fashionable bars and sex
clubs.

As the group passed, young people expressed support. "Lesbians are
fine," said one student. "This is not a bad thing", said a shop
assistant.

The banners carried explicit messages. "Happy dyke day," said one.
"Homosexuals are citizens who work, study and pay taxes," said
another.

Isaku Kotera, 24, a student at Tsukuba University, said gays were
discriminated against. "There is no problem if you don't come out,
but if you do then you face discrimination," he said. "If two people
of the same sex live together, that is a big problem.

"Japanese society is too homogenised. It's fun to have different
people with different lifestyles, different cultures, different
tastes."

Another gay marcher, Ms Kazuko Uchida, 29, said the problem with
Japanese society was that it would not allow lesbians to realise
their identity. Most people simply did not understand homosexuality.

Elegance has a bad effect on my constitution.
-- Louisa May Alcott

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