As we have reported there will be more out LGBTQ athletes competing in the Tokyo Olympics that takes place Friday July 23rd to Sunday August 8th than all the previous Summer Olympics combined. Since 1928 229 LGBT+ athletes have competed in the Summer & Winter Olympics & this year at least 162 LGBTQ athletes are headed to Tokyo a new record & 116% increase since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. However Japan failed to improve LGBTQ rights ahead of the Olympics & brave Japanese athletes are coming out anyways. In Japan marriage equality has not been legalized & there are limited legal recognitions for gay & lesbian couples with few protections against discrimination in the workplace or in public. Japanese law also requires transgender people to be surgically sterilized if they want legal recognition of their gender identity. Our LGBTQ community in Japan hoped that the 2020 Olympics would force changes that would allow them to have a better future but that didn’t happen. Gon Matsunaka President of Pride House Tokyo stated, “We hope that we can all reaffirm the spirit of the Olympic Charter, which states that all people should be given equal opportunity to play sports without discrimination of any kind, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity & that the Games will be a celebration of an inclusive sports culture that does not exclude anyone & promotes positive change in society.” Pride House Tokyo Consortium has been working to expand understanding of LGBTQ & other sexual minorities in Japan since 2018 to create an environment in which all people can feel safe, regardless of gender, sexual orientation or gender identity. For More Info…
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