Monthly Archives February 2018

My Brother’s Husband’s Talk Show

This TV poster excited many fans In 2015, a gay manga titled “My Brother’s Husband” won a series of manga awards and was nominated as Best Manga of the Year in Angouleme, France. “My brother’s Husband” was so highly rated in France that Liberation, a French newspaper, introduced it as one of the good books to be distributed to school libraries all over France. Gengoroh Tagame, the author of “My Brother’s Husband” is now the center of the attention from all over the world. What’s more, it is going to be a TV drama on NHK on March 4th of
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A transgender woman,who was denied the use of facilities as a woman, filed a lawsuit against Konami Sports Club Co and reached a settlement.

A transgender woman in the city of Kyoto reached a settlement in a dispute over the use of female facilities in Konami Sports Club Co. The transgender woman had been unable to change her gender status on the family register due to her underage daughter when she was denied the request by the fitness club. The manager of the club forced her to use male facilities “as a man” in the way of “not causing inconveniences to other users.” She filed a lawsuit with the Kyoto District Court and reached a settlement this month. Yuki Kono(a fictitious name), a transgender
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Fukuoka City to recognize same-sex partnerships.

The center person is Mayor Takashima, at the reception party of Kyushu Rainbow Pride 2017 On February 8th, the Fukuoka City announced that it would begin recognizing same-sex partnerships from April,2018. The city is to recognize same-sex partnerships in the same way as Tokyo’s Setagaya ward. The city is to start accepting written oaths of partnership and issue special certificates. Anyone unmarried and aged 20 or older who lives in the city can apply for it. The city is planning to make guidelines for same-sex partnerships and start accepting applications from April 1st. In addition to the guidelines, opening consulting
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Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare issues notifications to prohibit unfair treatment against same-sex couples in hotels.

Hotel Palm Royal Naha is famous for its LGBT friendliness. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare revised the guidelines for lodging businesses on January 31st. The new guidelines clearly state it is a violation of the guidelines when hotels deny service to people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. It has always been a violation of the laws, but in reality, it has been quite common in Japan. This time, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare aims to inform all the municipalities of this problem again. The new guidelines, issued by Japanese government and sent to all the
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Kunitachi City to Issue an Ordinance to Prevent Public Disclosure of One’s Sexuality Without Consent.

The first ordinance that bans outing will be into effect in the city of KUNITACHI, Tokyo, the city officials announced on January 30th. It was approved in the city council last December and will take into effect from this April. Outing is the act of telling someone’s sexuality or sexual orientation to someone else without consent. The word “outing” widely spread through Japan after an university student at Hitotsubashi University threw himself off the school building and died in 2016. Before his suicide, he was outed without his consent by his classmate. (This happened in the city of KUNITACHI and
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