#Event #Students #LGBT #Library

In 2015, the legalization of gay marriage by the US Supreme Court became a big news in the world. Even in Japan, media coverage of issues regarding sexual minorities rapidly expanded in 2015. For instance, in April 2015, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology for the first time made a circular notice that points out the need of special care for sexual minorities in schools.

However, the existence of sexual minorities and their lives are not recognized by others. The Ochanomizu University is famous for gender studies, but it is no exception. Thus, Ms. Yagishita and her friends decided to display panels regarding sexual minorities in the university library.

Q What did you do?

It is difficult to explain sexuality because it depends on people. (Every person has a different sexuality.) This display was an attempt to make an opportunity to think about sexuality and have a good understanding of it. Thus, we gathered voices of our friends about their idea of sexuality, coming out, and messages for people and introduced such voices through the panels and brochures. 

Q How was it?

Many people gave us positive impressions (Photo 2) such as,

*I’ve thought that I had learned about sexuality and had a positive attitude after I had entered the university, but I noticed that I said that “Do you have a boyfriend?” in daily life.

*There are many kinds of “love”. I’m happy to know that A sexually exists as a category.

*I was surprised that there are more sexual minorities around me than I expected. I just thought that there are sexual minorities just because most of them hide their sexuality. They might be the majority. I think it is important to think about sexuality.

Some people told me that they brought the brochure to their home and talked about it with their family and friends. I was glad to hear such reactions. As a whole reaction to the panel 

display was more positive and active than we expected. Although we cannot name here, we thank people who generously their personal insights and experiences to be presented at our panel . Their voices laid the found action of our entire project.

We could not make this panel organized without the help of our friends and staffs at the Ochanomizu University. Ochanomizu University is a small scale university compared to others in Japan, but faculty members and staffs are very supportive for students. Thus, if someone has an idea, they kindly provide spaces and suggestions. For me, it is comfortable here, because most people at Ochanomizu University are cooperative and accept new ideas and projects.

Writer & Photo Credit: Akari Yagishita