hareru

As far as I know, Japan does not have an organisation equivalent to the UK's LGB Alliance: an organisation that independently advocates for the rights and interests of lesbians and gay men on the basis of same-sex sexual orientation, and works to raise public awareness of these issues. There are lesbian bars, clubs and social communities in Japan. There are also lesbian women involved in the LGBT movement. However, the fact that lesbian individuals participate in these movements does not necessarily mean that the organisations represent lesbian-specific interests or independently defend the rights associated with same-sex sexual orientation. In the UK, links between Stonewall and corporate interests began to develop during the 2000s, increasingly connecting LGBT activism with corporate diversity initiatives. I personally lived in Manchester and central London between 1992 and 2003, so I witnessed the changes taking place within the communities and the movement at the time. Even in those early years, I became uncomfortable with the growing corporate influence and the widening distance between grassroots activism and the communities it was supposed to represent. Figures such as Alex Drummond, whose activism has generated considerable debate around the definition of female homosexuality and the meaning of the word 'lesbian', are also emblematic of the changes within the British movement. Japan experienced a similar development approximately ten years later. During the 2010s, Rainbow Pride events expanded significantly and increasingly became associated with corporate sponsorship. I believe that, throughout this process, the LGBT movement became increasingly commercialised and institutionalised, creating structures in which the interests of corporations and activist organisations could take precedence over the rights and concerns of the people they were supposed to represent. In Japan, I have also witnessed individuals distancing themselves from the communities they once belonged to as these changes took place. Furthermore, as queer theory and gender identity have become increasingly central to the movement's framework, the position of lesbians who understand their sexual orientation in terms of female same-sex attraction, and who advocate for the specific interests of female homosexuals, has become increasingly marginalised. One particularly significant example was the 2019 controversy at GOLD FINGER, a lesbian bar in Shinjuku Ni-chome, concerning the refusal of entry to a transgender woman at a women-only event. The incident attracted coverage in international media and became the subject of wider debate. At the time, the person who was refused entry, Erin McCready, was a professor at Aoyama Gakuin University and had undergone legal sex recognition in the United States. The incident provoked considerable debate within Japan's lesbian community, particularly concerning women-only spaces and the right of female homosexuals to determine the boundaries of their own communities. What we are facing is not simply a disagreement within a community. It is a much deeper problem: lesbians are finding it increasingly difficult to discuss and represent, in their own words, their sexual orientation, their boundaries as women, and their distinct rights and interests. This is precisely why I believe we need an independent organisation similar to the LGB Alliance. I would now like to establish connections with people in the UK and elsewhere to exchange ideas and explore what would be required to establish an organisation such as LGB Alliance Japan, including its organisational structure, principles, legal foundations and public education activities. The fundamental principle is to distinguish sexual orientation from gender identity, and to independently advocate for the rights and interests of lesbians and gay men. This is not simply my personal view. Lesbian and gay friends within my own circles also recognise the need for such an organisation.