For those in the progressive circles who’ve always seen the radical queer left and their anti-(gay)marriage politics as mere hindrance, or even a pain in the ass, the news of gay marriage legislations (possibly) lowering LGB suicide rates among the youth probably comes as a belated surprise Valentine’s Day gift. Now that gay marriage has proven to deliver real benefits to not just…
Author: Masaki C. Matsumoto
My Interview on Feminism, Queer Activism, and Representation in Japanese Pop Culture Is Now Online at AniFem
Amelia said she wanted to interview me for the AniFem website, and I agreed, part of the reason being it’s a new website and yet they promise to pay all writers starting 2017. That should not be a big deal, but it kinda is when so many writers around the world are underpaid or not paid at all. That, and I just liked the idea of creating a sort of like an online hub where you can find lots of queer and feminist information, resources, critiques etc. about otaku cultures.
News: “Same-sex partner code proposition: Shibuya ward’s “human rights” double-standard?”
Translated by Masaki C. Same-sex partner code proposition: Shibuya ward’s “human rights” double-standard? Different stances on sexual & gender minority and the homeless In March, the Shibuya ward council will submit the bill that if passed would allow the local government to issue partnership certificates to same-sex couples who would then be recognized as having a relationship equivalent to a…
New blog design, belated new-year resolutions
Applying a new design to my blog(s) has become quite a habit of mine, especially when I’m procrastinating or just trying to escape the world and people around me. It lets me focus on something, leaving no room in my psyche for external disruptions and everyday shit. I feel somehow digitally connected to the computer, becoming one with the whole…
New Tumblr Project: Rad-queers Speaking English For You
The project is intended to be a repository of blog entries, scholarly papers, news articles, videos, music, poetry, etc. etc. available in English but created by (mostly radical) queers from non-English speaking regions, to provide a collection of rad-queer voices in non-Western, non-English speaking worlds that are often overlooked by English-language LGBT journalism.
Compilation of Negative Responses to Akie Abe’s Participation in Tokyo Rainbow Pride 2014
The Tokyo Rainbow Pride, which I talked about last year on this blog, marked its 3rd anniversary on April 27, 2014. Its commercialization and increasingly neoliberal, militarist, and conservative crystallization of LGBT politics have become almost intolerably, grotesquely obvious. I could go on and on about sponsorships and participation of embassies and corporations at the Pride, but today I am so devastated by the participation of Prime Minister Abe’s wife, Ms. Akie Abe at the Pride, that I am almost in a shock state.
Queer Dining Bar FAT CATS to Open in Gunma, Japan in June 2014!
As some of you already know, for the past 4 years I have been doing the Bar OccaMan project in Gunma, Japan with Eva, Cherry, and several other semi-permanent and occasional volunteers. The project is a monthly outdoor queer bar event and since its start in May 2010 we have been quite popular thanks to our loyal regulars in the neighborhood and those who come from other places like Tokyo.
Back to blogging
As I was increasingly sick and tired of the allegro call-out culture of Twitter (I quit my main jpnz account recently), I looked for a new platform. Tumblr, maybe? I thought. Then I remembered I had my own domain and hosting here. For a change, I picked a new design template and modified it a bit. Especially useful was Richard’s Modifying OpenGraph Data from WordPress’s Jetpack.
I’m hoping to blog as often as I used to, like in the pre-Twitter, pre-Facebook era.
Pass ENDA?
I found this animated GIF by glaad for the ENDA campaign.
The Privilege To Say ‘I Don’t’
As I was going through the daily routine of browsing Facebook & Twitter, I found a NYT article, Gay Couples, Choosing to Say ‘I Don’t’, the title of which caught my eye, as I oppose the institution of marriage, and the like-minded people who shared the link in FB/TW seemed content with anti-marriage opinions circulating at last in the mainstream media. Excited, I read on, only to be disappointed, but in a way that was quite unexpected, by the elitist tone of the article.