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…
Tag: homonormativity
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.
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.
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.
Queer x Poverty: HinQ (Hinkon o nakusu tame no Kuia [Queer] no kai) launched on April 21, 2013
As previously announced on this blog, a new queer group in Japan has been formed and officially launched on April 21, 2013 in Kuki city. The group’s name is Hinkon o nakusu tame no Kuia [Queer] no kai, literally translated as Queers for Ending Poverty.
Read before you write about LGBT politics in Japan
Although this isn’t intended to be an exhaustive summary of history of LGBT politics in Japan, which I cannot possibly provide given my limited knowledge, I just couldn’t take anymore the shittiness of the news articles written about LGBT politics in Japan.
The most typical, all-too-common article written in English never fails to make the followings clear:
- Japan lags behind the West. There’s nothing legal about gay partnerships, and people there are afraid to come out.
- But things are changing. And such changes are welcomed with enthusiasm by all LGBTs in Japan.
And I say, THIS IS BULLSHIT.
New Group in Kanto, Japan: HinQ (Queers United to End Poverty, tentative name)
With the help of the people that responded to my invitation over Twitter, I have finalized the plan for the launch event for HinQ (Queers United to End Poverty), a local queer group in Northern Kanto, Japan. See below for details and join us on April 21!
Queer By Choice and Ex-gay
I have always been sick of the born-this-way rhetoric that mainstream gay activism has so proudly spread all over the U.S. I don’t have anything against those who were born gay or born whatever, but feeling that one was born gay and saying so are two different things.