There is no comprehensive training for school staff, and the guidelines that do exist are non-binding suggestions issued in April 2016, which predicate respect and accommodation for gender identity on the diagnosis of a mental disorder.īased on interviews with more than 50 LGBT students and former students in fourteen prefectures throughout Japan-as well as teachers, officials, and academic experts-this report documents bullying, harassment, and discrimination in Japanese schools based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, and the poor record of schools when it comes to appropriately responding to and preventing such incidents. Japanese LGBT children who attempt to report bullying and harassment to school officials play their luck, as the response depends entirely on an individual teacher or school staffer’s personal perspectives on sexual orientation and gender identity. In Japan, however, that is often the case for youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) or as other sexual and gender minority identities, or who are questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity.
No child's safety or healthy development should depend on a chance encounter with a compassionate adult. –Natsuo Z., 18, Fukuoka, recalling a high school administrator’s response to a request to wear the male school uniform, August 2015 I’m not going to let your selfishness ruin the harmony of this school.” He said, “No, this graduation ceremony isn’t about you. That was the only time I heard about LGBT people from a teacher-except when I overheard them making gay jokes.
Then she said sex between boys was the main cause of AIDS so we should stay away from homosexuals. “In the world there are some weird people,” my high school health teacher said to introduce the lesson.