Research Report for Cycle 1

LGBTQ＋

~EDUCATION & GOVERNMENT~

My Starting Story and Interests

When I was a high school student, the rule of school uniforms was changed, which is that girls can wear the skirts or slacks; genderless school uniforms, however, the regulation for boys did not alter. I had a question why boys can select in two choices such like girls, which does not show diversity systems.

Also, when I talked with my grandfather and my brother about our future, grandfather told me, “You are girl, so you can get married and become a housewife, but your brother is a boy, so he must work at the office….” I felt uncomfortable with the term “because you are a girl”,

The differences between boys and girls leads to the traditional stereotypes about gender in Japan. I am interested in Gender problem, especially LGBTQ+. They cannot bring themselves to talk about it to anyone in Japan, because there are many prejudices against LGBTQ+. I would like to know some people do not understand them, and what we should do to make the society where everyone can spend a good life.

My Research Focus

Some fields such as the law, media, education and governments are related to change the public opinion. In particular, I am going to focus on Education and Government because Education is an important tool for students, teachers, and Families to know LBTQ+, and Government can make the policy for LGBTQ+.

My Research Questions

・Why is there the discrimination against LGBTQ＋?

・What should we do to improve the society?

The proportion of LGBTQ in Japan

I was greatly surprised to know the truth, which is there are many LGBTQ+ people, which means they are not familiarity.

From TRP2022, About LGBT, Retrieved from https://tokyorainbowpride.com/lgbt/

Voices and Stories ( LGBT Students Bullied )

・M.L.(Gay）

M.L knew he was gay since he was tree, and was bullied at school and wanted to kill himself.

He asked for help, however, his teachers ignored him and behaved as if it did not concern them.

From Human Rights Watch Japan.(2016). LGBT Students Bullied in Japan.

Retrieved 15, June, 2022 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVUyw8Pob68

・A.K (Lesbian)

One day, her teacher said “There are people who are homosexuals but they have an unnatural existence as human beings, and their morals are not good either. She felt that she is a human unworthy to live.

From HUMAN RIGHT WATCH.(2016). The Nail That Sticks Out Gets Hammered Down.

Retrieved 15, June, 2022 from https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/05/05/nail-sticks-out-gets-hammered-down/lgbt-bullying-and-exclusion-japanese-schools

Teachers' questionnaire (1) Have you given lessons about LGBT?

These pie charts by Yasuhal Hidaka, PhD(2021,3) show the proportion of teachers (21,634 people) who have given classes about LGBT between October,2019 and March,2020.

More than half of teachers should teach LGBT in classes*¹ ,however, the few population of teachers have treated curriculums about LGBT. More than 80% people have not teach students about LGBT.

why is there the differences between thoughts and actions? Let's check next chart.

*1 the population of teachers who should teach about LGBT is at 74,7% according to the survey by Yasuhal Hidaka(2021,3)

Teachers' questionnaire(2) The reasons why don't teachers teach students?

The bar chart by Yasuhal Hidaka, PhD(2021,3) illustrates the reasons why teachers teach students about LGBT. There are some reason such as no opportunities feeling the necessity, the lack of knowledge, no text books, the difficult to teach it and no curriculums. The most common reasons were "no opportunities feeling the necessity" and "the difficult to teach it". I thought that some teachers did not understand LGBT completely, and it is the need to set up the environment to learn the theme for teachers. All reasons are related to the lack of knowledge about LGBT, so, I should make the systems to understand them for teachers and students.

Government's Response

The Ministry of Education decided on “性同一性障害に係る児童生徒に対するきめ細やかな対応について” for teachers in 2015, promoting their attitude in LGBT youngers. It was followed by the decision; “the new study plan for the elementary school and junior high school ” in 2017 and “the new study plan for the high school student” in 2018. These plans do not consider LGBT people although they established the plan in 2015, and some teachers opposed the scheme in 2017 and 2018, however, the government rejected these offers because the treatment of so-called "sexual minorities" as an instructional content is a matter of The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has also taken into account the following factors. It is considered difficult to deal with the issue of sexual minorities in the content of teaching.

Local Government's Response

In Yodogawa, there are many supports to realize the gender diversity. For example, creating the website for LGBT support, offering the community space, establishing the clinic and making the leaflets for parents, teachers and medical services. Recently, there are not many local governments such as Yodogawa.

What I've learned and my new interests

I found that LGBTQ + was not special and limit the selections. there are many corrections for education and policy. Not only students but also teachers do not know about LGBTQ+, I have mentioned above.

Regarding the curriculums, the reason why The Ministry of Education was reluctant to change them is uncertainty. The government is likely to pretend not to see the complex programs and it is very difficult to change the attitude, however, there are some positive local governments about LGBTQ+ like Yodogawa. To improve the public image about LGBTQ, it is a key to increase the opportunity to communicate with people involved.

I learned that approaches of governments and education were not enough, that is why I want to know the sight of business and media. Also, I would like to learn the policy of foreign countries and compare the two.

Sources of Information

・TRP2022, About LGBT, Retrieved 15, June, 2022 from https://tokyorainbowpride.com/lgbt/

・ Human Rights Watch Japan.(2016). LGBT Students Bullied in Japan. Retrieved 15, June, 2022 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVUyw8Pob68

・HUMAN RIGHT WATCH.(2016). The Nail That Sticks Out Gets Hammered Down.

Retrieved 15, June, 2022 from https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/05/05/nail-sticks-out-gets-hammered-down/lgbt-bullying-and-exclusion-japanese-schools

・Yasuhal Hidaka, PhD(2021,3) 「子どもの"人生を変える”先生の言葉があります　2021」Retrieved 15, June, 2022 from https://health-issue.jp/teachers_survey_2019.pdf

・大阪市淀川区役所市民協働課「淀川区LGBT支援事業」Retrieved 15, June, 2022 from https://niji-yodogawa.jp/category/%e5%85%ac%e9%96%8b%e8%b3%87%e6%96%99/

・中西絵里（2017,11）「LGBTの現状と課題ー性的志向又は性自認に関する差別とその解消の動きー」Retrieved 15, June, 2022 from　https://www.sangiin.go.jp/japanese/annai/chousa/rippou_chousa/backnumber/2017pdf/20171109003.pdf

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