Ever since I was little, I was seriously physically abused because my mannerisms and way of talking
was not like the other boys.
I was not supposed to be myself. I needed to act like somebody else.
I always believed that.
Since I was three, I knew I was gay.
In Japan, there's a saying "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down."
I was that nail sticking out... and I got bullied really badly.
Someone would kick me or hit me, just to get a good laugh out of it.
Many times since I was young, I wanted to kill myself.
In Japan, LGBT students who try to report cases of bullying to their teachers are often
faced with a refusal to engage because the teachers either don't understand sexual orientation
or gender identity or they see it as a taboo topic that they don't want to take up. Other
Other students are told that the way that they should solve
the problem is to conform. They were told that their desire to be an openly gay
or openly transgender student at the school was a selfish desire and was ruining the harmony
of the school for everyone else. Even the national bullying prevention policy promotes school harmony
and social conformity instead of discussing the particular vulnerabilities of any group of students.
The attacks only got worse after I came out.
Getting my homework that I needed to turn in to the teacher scribbled on, stolen or thrown into the trash.
Not only the students but some of the teachers also openly showed hostility towards gays.
When I told my teacher that I was bullied, the teacher told me that "you deal with it
among yourselves". They behaved as if it didn't concern them or it wasn't important.
One out of three teachers still believes that homosexuality is a mental illness or
"don't really know if it is." Such basic things are still not common knowledge. So the first step
is to increase the level of knowledge and change the mindset and the next is dealing
with it in the classroom. It's important to create a system where teachers are receiving training.
In the elementary schools, LGBT issues weren't discussed or in the curriculum. But I heard
But I heard many instances where classrooms used LGBT issues
in the classroom as something bad or something to make fun of.
For a child, a teacher is someone you see every day. For that teacher to make
negative remarks about something that could pertain to you understandably adversely affects
their self-esteem.
For transgender students, the situation can be even worse. In order to attend school according
to the gender they identify with, schools often require them to obtain a diagnosis of
a mental disorder. Without this, they are forced to wear uniforms they don't identify with.
They are denied access to bathrooms and they are slotted into gender -segregated
school activities.
A normal kid is able to wake up in the morning and look forward to school.
Me, I didnt want to go to school. For me, I was happy when school ended.
This year Japan's National Bullying Prevention Act is up for review. This is a crucial opportunity
for the government to address some of the weaknesses in the policy. Most specifically,
they should name categories of students who are vulnerable to bullying, including LGBT students.
The Japanese government has an opportunity
to signal that harmony in schools should be achieved by including everyone
and making everyone feel safe.