LGBTQ Breaking News Service

TOKYO (AP) — The head of the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday took part in an event marking Japan’s LGBTQ pride week at a center in the capital, as activists and dozens of lawmakers pushed for an equality law to be enacted before the games begin in less than three months.

Seiko Hashimoto visited Pride House Tokyo, an international initiative to provide a place for LGBTQ people and others to connect during the games. The first Pride House was set up during the 2010 Winter Games.

Japan is the only country in the Group of Seven major industrialized nations where same-sex marriages are not legally recognized. A Japanese court ruled last month that same-sex marriage should be allowed under the constitution, although the ruling has no immediate legal effect.

“We need to take action now,” Hashimoto said, adding that she wants people to remember the Tokyo Games as a “turning point in achieving diversity and harmony, including understanding for LGBTQ” issues. Hashimoto toured Pride House and met with LGBTQ activists, including athletes, for talks.

Elsewhere in Tokyo, over 40 lawmakers and their aides from the governing and opposition parties — all wearing matching rainbow-colored facemasks — as well as activists and supporters gathered in person and online for what they called a Rainbow Parliament event to push for enactment of an LGBTQ equality act. Tennis great and equal rights advocate Billie Jean King also sent a video message of support.

Late last month, activists submitted a petition with over 106,000 signatures to the governing and opposition parties calling for an equality law before the Tokyo Games begin on July 23. They say momentum for the legislation is growing as Japan gets more attention over its handling of gender equality, diversity and other rights issues.

“We hope to speed up an enactment of the equality act,” said Yuri Igarashi, co-chair of the Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation.

Kanako Otsuji, a lesbian lawmaker from the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, said she was a target of bullying at school. “I was often called a ‘manly girl’ and bullied,” she said.

“Many people cannot speak up because of fear of discrimination. Then how can we change the situation? Legal protection is the only way,” she said. “For the children of the next generation to not face this kind of bullying, we need anti-discrimination laws.”

Many sexual minorities still hide their sexual identities in Japan, fearing discrimination at school, work and even from their families. In addition, transgender people must have their reproductive organs removed before their gender can be changed on official documents — a requirement that international medical experts and human rights groups criticize as inhumane.

Aki Nomiya, a transgender activist, said people whose appearances and official records don’t match feel especially vulnerable. “Unless we are free of fear of prejudice and discrimination, we cannot live peacefully,” she said.

Gon Matsunaka, who heads Pride House Tokyo and led Hashimoto on the tour, said the sports world remains unfriendly to LGBTQ people because of its gender specificity.

“In many sports, players are divided between men and women. In sports, masculinity is often emphasized because of competition in speed and power, and sexual minorities are often made fun of or harassed,” Matsunaka said.

Five states have passed laws or implemented executive orders this year limiting the ability of transgender youths to play sports or receive certain medical treatment. There’s been a vehement outcry from supporters of transgender rights – but little in the way of tangible repercussions for those states.

It’s a striking contrast to the fate of North Carolina a few years ago. When its Legislature passed a bill in March 2016 limiting which public restrooms transgender people could use, there was a swift and powerful backlash. The NBA and NCAA relocated events; some companies scrapped expansion plans. By March 2017, the bill’s bathroom provisions were repealed.

So far this year, there’s been nothing comparable. Not even lawsuits, although activists predict some of the measures eventually will be challenged in court.

Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, deputy executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, says he’s surprised by the lack of backlash, but believes it will materialize as more people learn details about the legislation being approved.

“A lot of Americans are still getting to know trans people and they’re learning about these issues for the first time,” he said. “Over time, they get to know their trans neighbors, they get outraged by these bans, and corporations respond … It’s just a matter of time.”

The president of a major national LGBTQ-rights organizations, Alphonso David of the Human Rights Campaign, attributed the lack of backlash to lack of awareness about the potential harm that these laws could cause to transgender young people.

“Some people in this country have not come to terms with treating trans people like human beings,” David said. “It’s now coming to a head.”

One batch of bills seeks to ban transgender girls from competing on girls’ sports teams in public schools. Such measures have been enacted in Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi, and implemented by an executive order from Gov. Kristi Noem in South Dakota.

Another batch of bills seeks to ban gender-affirming medical treatments for trans minors – including the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Arkansas legislators approved such a measure over the veto of Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and similar measures are pending in Alabama, Tennessee and Texas.

Echoing concerns of major medical associations, Dr. Michele Hutchison – who runs a transgender medicine clinic at Arkansas Children’s hospital — says the ban in her state is raising the risk of suicide among some of her patients and forcing some families to wonder if they should move to another state.

More than 400 companies __ including Tesla, Pfizer, Delta Air Lines and Amazon __ have signed on to support civil rights legislation for LGBTQ people that is moving through Congress, advocates said Tuesday.

And last week, the Human Rights Campaign took out a full-page ad in the New York Times appealing to corporations to denounce the anti-trans bills that have proliferated in Republican-controlled legislatures.

The letter, signed by David, urged corporate leaders “to take action now by publicly denouncing state legislation that discriminates against people, refusing to advance new business in states that are hostile to corporate values and refusing to support sporting events where transgender athletes are banned.”

More than 85 companies have signed a statement drafted by the HRC — including Amazon, American Airlines, Apple, AT&T, Facebook, IBM, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Pfizer and Union Pacific. In polite language, the statement implies a threat: “As we make complex decisions about where to invest and grow, these issues can influence our decisions.”

Overall, the corporate response remains “insufficient,” David said. “But I think we are seeing a turning of the tide as we put more pressure on companies.”

One of the companies signing the HRC statement is the technology giant Oracle Corp., which is planning to bring 8,500 jobs and a $1.2 billion investment to Nashville, Tennessee, over the coming decade. Joe Woolley, who heads the Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce, has expressed hope that Oracle — which has not threatened to cancel its plans — might use its leverage to prompt reconsideration of Tennessee’s anti-transgender legislation.

Woolley also says organizers of at least three conventions are considering pulling those events out of Nashville because of the bills, though he has declined to identify them.

Thus far, Tennessee Gov, Bill Lee has signaled that any criticism from the business community won’t sway him.

“Organizations have opportunities to weigh in on the legislative process but ultimately, Tennesseans, through their elected representatives, determine the law in our state,” said Casey Black, a spokesperson for Lee.

In Texas, a coalition called Texas Competes released a letter April 19 signed by more than 40 businesses and chambers of commerce in the state denouncing a batch of pending bills as “divisive, unnecessary and economically dangerous.”

Specifically, the letter denounced “efforts to exclude transgender youth from full participation in their communities.”

In Montana, where a transgender sports ban has won initial approval in the Republican-controlled House and Senate, lawmakers added an amendment stipulating that the measure would be nullified if the federal government withheld education funding from the state because of the policy.

The concern stems from an executive order signed by President Joe Biden banning discrimination based on gender. Montana universities receive around $350 million annually in federal funding, of which $250 million goes towards student loans and grants to cover tuition costs — money that university officials say could be at risk if the administration deemed the sports ban to be unacceptable discrimination.

The extent of any emerging backlash to the anti-trans laws will hinge in part on the NCAA, which played a pivotal role in the North Carolina case.

The NCAA’s Board of Governors issued a statement April 12 expressing strong support for the inclusion of transgender athletes.

“When determining where championships are held, NCAA policy directs that only locations where hosts can commit to providing an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination should be selected,” the statement said. “We will continue to closely monitor these situations to determine whether NCAA championships can be conducted in ways that are welcoming and respectful of all participants.”

Alphonso David said the Human Rights Campaign welcomed the statement, but wanted an even tougher stance from the NCAA, with explicit warnings that events would not be held in states with anti-trans laws.

“The time for concrete actions is now,” David said Monday in a letter to NCCA leaders. “This is a national crisis, and one that necessitates united action, including from the NCAA.”

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Associated Press reporters Iris Samuels in Helena, Montana, and Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.

Lianne Sanderson says she derives joy and satisfaction from celebrating the LGBT+ community in sport and refuses to be discouraged by “keyboard warriors”.

The 50-cap England international is increasingly in demand on TV and radio and although she has not yet hung up her boots definitively, football broadcasting continues to offer her opportunities that are raising her profile with new audiences.

Bringing the same energy and enthusiasm that helped deliver countless career goals as well as honours with Arsenal, Juventus and the Lionesses, Sanderson has felt confident to be out publicly ever since her days playing in Women’s Professional Soccer in the US – the forerunner of the National Women’s Soccer League – in the early 2010s.

A long-time advocate for greater equality across society, she is among the nominees in the Sport category for the 2021 DIVA Awards which recognise the achievements and activism of LGBT+ women. The winners will be announced on Thursday as part of Lesbian Visibility Week.

Speaking on an LVW panel event held by Sky’s Women and LGBT+ networks, Sanderson says raising awareness around inclusion remains essential for ensuring diverse voices get heard.

“People often say, ‘why do we still need this? I don’t really care if you’re gay or straight’ – but there are still some that do care,” she explained.

“It’s important for people like myself to be visible in the public eye and stand up for what’s right. That’s what I’ll always do for my community.

“These kinds of weeks, Rainbow Laces, all the campaigns – I think they’re really good. We’ve still got a long way to go, but we have to be celebratory too about the place that we’re at.

“Women’s football is on the rise, there’s more visibility there, and when I see those captains wearing the rainbow armbands, it makes me happy. Long may it continue, and I’m going to keep being outspoken in the way that I am.”

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Sanderson recently posted examples on social media of homophobic and misogynistic abuse she has received, and she believes this weekend’s forthcoming boycott of platforms by organisations and clubs across football was “inevitable”.

“During lockdown, it seems as if the keyboard warriors have got behind their computers even more,” she told Sky Sports News.

“Even myself last week, again I was abused, and that account is still up there.

“People forget because we’re in the public eye, but we are still human. They might say, ‘just turn a blind eye, don’t look at it’ – but once you’ve seen something, you can’t unsee it.”

She hopes the mobilisation and show of solidarity makes an impression on the social media companies. “It seems like if you hurt people in their pockets when it comes to finances, that’s the only way you can do it.

“Look at the Super League. Within two days, football was able to stamp that out because of the fans and the pundits.

“For footballers to have to play the game that we love and get abused while they’re doing it, it is absolutely shocking. Hopefully, this can make a change – but the conversation needs to continue.”

Messages and media

Sanderson says she is grateful that she was never burdened by her sexuality as she always felt supported by friends and family. Having spoken to others – including in the women’s game – who have struggled with being LGBT+, she is committed to being authentically and unapologetically herself.

“You don’t realise how impactful you’re being, and I see that as a win,” she says.

“The letters and messages that I get from kids, and parents – it’s amazing. You can actually see the amount of people you can help.

We’ve still got a long way to go, but we have to be celebratory too about the place that we’re at.

“I do wish that more players would come out, not that it makes me stronger as a person but because carrying that weight on your shoulders is not the easiest thing to do.

“I’m lucky I didn’t have to do that but I’ve got friends who knew they were gay from aged five, and they’ve carried it around their whole life. Hearing their stories – and some had suicidal thoughts, or depression – I just think it makes such a difference.

“I’m just glad I have the platform that I can speak out and help people. I’ve seen the impact you can make by just being visible and being yourself. With that comes negativity as well but I’m not wrapped up on that – if people want to have an opinion of me, then that’s down to them.

“But if I can help one person, then I’ve done my job. I thought being a footballer was more than enough but I realise now, after not playing and having seen the amount of impact I can have in people’s lives, that means more to me than ever winning a medal or a trophy. I never thought that would be the case.”

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Sanderson appreciates how the intense pressure and focus on male professional footballers makes the prospect of coming out publicly incredibly daunting for any who are gay or bisexual. Though Robbie Rogers and Thomas Hitzlsperger both shared their truth having played in England, no player in the men’s pro game in the UK has yet done so while contracted to a league club.

“When you’re the first, that will always be a topic of conversation,” says Sanderson.

“The first male player that comes out, there’s going to be a lot of media attention – that’s just how it is – but it can also create an environment where more people can follow suit. Education is key.”

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With the next men’s World Cup to be held in late 2022 in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal, there is sure to be even more discussion around LGBT+ inclusion in football in the coming months. Sanderson has visited the Gulf state three times and she shared her experiences in the Sky panel event.

“I’ve had the opportunity to go there and work. If I’d got there and felt scared, then I’d have got on the first plane back,” she said.

“They opened up the main Khalifa stadium for an all-female camp – it had never been done before. Some of the girls didn’t want to be on camera because their parents didn’t even know that they were going to be at football. But they all had these amazing stories.

“There’s a lot of negativity around the Qatar World Cup and I understand why completely. But the work I was able to do there, I think it made a difference. I can honestly say I had one of the best experiences there – I felt welcomed – even though I want their rules to change, obviously.

“Hopefully seeing somebody like me, seeing that I’m OK and that it’s OK to be who I am… I’m as respectful of their culture as they are of me. Even a man and a woman can’t hold hands and kiss each other in public in countries like Qatar or Dubai. But you can change the perception by being who you are.”

It’s far from a perfect world, but you can guarantee Sanderson will take her optimistic, big-hearted worldview into every studio and every situation. It’s more than just visibility, it’s joie de vivre. “I want people to feel empowered, not pressured, by what we’re saying. I think we’re in a good spot.”

Lesbian Visibility Week runs from Monday, April 26, to Sunday, May 2.

Sky Sports is a member of TeamPride which supports Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign. Your story of being LGBT+ or an ally could help to make sport everyone’s game. To discuss further, please contact us here.