A bit late to pride month but I had the wonderful opportunity to interview two queer people and here are the conversations that I had with them!Â
The interviewer is me, Ayana(A), and the two participants will be listed as K and Y.
interview starts here
A: First of all, happy pride!!!! If you don’t mind me asking, what do you guys identify as?Â
Y: I’m a lesbian.Â
K: I’m a confused bisexual (laughs).Â
A: Thank you for agreeing to this interview, I’m gonna start with the question. Ready? So, what is it like to be queer in Japan? Any good parts, any bad parts?Â
Y:Â The good parts are I guess, the friends and the amazing community that we have.
K:Â I agree. What are the bad parts then?
Y: Well, we can’t marry and some are homophobic?
K: Oh and very lonely, if you can’t find any queer friends.
Y: Yea. This is a kind of a joke, a well known joke, but because the community is so small, the drama is crazy (laughs)
A:Oh, I even saw that on Tiktok.
(everybody laughs)
A:You guys mentioned the community, but anything you guys love especially about the community?Â
K: I think it’s just so welcoming to everyone, no matter if you figure out your sexuality later in life, or you are questioning, they would just accept you and let yourself be.Â
Y: Adding on, the community, they just get me,I love my straight friends though but it’s a bit different!Â
A: Yea, I 100% agree! Since it’s pride month, I want to talk about pride joy! Pride celebration! Have you ever experienced queer joy?Â
Y: I can tell if they are a lesbian couple or not, from my gaydar. And when I look at them holding hands, I actually do become very happy.
K: Oh and I don’t know if this is considered pride joy, but dancing to gay pop is the best feeling in the world. I love the songs that get how I feel.Â
A: Songs! That’s so true! Chappell Roan, Reneé Rapp.. the list will go on forever if I try.
A: If you could say one thing to non-lgbtq people, what would it be? Or how would you want people to react when you come out?
K:I just want them to act like it’s the most normal thing in the world.Â
Y: I never had a negative reaction to be honest, but yea, just don’t make it too big of a deal I guess?
K: I know it’s different for every person, but yea, for me, I would be fine with like “ok”
A: Last question, any advice or comment that you have?
K:If you want queer friends, we are the destination for you! (laughs)
Y: Oh apparently, a lot of Japanese people meet on Twitter. I’ve made some friends from concerts though! And also download dating apps, you can make friends with those!
K:Come follow our instagram (laughs)
last words
Big thank you to Y and K for agreeing to do the interview!
Even though pride month ended, make sure to be an ally every month (haha)!
To all the people that are in the community, I hope you had a nice pride month!