Daisuke Kikuchi reports: Thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people paraded through Tokyo’s Shibuya district on Sunday to express hope that Japan will further embrace gender equality and diversity.

The LGBT parade was the finale to the annual Tokyo Rainbow Pride festival, and this year’s theme was “Change.”

“I believed that nothing would change. But, little by little, things are starting to change,” the event’s flyers say, quoting an unnamed individual. “Let’s achieve a future where everyone is respected as an individual, despite differences in sexuality.”

“My company is very tolerant of LGBT people. A consultation program is available for anyone whose sexuality makes them feel uncomfortable among their coworkers,” said a gay man who participated in the festival, which was held in Yoyogi Park.

The man, who only wanted to be identified by his initials, H.U., added that over the past few years his company’s grasp of gender issues had improved and that management was more understanding of the situation of LGBT staff.

In the park, where performers took to the stage and booths hosted charity events, H.U. said he was surprised to see that the festival was much larger compared with two years ago, when he first attended … (read more)

via YouTube – Japan Times