By KIMIHIKO SATO/ Staff Writer
May 30, 2022 at 18:25 JST
People march for public understanding toward sexual minorities in Akita on May 28. (Kimihiko Sato)
AKITA--Sexual minorities and their supporters on May 28 held the first pride parade in the capital of Akita Prefecture ever as part of the global pride parade movement to show support for sexual diversity.
“This is just the start,” said Masataka Masaki, the co-chair of the group who organized the event. Masaki also heads a citizen group called the Sexualities and Human Rights Network ESTO.
The parade, called the Akita pride march, was the first such event held in the prefecture.
About 100 people gathered near Akita Station holding rainbow flags and signs demanding same-sex marriage be legalized and that sexual minorities be given the same rights as others.
They chanted the slogan, “We are here,” during the parade.
Afterward, they marched to the Akita City Cultural Creation Center, urging prejudice and discrimination against sexual minorities to be eliminated. They also demanded a society where all people can live in any manner they like.
“It was significant to show that this many people who are willing to fight for sexual minorities exist in Akita,” said Aoi Murata, 22, the other co-chair of the group that organized the event. Murata is also a graduate student at the Akita University of Art.
Masaki said the group will continue working to make a partnership system, introduced by the prefectural government and others, easier for sexual minorities to use.
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