A total of 160 openly gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and bisexual athletes are expected to participate in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, making this year’s Games the most inclusive ever. A focus has been placed on Japan, which activists say is out of step with most of the rest of the world, having not seen the same sweeping social change that made same-sex marriage and greater inclusion a reality in many countries.
Fumino Sugiyama, a 39-year-old former fencer for the Japan national team and a transgender activist, said he was excited to see how far the Games have come in terms of diversity. He recalled that sports were very different when he was younger, and discriminatory language was common. He began fencing at the age of 10 and eventually competed for the Japanese women’s team internationally. At 25, he retired from competitions due to conflicting feelings about his gender identity.
‘I loved the sport of fencing, I didn’t feel I could find a place for myself,’ he said. Though Japan is known for its vibrant civil society and democratic system, many rights activists claim it still has a long way to go when it comes to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) issues. While the Olympic charter bans discrimination, Tokyo passed an anti-discrimination law three years ago, but the rest of the country does not have the same legal protections.
The Games will serve as an opportunity to raise awareness and public support for LGBTQ issues. ‘Japan is often perceived as the international leader in human rights, but in fact, Japan has virtually no laws covering equality for marriage or gender identity and orientation’, explained Gon Matsunaka, founder of Japan’s first LGBTQ center, Pride House. The message is also being brought to Japan by foreign teams.
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Nike Lorenz, the captain of the German women’s hockey team, will wear a captain’s armband in rainbow colors at all of her games to show solidarity with LGBTQ communities, the German Olympic Sports Confederation said. The organization announced that the International Olympic Committee had approved its request for Lorenz to wear the armband, just like Germany’s Manuel Neuer, the captain of its soccer team, did last month at Euro 2020. ‘We are happy that we have been able to develop a common path that will allow the hockey team to make a socio-political statement,’ Alfons Hoermann, president of the confederation, said.
As the first transgender person to be appointed to the Japanese Olympic Committee, Sugiyama also organizes the city’s annual pride march. ‘Being excluded from the sports world is the same as being excluded from society, so I think it is important to take this opportunity to have positive discussions,’ he said.
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