Statistic Pride

It's Pride Month. When I googled "Pride Month" just now, Google had a set of related popular questions, the number one being, "What state has the least gays?" To which I immediately said, "You mean, 'What state has the fewest gays?'" before a split second later registering how moronic the premise of the question is. Morbid curiosity compelled me to click it so hopefully Google doesn't think I'm a homophobe now.

The AI's answer to the question is:

Based on population data from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, Mississippi and West Virginia tie for the lowest percentage of LGBTQ+ adults in the nation, each at 4.1% of their respective populations. Because state demographics and survey sizes fluctuate, you'll find that several other states consistently share the bottom of the list, including:

Alabama: 4% to 4.6%
North Carolina: 4.4%
South Carolina: 4.9%

Note: Demographers often observe that states with the smallest documented queer populations sometimes see lower numbers due to a lack of legal protections or a less welcoming social climate, which can make residents less likely to be open about their identity on surveys.

The AI cites The Advocate for these statistics. One might also point out that the numbers would be difficult to calculate because some people may be homosexual without realising it, depending on whether or not you believe homosexuality is invariably genetically determined.

But I've been in Japan for a week, I just got back to San Diego on Wednesday. How's Pride Month going over there? Well, this was in all the APA hotels I was staying in outside of Tokyo:

"日本はもっと強くなれる" translates to something like, "Japan is capable of great power/Japan can become more powerful." One might be forgiven for thinking that Japan has misinterpreted the point of Pride Month. But this is likely an intentional, passive aggressive insult aimed at Japan's LGBTQ community. According to Wikipedia:

APA has been noted in Japan for its proximity to the far right, particularly visible through the works considered revisionist and antisemitic that can be found in the company's hotel rooms, and the links of its founder with far-right figures such as Steve Bannon.

I've been witness to, and the target of, pervasive homophobic harassment in Japan. At the same time, I also worked with a number of LGTBQ Japanese teachers and, of course, I had plenty of LGBTQ students. They were almost invariably among the sanest of my coworkers and pupils. I was amazed at how confidently my LGTBQ colleagues could conduct themselves in such a rigorously hostile environment. One memory that sticks out, and I'm going to be vague on details because I know the assholes read my blog, is of one LGBTQ teacher whom I remember always exhibiting exceptional deportment and intuitive grace. This teacher also had a reverence for traditional Japanese aesthetics and culture. One day, this teacher came to work visibly altered in demeanour, uncontrollably shaking at times. Knowing the invasions of privacy and the intense "waruguchi", vigorously slanderous gossip, that I had been subjected to, I had some inkling of what this teacher had been a victim of, though I suspect, from the extreme change in demeanour, that this teacher had been subjected to something worse than I ever had, something so foul that it's difficult to imagine. That incident, though, made me appreciate the fortitude I regularly witnessed in my LGBTQ colleagues. Their pride is certainly well earned.

You know, there's a lot I love about Japan even now but at the moment I'm real fucking glad to be back in the States.