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90% of Japan LGBTQ youth faced school issues in past year, 6 in 10 cite teachers: survey
TOKYO -- About 90% of LGBTQ and other sexual minority students in junior high and high schools in Japan faced harassment or other difficulties at school in the past year, with more than 60% attributing the problems to teachers and staff, a nonprofit organization's survey has found.
The results also showed that there are errors and discriminatory statements in what is taught about sexual diversity in schools. Laws "to promote understanding of LGBT people" that went into effect in 2023 obligate efforts to be made regarding education and consultation systems for sexual minorities. However, the current curricula do not mention sexual diversity, and it is believed that there are differences in class content and quality.
Over half of LGBTQ teens have thought of suicide in past year
The online survey conducted by Tokyo-based nonprofit ReBit between February and March analyzed responses from 4,733 LGBTQ people aged 12 to 34 nationwide. ReBit promotes understanding and support for LGBTQ people in schools and the government, and carried out the survey for the second time following its first poll in 2022.
Among respondents, 53.9% of those aged between 10 and 19 said they had considered suicide in the past year, along with 40.5% in their 20s and 30.3% in their 30s. Over 40% of those aged 10 to 19 reported engaging in self-harm, while just under 20% said they had attempted suicide.
Harassment by teachers
In questions about school life, 89.5% of the 1,077 junior and senior high school respondents reported experiencing some form of difficulty or harassment at school in the past year. When asked for specifics, 63.7% said other students did or said something under assumptions that they or others were not LGBTQ, while 43.9% said LGBTQ topics were used as jokes or ridicule.
Furthermore, 63.8% of students who experienced difficulties and harassment said that teachers and staff had contributed, including through unnecessary gender separations (46.2%) or assuming that students are not LGBTQ (30.1%). An overwhelming 94.6% of junior and senior high school students said they could not securely consult with their homeroom teacher about their sexuality.
Bullying or violence was reported by 40.1% of junior high students and 24.0% of senior high school students. Among junior high students, 8.0% said they experienced sexual violence such as unwanted touching, clothing being removed or sexual comments from other students, while 2.4% reported such acts from teachers or staff.
Problems continue despite increased coverage in textbooks
A revision to the government's student guidance manual in 2022 called for appropriate support systems for sexual minority students in schools. The LGBT understanding promotion law that went into effect the following year obligated schools to make efforts to improve the educational environment and provide opportunities for sexual minority students to consult with staff.
Private textbook publishers have also increased content related to sexual minorities. Starting the 2024 academic year, all such publishers for health and physical education classes for elementary students in the middle grades have included information on LGBTQ issues and sexual diversity. From academic 2025, all publishers for junior high school moral education and health and P.E. textbooks are doing the same.
Among these trends, 59.2% of students said they were taught about LGBTQ topics in class in the past year -- a 19 percentage point increase compared to the 2022 survey. However, 30.1% said they had heard discriminatory or factually incorrect statements from teachers in the same time period, while merely 30% of junior high respondents reported learning about sexual diversity in elementary school.
Debate continues for inclusion in curriculum guidelines
During the previous revision of public curriculum guidelines in 2017, groups representing sexual minorities called on education authorities to revise the health and physical education textbook descriptions that assumed "interest in the opposite sex" develops during adolescence, but the education ministry, citing the need to consider parental and public understanding, did not make the change.
As experts review the official teaching curriculum, revised once every 10 years, for the first time since the implementation of the LGBT understanding promotion law, debate is ongoing. ReBit's Executive Director Mika Yakushi said, "Data shows that having someone you can discuss your sexuality with safely decreases suicidal ideation. I'd like a system to be established for every school to provide proper education and support regarding LGBTQ issues."
