
Will Apple be the last tech company to support the LGBT community in Japan? - dmak
https://morimori.tokyo/2017/05/will-apple-will-be-the-last-major-tech-company-to-openly-support-the-lgbt-community-in-japan/
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JBReefer
Shaming people for _not_ doing something always feels weird. They're not
saying anything against the Japanese LGBT community, and Tim Cook is openly
gay. This feels like all those times people try to get Taylor Swift to tweet
for their cause - kind of off putting and pointless.

Isn't Apple supposed to be one of the best places for LGBT people to work?

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seds
Just a reminder: the CEO being openly gay doesn't mean that the employee's
accept the LGBTQ movement. Apple being at those events not only means support
for the community but also means educating their employees about the
importance o such movements.

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morimoritokyo
Author here! Don't blog much recently, but wanted to get this out there.

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matt4077
This reeks of a transparent attempt to shame Apple into paying up, lest
"something happens to that nice reputation you have there".

Apple is well-known to support LGBTQ rights. It's CEO is openly gay[-1], and
used an appearance at the UN to speak for gay rights[0]. They (with him
personally) do participate in gay pride events[1].

Apple just does things slightly different. They don't participate in CES,
either[2], even though everyone else is there.

[-1]: [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-30/tim-
cook-...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-30/tim-cook-speaks-
up) [0]: [http://fortune.com/2013/12/13/tim-cook-speaks-on-cross-
burni...](http://fortune.com/2013/12/13/tim-cook-speaks-on-cross-burnings-gay-
rights-immigration/) [1]: [http://www.cultofmac.com/327585/tim-cook-
leads-8000-apple-em...](http://www.cultofmac.com/327585/tim-cook-
leads-8000-apple-employees-in-gay-pride-parade/) [2]:
[https://www.recode.net/2017/1/7/14195066/apple-
ces-2017-abse...](https://www.recode.net/2017/1/7/14195066/apple-
ces-2017-absence-amazon-alexa-mac)

~~~
morimoritokyo
Thanks for your comment. I certainly hope my post does not come off that way!

I think there’s a perception outside of Japan that the country is a much more
culturally conservative place than it actually is, and that it is much more
hostile to LGBTQ rights than it actually is. In fact, it’s hard to overstate
how quickly Japan has embraced LGBTQ rights in the past 10 years. A decade ago
it would have been unimaginable to have so many companies present at a pride
event in Tokyo, and it would have been unimaginable that the city government
of Shibuya would have a booth at the entrance of the festival inviting people
to discuss domestic partnership registration.

Much of this change has been the direct result of just a few individuals who
took risks early on by speaking out. In the article I mentioned the example of
Atsushi Kawada. In 2003 he did something that was unheard of at the time by
coming out as gay to his boss at IBM. In 2004 he launched the LGBT employee
group at IBM Japan, and later in the 2000s they became one of the first major
companies in Japan to actively participate in the pride parade.

Having IBM in the parade was huge because it made it ‘safe’ for a few other
forward thinking companies to join. And as more and more companies joined, it
helped to move LGBTQ rights from a fringe topic to something that is now
mainstream. In 2003 when Mr. Kawada came out to his boss it was a rare and
courageous thing to do. Thanks to his efforts (and those of many, many others
like him), in 2017 one new graduate working for IBM actually had his boss
walking with him in the parade. Things changed because he changed them.

As for Apple, I do understand that the company and Tim Cook have been vocal
about their support for LGBTQ rights in the US. Given the incredible strides
that Japan has made in advancing LGBTQ rights over the past decade, I think a
lot of people here would be delighted to have them participating at the same
level in Japan.

