Pride House Tokyo launched this crowdfunding campaign with the aim of creating a lasting space for LGBTQ+ people. We would like for many people to help us make this Japan’s first permanent comprehensive LGBTQ+ center together. We would strongly appreciate your support!
Story
The Pride House Tokyo Consortium was launched in 2018 as a consortium of NPOs, experts, businesses, embassies, and other diverse sectors on the occasion of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games (Below, “Tokyo 2020 Games”). In October 2020, Pride House Tokyo opened as Japan's first regularly operating, large-scale LGBTQ+ center in Shinjuku Gyoenmae.
With the goal of becoming a long-term sustainable initiative, from April 2023, Pride House Tokyo officially becomes an NPO. Aiming to pass on expertise on LGBTQ+ issues to the next generation, we are also are changing leadership.
We need your support in order to make Pride House Tokyo a continued placed for LGBTQ+ people and allies to gether in a safe and affirmative environment where support is provided. Your support would be truly appreciated!
By clicking the “Support” button in the bottom-right corner, you can make donations. We would be grateful for your support! (There is a small service fee)
To gather support, we will hold various events during this crowdfunding campaign. We would appreciate if you join us!
【Event Schedule】
Mar. 2nd (Thurs.) - Mar. 4th (Sat.)
Exhibit at EXPO at the Tokyo International Forum as a charity recipient organization of the Tokyo Marathon Foundation
Mar. 5th (Sun.)
The current and incoming co-representatives run in the Tokyo Marathon as a baton pass for the change of representatives!
Mar. 21st (Tues.)
We will be hosting the event “LGBTQ+ Youth Expo - Being Yourself at Work!” for LGBTQ+ people ages 24 and under.
Apr. 1st (Sat.)
Pride House Tokyo incorporates as an NPO, and changes leadership.
Apr. 22nd (Sat.) & 23rd (Sun.)
Hosting a booth at Tokyo Rainbow Pride
■ How donations will be used
Pride House Tokyo Legacy, located in Shinjuku Gyoenmae, is Japan's first regularly-operating, large-scale LGBTQ+ center. This crowdfunding campaign will be used to ensure the sustainable operation of Pride House Tokyo Legacy.
■ What is Pride House Tokyo Legacy?
In May 2020, approximately 1,600 LGBTQ youth participated in the emergency survey “LGBTQ Youth Today.” Approximately 40% of respondents said they had lost connection with people and places where they felt safe due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 70% felt that their home was not a place where they felt safe. Based on these findings, Pride House Tokyo Legacy was opened as a permanent, comprehensive LGBTQ center near Shinjuku Gyoenmae Station on October 11th of the same year. The center is equipped with approximately 3,000 bookshelves of LGBTQ community archives, a consultation space, and a café corner, and is staffed by mainly LGBTQ people who are always ready to provide support. We aim to provide comprehensive support. Pride House Tokyo Legacy also offers online courses to train advocates, online safe spaces, and creates online content to increase the number of LGBTQ allies.
Pride House Tokyo Legacy is open from 1 PM - 7 PM, and operates from Friday through Tuesday. Since its opening to date, approximately 5,000 visitors have come to our center. Visitors can freely browse our collection of almost 3,000 books, talk with Pride House Tokyo Legacy staff, and enjoy a free, safe, and secure place visit. We also aim to make our center a safe and welcoming space for all through hosting Trans Day, Youth Day, and Deaf Day, to make it easier for people are particularly marginalized to visit us.
To operate this center, 40 million yen is required annually, including rent, utilities, and personnel costs for Legacy management staff and counselors.
■ What is Pride House Tokyo?
Pride House Tokyo is a collaborative project among cross-sectoral organizations, individuals, businesses, and embassies, launched on the occasion of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. We aim to provide LGBTQ+ related information, continue our operations as an LGBTQ+ center, and host and create events and content relating to diversity. Pride House Tokyo's mission is to contribute towards the creation of an equal and thriving society that respects gender and sexual diversity, leaving no one behind. Through collaboration with diverse stakeholders, we strive to be able to continuously provide a place where the LGBTQ+ community and allies can overcome barriers, safely form connections, and empower one another to lead better lives.
■ Messages from Our Members
●Yuri Igarashi（New Co-President）
To have a place where you can fully be yourself without facing rejection is something truly important for any person. It nurtures self-esteem, self-affirmation, and is something that I think many people can feel the importance of. In operating our community center, I’ve truly felt that for LGBTQ+ people in particular, having an affirmative space can act as a lifeline.
We respond to various needs, from school and family matters to work, interpersonal relationships, relationships with one’s partner, retirement, and aging. Entering our third year, awareness of Pride House Tokyo legacy has grown, and alongside it has the hope that, “Perhaps if I go there, there will be something for me.” Our visitors include parents of LGBTQ+ children, school teachers, and corporate and local government officials seeking information. When I hear the words “Thank you”, “I’m glad I had the courage to come,” as a staff member, I truly feel the importance of having a space like this. I reckon you are well aware of the fact that discrimination and prejudice against LGBTQ+ people remains deeply rooted, as evidenced by the recent media reports. That’s why we would like to work alongside many people to ensure the stability and longevity of Pride House Tokyo Legacy. Please join us in this endeavor. Together, let’s create a society where people can live in peace and be respected, regardless of their gender or sexuality.
●Anri Ono (New Co-President)
I am transgender, non-binary, panromantic, pansexual, and grew up in Fukuoka Prefecture. As a child, I did not understand my gender or sexuality, and had no way to acquire information. There was no role model for how I could live my life as an adult, and no one to turn to for advice. I faced loneliness and anxiety. I thought that the only choice for people like me was to be made a laughingstock or thought of as something bad, so I hid who I was, and thought my only choice was to continue lying to myself.
But my life began to change when, in my senior year of high school, the first friend who I opened up to about my gender and sexuality fully accepted and cared for me as a whole person. I thought then, "I don't want anyone else to feel the way I do," and that. After working with LGBTQ+ children and youth in Fukuoka, I moved to Tokyo two years ago and have since been involved in Pride House Tokyo's various youth support programs and multicultural and multilingual inclusion project. What I always feel at Pride House Tokyo Legacy is that my life would have been very different if I could have come to this place as a child and had a place where I could feel accepted as I am.
I became a co-representative of Pride House Tokyo Legacy because I want to continue to help stabilize and support the evolution of Pride House Tokyo Legacy as a place where any LGBTQ+ person can feel safe and affirmed, and know this is a place for them. We would greatly appreciate your support!
●Aya Noguchi (New Co-President)
Through the activities of Pride House Tokyo, we have learned that it is not easy to create a safe and secure space for everyone. It is not enough just to have a place. In order to create a space where people who need support can "go" to of their own volition, it is necessary to create a warm and welcoming space with staff who will welcome them with open arms at any time. Regularly scheduled events that people find enjoyable also motivate them to want to go to that place. Just because you go to a place where you feel safe does not mean that you will automatically receive the support you need. Trained staff members play an important role in talking with visitors, identifying the real support each person is seeking, and referring them to the most appropriate support and resources. The LGBTQ+ population in Japan is also diverse. Some have disabilities, others have foreign roots. In order to create a space where information reaches everyone and no one is left out, we need to address diversity more deeply and improve accessibility. We would strongly appreciate your support in working together to make a place where no one is left behind.
