It can be tough for anyone who’s dealing with issues of gender and sexual identity to receive help and guidance. It’s even harder when your trust is betrayed. That’s a problem that too many LGBTQ and questioning students face in Japanese schools, it seems. A new report says over half of school nurses share student’s concerns over LGBTQ issues without their permission.
The report, overseen by Hidaka Yasuharu at Kyoto University’s social epidemiology department, joined forces with the NPO good aging yells to poll school nurses in nine municipalities across Japan. It received answers from 2,172 school nurses.
Of those, 42,4% said they’ve received consultations from students on questions related to gender or transgender issues. 22.3% said they’ve received consultations regarding same-sex attraction. Of those, over half – 54.3% – said they have discussed these private issues with homeroom teachers or other school officials without asking the student’s permission first.
“Sharing information among school employees with third parties without permission could hurt a student or subject them to pressure. It requires getting the person’s permission after verifying their intentions,” Hidaka said.
While Japan has made a lot of progress on LGBTQ issues, discrimination and misunderstanding still exist. While many LGBTQ people manage to live here peacefully, others have moved overseas to avoid discrimination.
Things have gotten a little better for gender-questioning students over the past few years. Some school systems, for example, now allow students to choose their preferred school uniform regardless of their gender.
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