“Drag queen in North America is New half in Japan"

“Drag queen in North America is New half in Japan"

I’ve realized that there’s a significant misconception in Japan.

About drag queens in Japan, it’s generally understood as gay individuals performing shows to promote pride awareness. It seems to be thought of as quite sophisticated, like Judith Butler's idea of exaggerated femininity.

In Japan, they even go to schools to promote awareness, which is impressive. (They probably aren’t allowed to engage in HIV prevention awareness, but it’s a step-by-step process. I have great respect for those balancing both roles.)Here, the “real” drag queen is what would be considered a "new half" in Japan.

It’s important enough to say again. A drag queen in North America is equivalent to a new half in Japan.A new half is a type of dancer and a type of sex worker who is a trans woman. A “real” drag queen is similar in this respect.

Watching a “real drag queen’s show” makes me cry a lot every time.

Because it’s something I wanted to become since my teenage years but could never achieve, and it still is. No matter how hard I try, it’s impossible. That’s “men who want to be a woman” for me.They express themselves as who they are. Also, they have few options for their occupation because of discrimination.

The AFAB equivalent (assigned female at birth) is a "polar" – a pole dancer. They dance, strip, and spread their legs. Drag queens do the same.Having no option to become a new half, unable to become Kaori Kawamura who was a gender nonconforming person who wore a leather jacket in my generation and left with no choice but to become a polar; in Japan, a “geisha.” I am now finally a leather dyke, a role that had no options in Japan.

Thus, the idea that drag queens are the highlight of pride parades in Japan should include respect for trans women sex workers, celebrating sexual diversity – that is the legitimate and rightful way.

Here, at the front of the parade are the Dykes on Bikes – leather dykes on motorcycles. "Dykes" refer to lesbians who are more masculine than men.

Always remember that the distinction between transgender and homosexuality is merely for educational simplicity. Otherwise, unnecessary discrimination will occur within the community. Isn’t that already happening in Japan since 1990, continuously, and recently?

To everyone organizing pride events in Japan: If you’re unknowingly diluting the meaning, perhaps it’s time to educate yourselves out of respect for them.