The Journals of Sugar Boy Yi: Story of a Gay Man Tokyo

Contents:

• CEOS WHO ARE OPENLY GAY
• JAPANE MALE GAY AND BISEXUAL INTY
• ASIAN AMERIN, GAY LAWMAKER BOOTED OM CALIFORNIA MTEE BY LLOYD ALABAN PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 22, 2021 SAN JOSE SAN JOSE SPOTLIGHT SHARE COPY LK EMAIL FACEBOOK TWTER LKEDIN REDD ARTICLE SAN JOSE, CALIF. - AN ASIAN AMERIN LAWMAKER OM THE SOUTH BAY HAS BEEN BOOTED OM A KEY CALIFORNIA MTEE, AND LGBTQ AND ASIAN AMERIN ADVOCY GROUPS ARE CRYG FOUL.    SPEAKER ANTHONY RENDON STRIPPED ASSEMBLYMEMBER EVAN LOW OF HIS CHAIRMANSHIP AND MEMBERSHIP ON THE BS AND PROFSNS COMMTEE LAST WEEK WHOUT EXPLANATN.  RENDON APPOTED ASSEMBLYMEMBER MARC BERMAN OF PALO ALTO AS THE NEW MTEE CHAIR LOW'S PLACE.  LOW SERVED AS MTEE CHAIR FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS.   LOW'S OTG SET OFF A FIRTORM ON SOCIAL MEDIA OM ACTIVISTS AND MUNY GROUPS.  THE BAY AREA MUNICIPAL ELECTNS COMMTEE, AN LGBTQ POLIL ACTN MTEE, LLED THE MOVE "A SHOCK," AND MAND AN EXPLANATN OM RENDON.   EQUALY CALIFORNIA, A STATEWI LGBTQ CIVIL RIGHTS ANIZATN, LLED LOW'S SUATN AN EXAMPLE OF LGBTQ PEOPLE AND ASIAN AMERINS BEG SILED OM ROL THEY ARE PABLE OF.    "WE KNOW THAT WHEN LGBTQ PEOPLE ARE THE ROOM, AT THE TABLE, HALLS OF POWER, OUR CIVIL RIGHTS AND POLICI THAT BENEF OUR MUNY THAT HAS HISTORILLY BEEN SILED ARE MORE LIKELY TO ADVANCE," SAMUEL GARRETT-PATE, SPOKPERSON FOR EQUALY CALIFORNIA, TOLD SAN JOSE SPOTLIGHT. "BUT 'S NOT JT ABOUT LGBTQ LEARS ADVANCG LGBTQ POLICI. WE KNOW THAT OUR LGBTQ LEARS, BEE OF THEIR UNIQUE LIFE EXPERIENC, BRG SOMETHG SPECIAL TO THE OFFIC THEY SERVE ."    LOW REPRENTS DISTRICT 28, WHICH CLUS PORTNS OF SOUTH SAN JOSE, LOS GATOS, SARATOGA, MONTE SERENO, CUPERTO AND HIS NATIVE CAMPBELL.  HE'S CHAIR OF THE LEGISLATIVE LGBTQ CC AND VICE CHAIR OF THE ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANR LEGISLATIVE CC.    LOW CLED TO MENT. HIS OFFICE ISSUED A STATEMENT SAYG WAS "AN HONOR" TO SERVE ON THE MTEE.    "MY LLEAGU AND I CRAFTED LEGISLATN TO HELP SMALL BS, BAT THE OPID CRISIS, IMPLEMENT A SYSTEM TO REGULATE LEGAL NNABIS, AND WORK WH GOV. GAV NEWSOM TO PROTECT PATIENTS AND HEALTH PROFSNALS DURG THE COVID-19 PANMIC," LOW SAID. "I LOOK FORWARD TO NTUG TO SERVE ANY PACY."    A SOURCE CLOSE TO LOW, HOWEVER, TOLD SAN JOSE SPOTLIGHT A RIFT IS BREWG BETWEEN RENDON AND SOME FELLOW DEMOCRATS.  IN THE SUMMER, SOME THE LEGISLATURE BEME CREASGLY TRATED OVER THE SPEAKER'S HANDLG OF LEGISLATN RELATED TO THE COVID-19 PANMIC.  THE LEARS SECRETLY LOBBIED LOW TO JOCKEY FOR THE SPEAKERSHIP POSN, THE SOURCE SAID.  EVEN THOUGH LOW TURNED DOWN, RENDON REPLACED LOW, WHO IS OPENLY GAY, WH BERMAN -- A STRAIGHT WHE MAN. THE SOURCE LLED AN EXAMPLE OF RENDON'S "GOOD OLD BOY'S CLUB."    "I'VE ASKED ASSEMBLYMEMBER BERMAN TO TAKE THE HELM OF BS AND PROFSNS," RENDON SAID A STATEMENT. "HIS SERVICE THE ASSEMBLY HAS MONSTRATED HIS MMENT TO THE DEMOCRATIC CC."    A SPOKPERSON OM RENDON'S OFFICE ADD THAT ACRDG TO THE SPEAKER'S PRACTICE, PERDIC CHANG ARE MA TO THE MAKP OF MTEE CHAIRS.    EARLIER THIS FALL, LOW HELD A FUNDRAISER FOR RENDON. THE HL WAS REPORTEDLY $120,000, ACRDG TO A REPORT BY NEWS OUTLET BAY AREA REPORTER.    LOLLY, THE SILIN VALLEY ASIAN PACIFIC DEMOCRATIC CLUB LLED LOW'S REMOVAL ANOTHER DISAPPOTMENT FOR ASIAN AMERIN LEARS.   "(LOW) HAS ALWAYS BEEN SUPPORTIVE OF OUR CLUB," PRINT CHRIS RATANA TOLD SAN JOSE SPOTLIGHT. "TO SEE HIM NOT LEAD A MTEE HE'S CHAIRED SUCCSFULLY FOR SO MANY YEARS IS A BLOW TO ."    BREAKING NEWS
• TO COURT WORKERS, JAPANE FIRMS TRY BEG MORE GAY-FRIENDLY

CEOS WHO ARE OPENLY GAY

“The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said. Of urse, other drks e the word “gay,” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space. He wrote about his sexualy Time, sayg he has been openly gay as long as he has been bs, and that the greater visibily of high-performg gay CEOs n help fight discrimatn agast gays and lbians the BrowneFormer Chief Executive of Brish Petrolm Lord Imag The former chief of BP abptly rigned after the Brish tabloid The Mail exposed a relatnship Browne had wh a young man who had once been a male prostute, acrdg to the BBC.

JAPANE MALE GAY AND BISEXUAL INTY

He has lled for a more clive BurgsBurgs is CEO of the Florida-based vtment bank C1 Fancial, makg him the first openly gay CEO of a bank listed on the New York Stock Exchange, acrdg to Out ThielPeter ThielAdam Jeffery | CNBC Thiel is one of Silin Valley's most signifint vtors and entreprenrs. Christopher BaileyChristopher Bailey attends the Serpente Gallery Summer Party at The Serpente Gallery Cattermole | Getty ImagThe chief executive and chief creative officer of inic Brish fashn brand Burberry assumed learship May 2014, which means he is the first openly gay CEO of a pany clud the FTSE 100—the 100 pani on the London Stock Exchange wh the largt market palizatn, acrdg to an say by another man on this list, Lord WeltsAs print and chief operatg officer of the Goln State Warrrs, Welts is the is the hight rankg executive men's profsnal team sports to publicly acknowledge he is gay.

Their relatnships most likely varied greatly by suatn and across time perds, but a typil nanshoku pairg rporated many dimensns: mentorship and stewardship, platonic iendship, as well as physil acts of homosexual sex. While historil pictns of Nobunaga and Ranma sometim fully portray them as gay lovers, we mt be reful to separate historic nanshoku and the figur there om LGBTQ issu today, and to avoid mornizg norms of that era to f our ncept of sexualy and romance. We n fer queer people have always existed, and that some practners of nanshoku—perhaps cludg Nobunaga and Ranma—might have self-intified as queer or gay if displaced to our morn time wh our morn fns, although we nnot know for sure.

Photo: Connie Kurtew Although technilly not illegal, gay prostutn remas cloaked secrecy, and a new film reveals the ‘boys’ themselv often have no ia about the health risks they are takg Published: 12:33pm, 7 Jan, 2018 Updated: 12:32pm, 7 Jan, 2018 Several ‘urisen’ parlours operate Tokyo’s 2-chome gay district offerg prostutn, the subject of a new, award-wng documentary.

ASIAN AMERIN, GAY LAWMAKER BOOTED OM CALIFORNIA MTEE BY LLOYD ALABAN PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 22, 2021 SAN JOSE SAN JOSE SPOTLIGHT SHARE COPY LK EMAIL FACEBOOK TWTER LKEDIN REDD ARTICLE SAN JOSE, CALIF. - AN ASIAN AMERIN LAWMAKER OM THE SOUTH BAY HAS BEEN BOOTED OM A KEY CALIFORNIA MTEE, AND LGBTQ AND ASIAN AMERIN ADVOCY GROUPS ARE CRYG FOUL.    SPEAKER ANTHONY RENDON STRIPPED ASSEMBLYMEMBER EVAN LOW OF HIS CHAIRMANSHIP AND MEMBERSHIP ON THE BS AND PROFSNS COMMTEE LAST WEEK WHOUT EXPLANATN.  RENDON APPOTED ASSEMBLYMEMBER MARC BERMAN OF PALO ALTO AS THE NEW MTEE CHAIR LOW'S PLACE.  LOW SERVED AS MTEE CHAIR FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS.   LOW'S OTG SET OFF A FIRTORM ON SOCIAL MEDIA OM ACTIVISTS AND MUNY GROUPS.  THE BAY AREA MUNICIPAL ELECTNS COMMTEE, AN LGBTQ POLIL ACTN MTEE, LLED THE MOVE "A SHOCK," AND MAND AN EXPLANATN OM RENDON.   EQUALY CALIFORNIA, A STATEWI LGBTQ CIVIL RIGHTS ANIZATN, LLED LOW'S SUATN AN EXAMPLE OF LGBTQ PEOPLE AND ASIAN AMERINS BEG SILED OM ROL THEY ARE PABLE OF.    "WE KNOW THAT WHEN LGBTQ PEOPLE ARE THE ROOM, AT THE TABLE, HALLS OF POWER, OUR CIVIL RIGHTS AND POLICI THAT BENEF OUR MUNY THAT HAS HISTORILLY BEEN SILED ARE MORE LIKELY TO ADVANCE," SAMUEL GARRETT-PATE, SPOKPERSON FOR EQUALY CALIFORNIA, TOLD SAN JOSE SPOTLIGHT. "BUT 'S NOT JT ABOUT LGBTQ LEARS ADVANCG LGBTQ POLICI. WE KNOW THAT OUR LGBTQ LEARS, BEE OF THEIR UNIQUE LIFE EXPERIENC, BRG SOMETHG SPECIAL TO THE OFFIC THEY SERVE ."    LOW REPRENTS DISTRICT 28, WHICH CLUS PORTNS OF SOUTH SAN JOSE, LOS GATOS, SARATOGA, MONTE SERENO, CUPERTO AND HIS NATIVE CAMPBELL.  HE'S CHAIR OF THE LEGISLATIVE LGBTQ CC AND VICE CHAIR OF THE ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANR LEGISLATIVE CC.    LOW CLED TO MENT. HIS OFFICE ISSUED A STATEMENT SAYG WAS "AN HONOR" TO SERVE ON THE MTEE.    "MY LLEAGU AND I CRAFTED LEGISLATN TO HELP SMALL BS, BAT THE OPID CRISIS, IMPLEMENT A SYSTEM TO REGULATE LEGAL NNABIS, AND WORK WH GOV. GAV NEWSOM TO PROTECT PATIENTS AND HEALTH PROFSNALS DURG THE COVID-19 PANMIC," LOW SAID. "I LOOK FORWARD TO NTUG TO SERVE ANY PACY."    A SOURCE CLOSE TO LOW, HOWEVER, TOLD SAN JOSE SPOTLIGHT A RIFT IS BREWG BETWEEN RENDON AND SOME FELLOW DEMOCRATS.  IN THE SUMMER, SOME THE LEGISLATURE BEME CREASGLY TRATED OVER THE SPEAKER'S HANDLG OF LEGISLATN RELATED TO THE COVID-19 PANMIC.  THE LEARS SECRETLY LOBBIED LOW TO JOCKEY FOR THE SPEAKERSHIP POSN, THE SOURCE SAID.  EVEN THOUGH LOW TURNED DOWN, RENDON REPLACED LOW, WHO IS OPENLY GAY, WH BERMAN -- A STRAIGHT WHE MAN. THE SOURCE LLED AN EXAMPLE OF RENDON'S "GOOD OLD BOY'S CLUB."    "I'VE ASKED ASSEMBLYMEMBER BERMAN TO TAKE THE HELM OF BS AND PROFSNS," RENDON SAID A STATEMENT. "HIS SERVICE THE ASSEMBLY HAS MONSTRATED HIS MMENT TO THE DEMOCRATIC CC."    A SPOKPERSON OM RENDON'S OFFICE ADD THAT ACRDG TO THE SPEAKER'S PRACTICE, PERDIC CHANG ARE MA TO THE MAKP OF MTEE CHAIRS.    EARLIER THIS FALL, LOW HELD A FUNDRAISER FOR RENDON. THE HL WAS REPORTEDLY $120,000, ACRDG TO A REPORT BY NEWS OUTLET BAY AREA REPORTER.    LOLLY, THE SILIN VALLEY ASIAN PACIFIC DEMOCRATIC CLUB LLED LOW'S REMOVAL ANOTHER DISAPPOTMENT FOR ASIAN AMERIN LEARS.   "(LOW) HAS ALWAYS BEEN SUPPORTIVE OF OUR CLUB," PRINT CHRIS RATANA TOLD SAN JOSE SPOTLIGHT. "TO SEE HIM NOT LEAD A MTEE HE'S CHAIRED SUCCSFULLY FOR SO MANY YEARS IS A BLOW TO ."    BREAKING NEWS

They wed Shju wh great fanfare 2015, though the gture was a purely symbolic one signed to raise awarens—while Tokyo's Shibuya Ward and Setagaya District offer a form of regnn to same-sex upl, Shju do not.

The days, wh the rise of ter datg and the greater acceptance of gay rights Japan, Ni-chōme’s role as a rare safe space for LGBT Japane has dimished, although is still the premier LGBT nightlife district the untry. Noriyi’s ia of fun was to take dgs—ually speed, acid, or MDMA, always phemistilly scribed as “medice”—and go dancg at his favore gay dis Ni-chōme, New Sazae, which is still around today, half a century after openg 1966.

Though Japan has unique cultural aspects that are different om Wtern untri, n be shown that Wtern ncepts or mols of homosexual inty are applible to a nsirable extent to Japane gay and bisexual men. Though he had always been open about his sexualy his private life, Cook’s g out publicly 2014 cemented him as the first openly gay person on the Fortune 500 list and one of the most well-known sourc of spiratn for LGBT+ dividuals worldwi.

TO COURT WORKERS, JAPANE FIRMS TRY BEG MORE GAY-FRIENDLY

“If hearg that the CEO of Apple is gay n help someone stgglg to e to terms wh who he or she is, or brg fort to anyone who feels alone, or spire people to sist on their equaly, then ’s worth the tra-off wh my own privacy, ” he wrote his g-out say.

It recently extend fay benefs to employe’ same-sex partners, and said would allow s gay ctomers to name their partners as beneficiari of s life surance plans, somethg prevly limed only to legally sanctned, oppose-sex spo. People is transn, om visible to open, ” said Ken Suzi, who studi sexualy at Meiji Universy Tokyo and is active Japan’s gay-rights the realy for gay Japane workers is only startg to shift, and unspoken expectatns of secrecy rema the norm.

He won 1 ln yen, or about $9, 100 at the time, and set up the se wh his Rabow ially only offered rmatn and tips about pani perceived as gay-iendly, but today has 50, 000 registered ers and around 40 pani that pay to advertise job opengs. While the benef is offered by some Japane pani, is not offered by we handle rrectnsA versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn B, Page 1 of the New York edn wh the headle: Gays Japan Start to Go ‘From Invisible to Open’.

There has recently been much discsn the field of lbian and gay studi about Dennis Altman's theory of 'global queerg'[1] which outl the fluence of the Civil Rights' Movement the US and Europe on the velopment of lbian and gay 'inti' which then, through the 'globalisg' fluence of post-dtrial wage-based enomi, nsumerism, the mass media and tourism, turn beg to affect digeno unrstandgs of homosexualy societi where tradnally there has been no notn of a personal inty found on the genr of sexual object choice. In this theory, the US is often assumed to be somehow advance of the rt of the world and the mols pneered that untry for creasg the social space acrd to lbian and gay liv are generalised as suable mols for lbians and gay men other untri to adopt. Until recently, was impossible to answer this qutn for, even five years ago, there was practilly no rmatn available English about homosexualy morn Japan and there was only one book and a handful of amic papers ncerng Japan's well-attted historil tradn of male homosexualy.

[2] Today, there are a number of books which al wh the historil background of male homosexualy Japan nsirable tail and others which look at homosexualy morn Japan om bgraphil, cultural, lerary or anthropologil perspectiv.

Unfortunately, spe the new rmatn that has recently been ma available, some rearchers still sist on viewg 'homosexualy' Japane society through wtern ey and evaluatg the suatn facg lbians and gay men acrdance wh wtern mols of what means to be 'a lbian' or 'a gay. [5] Summerhawk plas of the 'difficulti' Japane gay men have 'the inty-velopment procs' (emphasis me) as if there ever uld be a sgular, universal 'gay inty' and suggts that Japane gay men who do not wish to exprs themselv terms of this imported termology are 'nial of their own opprsn. What I wish to do the prent paper is strs how reprentatns of (primarily male) homosexual love and even sex permeate Japane popular culture to an extent that would be unimagable the US or Europe and that 'homosexualy' Japan is therefore very differently nceptualised.

However, I mt pot out that the visibily of 'homosexualy' Japane media such as ic books, women's magaz, TV dramas and talk-shows, movi and popular fictn has not created the space for dividuals exprsg lbian or gay 'inti' to e out actual life.