Tokyo’s annual Gay Pride parade got a boost Sunday with the participation of Japan’s first lady Akie Abe, the wife of conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Thousands of people participated in the parade, the high point of Tokyo Rainbow Week 2014, which runs through May 6.
Abe waved to parade watchers from a float and expressed her support in a Facebook post: “I want to help build a society where anyone can conduct happy, enriched lives without facing discrimination.”
“I had the pleasure of spending fun time filled with smiles. Thank you,” she added.
Shinya Yamagata, the organizer of Tokyo Rainbow Week, said the parade, which was inaugurated in 2012, attracted roughly 14,000 people.
“We saw approximately 14,000 people, so the number has continued to increase for three straight years,” Yamagata said on Japan Real Time. “The parade has succeeded in becoming more than an event for sexual minorities. There were many families and children joining us on Sunday. We even had to make a public service announcement for a lost child for the first time ever at our event.”
Yamagata added that organizers are hoping to topple Taiwan as the biggest LGBT parade in Asia: “[W]e are aiming for that. Currently the biggest LGBT parade in Asia is held in Taiwan, which gathers over 60,000 people.”
by On Top Magazine Staff
Source – On Top Magazine
