41...tokyo rainbow pride

Yesterday, i was able to go to the Tokyo Rainbow Pride (held at Yoyogi park in Shibuya, Tokyo) for the first time - and as the little cloud on the banner stand says, "Happy Pride" was everywhere i turned. There were people from all sorts of backgrounds there, all gathered to support and share love with the LGBT community in Japan. For those of you who don't know what it's all about, you can go here (Japanese) or here (English) to check it out.

Quick background info: The first ever Tokyo Pride Parade was held in 1994, but due to lack of funding and organisation, it took over 8 years until it was held again. The TRP is currently an NPO run by volunteers and supporters and this year it was funded by the Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health in Tokyo, as well as the American, British and German embassies in Japan.

While walking along with the parade, i saw a few same-sex couples holding hands and supporting the parade from the sidewalk. Out of the 11 years i've lived in Japan, i don't remember seeing that while walking around everyday. I don't know how much people suffer just to be able to proudly hold hands with their loved ones all around the world, but if small things like this are going to help open more minds and create a safer and better place for everyone, i'd like to be a part of it.

Of course, i couldn't resist taking a ton of shots at such a colorful and wonderful event so without further ado:

Just two of the many glamorous people we bumped into

Since it was the 27th, we showed off some love by supporting #27GO,

a movement that began in January this year supporting LGBTs in Japan.

27 GO

People who turned up to the event that day could show their support by

joining in with one of the 15 floats in the parade. I joined in with Tokyo Diversity/東京大行進 

TOKYO NO H8, a group striving to lessen racial/sexual/social discrimination.

TOKYO DIVERSITY