Towards an LGBTQ+ inclusive sports world ~ Pride House Tokyo releases a video featuring many Olympians swimmers. Swimmers take action in conjunction with the World Aquatics Championships.

Bill May – USA Artistic Swimming Team, silver medalist of the World Aquatics Championships 2023 and Olympic 200m breaststroke gold medalist Kyoko Iwasaki have also joined the action and are featured in the video.

The “Pride House Tokyo” consortium, which was established in conjunction with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games (hereinafter referred to as “Tokyo 2020 Games”), held various activities between July 21st and 23rd, coinciding with the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka (hereinafter referred to as “World Aquatics Championships”).

■Click here for the press release regarding “Pride House Fukuoka”: 
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000002.000118927.html （Japanese）

We hereby announce that the activities initiated by Pride House Fukuoka during the World Aquatics Championships and the released video message produced in collaboration with the Japan Swimming Federation Athlete Committee has officially been published.

*The Pride House Tokyo Athlete Messages Team (planned and operated by S.C.P. Japan) is implementing this initiative with support from the Nippon Foundation.

①Featuring eight Olympic swimmers! A message video from LGBTQ+/Ally athletes in the swimming world released!

We have released the “LGBTQ+/Ally Messages form the World of Aquatics,” which contains messages from athletes of various swimming competitions. We asked a total of eight athletes domestic and international, who have been active in the swimming world as top athletes to share their thoughts on creating a sports world where everyone can be who they truly are. We would like to thank the Japan Swimming Federation Athlete Committee for their cooperation in producing this message video.

■Click here to watch
https://youtu.be/nrjqmbn6DT0?feature=shared

<Guests (alphabetical order)>
・Hanae Ito (Represented Japan in Swimming at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics)
・Naoko Imoto (Represented Japan in Swimming at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics)
・Kyoko Iwasaki (Gold medalist in the 200m breaststroke at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics)
・Mikako Kotani (Bronze medalist in Artistic Swimming Solo/Duet at the 1988 Seoul Olympics)
・Yukiko Takahashi (Represented Japan in Swimming at the 2004 Athens Olympics)
・Yukinori Tanaka (Represented Japan in Swimming at the 1988 Seoul Olympics)
・Yusuke Shimizu (Represented Japan in Water Polo at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics)
・Bill May (Represented the United States in Acrobatic Routine and won a silver medal at the 2023 Fukuoka World Swimming Championships)

②Members of Pride House Tokyo visits Fukuoka City Mayor Soichiro Takashima

On Friday, July 21st, members of Pride House Tokyo and Ally athletes Yukinori Tanaka and Naoko Imoto of the Japan Swimming Federation Athlete Committee paid a courtesy visit to Fukuoka Mayor Soichiro Takashima. From Pride House Tokyo, in addition to Co-Representative Yuri Igarashi, Fumino Sugiyama, Director of Pride House Tokyo and Board Member of Japan Olympic Committee, and Nobuhisa Miura, Representative Director of Colorful Change Lab, a member organization of Pride House Tokyo consortium participated.

During this visit, they introduced the initiatives of “Pride House Fukuoka” and Pride House (*1), in addition to having discussions with Mayor Takashima about LGBTQ+ issues in sports.

*1 Pride House:

“Pride House” focuses on providing a safe place where people of all sexualities can spend time in peace, in conjunction with the hosting of international sports events, such as the Olympics and Paralympic Games, and provides local and cultural information related to LGBTQ+. We aim to also provide information on LGBTQ+ issues and how to solve them from a sports perspective, and hold sporting events that both local residents and visitors can participate in. Pride House originally started by a local NPO for a limited time during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games as a hospitality facility.

③ Setting up an LGBTQ+ information booth at the World Aquatics Championships venue

On Saturday, July 22nd, we co-sponsored an LGBTQ+ information booth with the Fukuoka City Human Rights Department. We distributed guide books on LGBTQ+ published by Fukuoka City and Pride House Tokyo, and held a panel exhibition on LGBTQ+ and sports.

In addition to spectators from all over Japan and overseas, people involved in the tournament, Daichi Suzuki, President of the Japan Swimming Federation also visited our booth. We also distributed information booklets together with Ally athletes and competitive swimming Olympians Naoko Imoto and Yukinori Tanaka, Barcelona Olympic gold medalist Kyoko Iwasaki, and corporate volunteers from the Pride House Tokyo Employee Resource Group (ERG) team. We were able to distribute approximately 500 leaflets on swimming and LGBTQ+ that we produced in collaboration with the Japan Swimming Federation Athlete Committee.

< Leaflet: Let’s recruit more allies from the swimming world!>
https://pridehouse.jp/assets/img/handbook/pdf/ally_swimming.pdf

④ Held an LGBTQ+ inclusive exchange party in Fukuoka City

On the evening of Saturday, July 22nd, we held an LGBTQ+ inclusive party at lyf Tenjin Fukuoka in Chuo Ward, Fukuoka City. The event, which was attended by more than 20 people, featured members of Pride House Tokyo speaking about Pride House Tokyo and LGBTQ+ issues in the sports world, ally athlete and competitive swimming Olympian Yukinori Tanaka speaking about diving. We created an opportunity for participants to become more familiar with sports, by introducing the sport itself.

⑤ Domestic and international swimming Olympians takes the stage! A talk show inviting top athletes.

On Wednesday, July 23rd, we rented the space from WeWork Daimyo in Daimyo, Fukuoka City and held a “Pride Talk Show – Aiming for an LGBTQ+ inclusive society from the swimming world.”

Aya Noguchi, Co-Representative of Pride House Tokyo, served as moderator, and speakers included Bill May of the American Artistic Swimming Team, who won the silver medal this year, Kyoko Iwasaki, the 200m breaststroke gold medalist at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics, and Yusuke Shimizu, a former Japanese representative water polo player who also participated in the Tokyo 2020, along with Fumino Sugiyama, a former Japanese fencing representative and the first openly transgender JOC board member.

They talked about the current state and challenges in the swimming world as athletes, the significance of athletes taking action, and a powerful message for making the sports world and society more LGBTQ+ inclusive.

Please check the archived video from the link below:
https://youtu.be/k_TaIUuBRFo

Additionally, outside of the talk shows, a space was created which was opened to the public where anyone can freely come and learn more about LGBTQ+.