2. Activities
A Collaborative Project Between the Marble Student Group and5

Morioka City to promote understanding of sexual and gender diversity
Morioka Junior College Department Sanae Kumamoto

Applicableprinciple

Principle 10: A commitment to promoting inter-cultural dialogue and understanding,and the unlearning of intolerance, through education.

1. Outline
This year, Marble, an Iwate Prefectural University student
organisation that promotes the understanding of gender
diversity, had their initiative to produce an informative booklet
on gender, sexual orientation and gender identity accepted aspart of Morioka City’s collaborative promotion project. The
promotion project, which is intended to promote collaboration
between the city and local citizen groups, recognized Marble’s
theme of gender inclusivity and understanding as one which
the city considered to be an important social and regional
issue and provided support.
In collaboration with Morioka City’s Gender Equality Office,an awareness-raising booklet on gender, sexual orientationand gender identity, such as LGBTQ+, was produced anddisseminated via social networking services in order toraise understanding and interest in gender diversity andhelp eliminate discrimination and prejudice against sexualminorities. The booklet was placed at public facilities inMorioka City and was also made available for download fromthe official website of Morioka City. This online format wasan effective way to overcome the limitations imposed by thecoronavirus, and the results of an anonymous questionnairemade available via QR code showed that the goals of thebooklet project were achieved well.

3. Results and moving forward
The results of the online questionnaire after the distribution of
the pamphlet indicated the the project was effective in threemain outcomes.
1. Alerting people to discriminatory ‘language’ and suggesting
concrete examples of how to avoid discriminatory terms.
2. Providing specific, easy-to-understand information about
the dangers of outing a person without their consent.

Produced booklet

12

In order to further understand gender diversity, Marble
held weekly discussion sessions on books and other media
concerning themes related to gender and gender identity. The
series of discussions provided students with a forum to reflect
on their own thought processes and the way they see, perceive
and understand things. The results of these discussions
were summarised in the booklet ‘Suki na iro de ikiru’. Thebooklet was culmination of a variety of learning and handson experiences as well as communication with other gender
diversity awareness groups via social media.
The title, which translates as ‘Live in your favourite colour’,reflects the students’ belief that the individuality of each
person and the nature of sexuality itself, can be thought ofas a gradient of colour where no two points are exactly thesame. The title also expresses their wish that sexual minorities
be treated with equality as human beings, as well as the ideathat all life is precious and that each person can cherish theirpreferred gender identity or sexual orientation or ‘favorite
colour’

3. Introducing literature and other resources to help anunderstanding of sexual minorities as being made up ofa range of diverse personalities and to learn about theimportance of everyone being able to be true to their own
self, gender, and sexuality.
The results of the ‘Live in your favourite colour’ project havemade clear that there is a need to disseminate ‘words’ to youngpeople who may feel uncomfortable or are struggling with theirgender identity. In this, the Marble students found a new goal
for their activities: to give advice to those who are beginningto be aware of their gender identity, sex, and life. This advice
can show people how to empathize with others and convert
their own feelings in ways which can touch others.
Even when extracurricular activities were restricted due to theCorona Disaster, it was very significant to be able to share
information and exchange information online with otherrelated organisations. We would also like to thank the Morioka
Gender Equality Office and the Morioka Women’s Centre
for their collaboration, which enabled us to gain a wider
reach, and convey information from a number of different
perspectives to those living in Iwate.
We need to remember that we are living in a diverse society.
We have learnt from this project that there are still many
people who are feeling ‘difficulty in living’ because of the gap
between what is taken for granted as being normal, or “ideal”
and the realities of how individuals actually feel and live.
Moving forward, we will continue to think about this in orderto build a society where we can listen to, empathize with andsupport one another.

Produced booklet13