PINK DOT, 2ND ROUND

This afternoon, along Kokusai-dōri, has been held the 2^nd edition of the LGBT annual gathering, organized by the group Pink Dot Okinawa. At the bottom of Tenbusu Building, the event has been a joyful moment in a part of a country that hardly tolerate homosexuality. Probably Japan is one of the last countries in the world – after Russia and some African nations that still live in the Middle Age - to open his mind about this topic. The local LGBT community, however, is growing and willing to live like any other human being, free to love whoever they want.

As during the previous edition (http://unitalianoaokinawa.blogspot.jp/2013/07/pinkdot-il-rosa-e-emerso-pinkdot-rose.html), everybody wore some pink cloth. I’ve been lucky to have a ‘Think Pink’ shirt in my Hawaian shirts collection… This year a big difference, compared to the last edition, has been the presence of two gay couples officially married in the U.S.A. and in Canada. They brought their special experience, as something really unseen before in Okinawa. A couple has been together for 27 years – a record even for a ‘straight’ couple -, another brought the witness of an Okinawan husband/wife married to an American wife/husband. They went through an unusual ceremony along Kokusai-dōri, a road that mostly sees tourists hunting for food and souvenirs. They signed a marriage book, exchanging pink scarfs and some kisses. The throw of the bouquets made happy two couples, a lesbian one and a gay one.

A final, group photo taken by the last floor of the gay-friendly Hotel Palm Royal, nearby, closed the happy and peaceful event. Many Okinawans, today, learnt something new about life.