discussion community for lgbt je fans

[julietbunny.livejournal.com]

ontherainbow

ontherainbow is a brand-new discussion community for GLBT (gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender) Johnnys Entertainment fans! We would like to create a fun and safe place to talk about what it's like to be a JE fan outside of the "target audience," because, ultimately, the love of sparkly Japanese boy bands transcends all walks of life. We hope to have some interesting discussions about how gender and sexuality are handled in our favorite idol factory, and, of course, to share our own stories and to make new friends! All fans of all groups and units are welcome to join (including straight allies). We hope to see you soon!

Comments

[lullabyeforyou.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying that this is a bad idea really, but is this really necessary?

[novemberzeal.livejournal.com]

I could say the same thing about your comment.

[lullabyeforyou.livejournal.com]

It was a simple question. Not meant as a slur of any kind or for anyone to take offense to.

Yet, this whole thing seems unnecessary to me. Considering the way that JE is and the way it's fans are, I would think that homophobes are outnumbered. Are there huge fights between those of different sexual preferences within this fandom? Is there visible segregation between us?

It almost seems like you are making the gap wider rather than bridging it.

[luthien-mpl.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's about distancing the lgbt fans from the rest at all. It's just a place to discuss a few topics in relation to JE that straight fans wouldn't find all that interesting to begin with, not a place to go all "nobody understands us, let's fight for our rights!". As you said, there isn't any need for that kind of comm in JE fandom. ^^

[lullabyeforyou.livejournal.com]

Recently, I've been looking in on issues like these and to me it seems almost like a form of segregation, one that I can't reconcile myself with. But since all I wanted was a reason why it was there, thank you.

Like I said, it's not necessarily a bad thing, I personally don't see the need for it, that's all.

[phase3prophet.livejournal.com]

i understand where you're coming from, but considering homophobia as outnumbered within the JE fandom is subjective.

such bashing DOES exist in this fandom. and that's all you can say about that. doesn't matter on what sort of scale, but it happens.

taking a look at that comm, i'd say it's a great idea. not every single person in the JE fandom is so accepting of fellow fans of a non-target audience (especially in the origin of JE, japan itself), so it's an excellent place for a diversity of folks to express their appreciation for the agency.

even if it serves for a trivial amount of fans, what matters is that there's a place where they can also celebrate their fandom w/ absolutely no negative vibes.

if someone doesn't like it, they can just ignore it and move on.

[luthien-mpl.livejournal.com]

Well, I haven't actually seen any gay bashing in JE fandom, at least not on LJ. The only things I stumbled across were some stupid youtube comments along the lines of "*GASP* how can you say matsujun is gay??????". I kind of assumed that homophobia in a fandom that thinks RPS is the one and only way to get romance into a fic was... well, just plain bizarre. >__>
Didn't stop me from joining the comm, though. XD

[phase3prophet.livejournal.com]

"I kind of assumed that homophobia in a fandom that thinks RPS is the one and only way to get romance into a fic was... well, just plain bizarre. >__>"

lol i know what you mean.

regarding youtube, commenters can be the scum of the earth >_< i came across some comments in japanese that were not so much singing the praises of the awesomeness that is JE :\ always taking down our happiness, eh???

[luthien-mpl.livejournal.com]

unfortunately, you can't expect the world to be all sunshine and rainbows all the time. if there's fans, there's also haters, especially if you don't like something and get subjected to it all the time (let's face it, you can hardly turn on japanese tv without at least one je guy being broadcasted somewhere. i can imagine that's pretty annoying if you're not interested in them.) it's not exactly something new to me, i'm german and for the last few years the tokio hotel phenomenon was... well, let's just say the comments weren't all that nice most of the time, either. i can imagine it's the same with je in japan. there's a lot of people who either love them or hate them with a passion.
.... kinda off-topic, but whatever. XD

[lullabyeforyou.livejournal.com]

I also have never seen bashing in this fandom.

I simply don't see what can't be said in this comm. If you have sometime to say about yourself or JE, whatever your sexual orientation, why can it not be said here? In my opinion a community like that is superfluous, but if there are people who are afraid to voice their opinion in a comm then perhaps the separation is a good thing.

I was curious as to the reasoning, otherwise I would have ignored it.

[luthien-mpl.livejournal.com]

You know, if you're curious you could just go and join the community and see for yourself what's going on there. The mods said from the start that everybody is welcome, no matter their orientation. ^^

[lullabyeforyou.livejournal.com]

Despite my own orientation, I have no interest in joining the comm. I seem to have offended some with my stance. *laughs*

Best of luck to you all.

[gimmick-game.livejournal.com]

Then why bother saying anything at all?

Simple as this: don't like it, don't join. End of story.

[lullabyeforyou.livejournal.com]

May I ask why you felt the need to jump in and comment after everything had been resolved?

[gimmick-game.livejournal.com]

Same reason why you felt a need to comment at all: my opinion.

Am I not allowed to give it now?

You may have discussed it and resolved it with someone else, doesn't mean another person can't have an opinion regarding it.

I'm not here to get into a big philosophical debate regarding the merits of the community. I simply stated my opinion: if it's something you don't want to join, don't.

[lullabyeforyou.livejournal.com]

Re-stating something that people have already said is redundant in my mind, but you're allowed your say and you've had it.

These knee-jerk reactions are getting old, fast. They really are.

Thank you for your opinion.

[gimmick-game.livejournal.com]

It's not redundant, it's showing that more people share the same opinion.

Your own knee-jerk reaction was to reply to an advertisement for a community that you had no interest in joining. You are entitled to your opinion, but in stating it expect people to disagree with you or wonder why you posted it in the first place if you have no interest in the community anyway.

Stating something along the lines of "oh, wow, a glbt community. I'm not interested in joining but good luck!" would have been much more appropriate than "is this really necessary?". Or simply not commenting at all.

There are plenty of communities I see popping up in various fandoms that I think are not necessary, but I don't voice that fact. I just don't join.

This is livejournal, a land of a million differing interests, opinions and just as much wank to go along with it all. I've been guilty of plenty of opinion-wars before, mind you, but this was not with the intention of one.

[waxrose.livejournal.com]

I understand your concerns, and I'd like to respond and tell you a bit about our community.

You raised the question of whether such a community is necessary. Of course it's not necessary. But how is it harmful to anyone that it exists? We're not out to be 'segregative', we are all a part of the larger fandom community, and it's because we treasure that community. Might I also point out that larger communities like arashi_on don't exactly have discussion or serious meta matters as a focal point. That is the focus of our community. Maybe you find it superfluous, that's your opinion and that's perfectly valid. But in the response we've seen in our first day operating alone, there are clearly a few fans who would welcome a space to discuss these issues. And why shouldn't they have it?

On the subject of bashing, it's already been acknowledged in some of the discussions that JE fandom is largely a very accepting fandom, as many fandoms are. HOWEVER - just because you've never seen bashing does not mean that it does not happen. It does, believe me. And it's not always overt. Have you ever been told that as a lesbian you weren't 'qualified' to write gay slash because you didn't sleep with guys? I have.

If you have sometime to say about yourself or JE, whatever your sexual orientation, why can it not be said here?

Of course that would be difficult for some people! I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't feel like it was the place to do it.

And let's face it, in most comms, a post saying "Hey, are there any lesbian KAT-TUN fans out there?" would be written off as irrelevant, superfluous, off-topic, and spamming the f-lists of a hell of a lot of people who just don't care. And that's their right. That's not what they're there for. So why not have a community which is open to that discussion?

I belong to a canada_johnnys community, because I wanted to meet other Canadian JE fans. It was really cool to see that there were fans out there from the same place that I was, because sometimes you just feel tired of being the one person in your isolated little community who cares about sparkly dancing boys half a continent away. Yeah, it's not necessary, but you know what? It feels pretty damn good to know that you're not alone. That there are people who share your experience and can identify with what you feel.

So no, this isn't about gay fans feel marginalized and wanting to vent, or hide, or poke fun at straight fans. We want to talk about issues that may feel very important LGBT* fans that maybe no one else really bothers with. We want to show that there are many perspectives and many fandom experiences, and they are all valid.

We're not widening the gap. We're simply acknowledging that there are bridges that exist there, and people should have a place to talk about them.

If you really don't understand why GLBT fans in any fandom would want to meet each other and talk about GLBT-specific issues in their own forum, then I don't know how I can possibly explain it to you. I understand your position, and I appreciate that you don't see the point of the community. That's fine.

But for the people who want it, and for the fans that it serves, than this community, in my opinion, serves a purpose.

[lullabyeforyou.livejournal.com]

About the lesbian comment, yes I have. I also deal with a large amount of prejudice from my family and in my workplace due to my sexual orientation. Having supervisors telling me that all I need is a good man to cure me is something I've had to deal with. I have been out for years in a community that is closed to the idea of being gay. It was abnormal and worthy of being ostracized.

If I have something to say, I don't hesitate to say it on the comms, but then again I am not the type of person to go around searching for a certain "type" of fan. I don't even go around asking for specific groups because it doesn't matter to me as long as I like you as a person. If I saw a post asking for lesbian KT fans I would wonder why it would matter if they were lesbian or not. This isn't meant to be patronizing, it's simply the way I think about things.

So maybe the problem that we find ourselves having here isn't about different sexualities, but different mindsets. I am also a Canadian JE fan, but never felt the need to search other ones out. While it is fun to have people who like the same things as you, it was never something that weighed on me at all. I've always thought that the fun was more in the diversity of it all, meeting people who don't match you, because you come out learning more from it.

About gay fans feeling marginalized, I never said that. Nor did I say that it was around to poke fun at straight fans. What a bitter irony that would be. But either way, this is not an attack against you, nor was it meant to be. All I've been doing is stating an opinion.

Regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation, I think that separation isn't necessary. It is an opinion not meant as an attack, but something to consider. If that is offensive, I will apologise, but I won't apologise for asking what I thought was a valid question, nor will I apologise for stating an opinion.

(Also, thank you for being civil. No sarcasm.)

[waxrose.livejournal.com]

I can see your argument, and I appreciate that you articulated your opinion to me like that. I know we don't totally agree, but I am glad that we were able to discuss this.

(People who can't be civil about these things need a knock on the head. You have your opinion and I have mine, we can respectfully disagree. It's discussions like these that are important to have. :)

[lullabyeforyou.livejournal.com]

As am I. It's good to hear other sides of things.

(Agreed to disagree? Sounds like a plan na. Good luck with the comm.)