Dear friends of HinQ,
Hello! I hope this post finds you well :) I am excited to share with you the latest updates about HinQ in this first English News post!
This post is a summary of what’s going on in HinQ these days. After this one, we will start posting stuff in English more often, while also making our e-newsletter entirely bilingual (from the next/9th newsletter).
1. The 2013 HinQ Survey
We are currently working on analyzing the data from the 2013 HinQ Survey!
The survey took place online from September 2013 through the end of January 2014. We created two research teams within the HinQ admin and the teams are totaly on it!
The analysis will be published in the HinQ Booklet (details below) as well as on the Internet for the general public to read!
We are also planning a public event to share with you the results and analysis of the survey. Details will be posted on our blog and in the e-newsletter, so stay tuned :)
The HinQ Booklet in Autumn!
The HinQ Booklet will be published in print in Autumn 2014!
HinQ admins are working on creating a booklet about the intersection of poverty and gender/sexuality. The contents will feature the analysis of the 2013 HinQ Survey but also include writings, drawings, poetry, photography, etc. by both HinQ members and non-members ;)
Please feel free to contact us if you would like to submit something! Our email address is hinqinfo@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to discuss your work!
Also, the booklet is going to be hand-made, printed by home printers and bound by hand. If you are interested in HinQ activities and yet have not enough time for commitment, we would like to invite you to the book-binding session. Details will be posted sometime in the summer. We cannot pay for your participation, but we will bring delicious cakes!
Report on Tokyo Rainbow Pride & Colorful Renrakumou
The Tokyo Rainbow Pride took place on April 27, 2014. That weekend, there was also a 3-day long LGBT event from Friday through Sunday, called Colorful Renrakumou, where the organizers invited activists from different areas to gather in one place, get to know each other, share their experiences, and learn from each other. And three of HinQ admin members participated in it.
Colorful Renrakumou is a series of three events: Activist Networking (26th), Booth Sharing at Pride (27th), and Study Session (28th). And we were fortunate to join all three!
At Activist Networking and Study Session, we enjoyed conversations with other activists, some of whom had a strong interest in the intersection of poverty and queerness! We were able to give our flyers to most participants, including a legal expert and someone involved in medicine for sexual minority people. We are hoping this would open up possibilities for future collaboratory projects and other good stuff! :) Too much collaboration could lead to bad things but so could too much isolation!
We were also told by other participants that, while activists are beginning to recognize intersections of sexuality and other social issues and to take action about them, the intersection of poverty and gender/sexuality had not been acknowledged enough. With this opinion in mind, we will humbly continue searching for ways in which we can make changes.
At Booth Sharing, we brought 100 copies of our flyer, announcing the planned publication of the HinQ Booklet and the one-day bar event (details below). By the end of the day, we ran out of copies! We were fortunate to talk with some of the people who kindly accepted our flyers. Some showed sympathy and told us that they had worries and concerns, too. Some asked us questions, in many cases very enthusiastically. Overall, most people showed interest in this issue.
On another note, two persons decided to join the HinQ admin!
HinQ’s plans for 2014 include publishing the Booklet and holding multiple events. Together with the new members, we hope to continue developing our activities and making them awesome :)
One-day Fundraising Bar Event in Shinjuku on June 13
On the night of Friday, June 13, we will hold a one-day fundraising bar event at Bar KARL MOHL! The HinQ admin members will be serving you delicious drinks and snacks ;)
The revenue on the HinQ’s end will be used to cover the cost of the hand-made publishing of the HinQ Booklet!
Right now, the HinQ admin members are discussing talk sessions and stage performances ;)
*This event is planned and organized by HinQ member N-san.
(By the way, the 2013 HinQ Survey was organized by HinQ member Moonmirror-san!)
For participation, we ask you to make donations. We have yet to decide on the amounts, but the donation will be on a sliding scale, where you can choose to donate, for example, 100 yen, 500 yen, 1000 yen, 2000 yen, 3000 yen, and 5000 yen, enclosed in a provided envelope to hand us on your way out. This money goes to the HinQ fiscal account for our future activities including the publication of the Booklet!
The good thing is that HinQ will pay your cover charges at the bar!
So, if you can, please donate us big money! And if you want to save money, you can still join us and enjoy the drinks and conversations with us for only 100 yen + cost of drinks (no cover charges) ;)
We, of course, welcome all people including non-LGBT people and people who aren’t living in poverty.
Details will be posted soon. Meanwhile, mark your calendar! It’s Friday night, June 13!
A non-HinQ event on poverty and sexual minorities
On June 15, two days after HinQ’s bar event, Han-hinkon Network, with Place Tokyo and Moyai, will hold a lecture/workshop event in Tokyo on poverty and sexual minorities.
So from June 13th through 15th is probebly the best weekend for those interested in the intersection of poverty and queerness :)
Details are avaiilable on Han-hinkon Network’s website. (No information in English.)
http://antipoverty-network.org/archives/2235
Please consider joining us and running HinQ!
HinQ currently has 25 administrative members. That’s a big number considering how small-scale HinQ is, but we always welcome new members!
We are based in (North) Kanto, which means our meetings usually take place in that area, but people from other areas are also welcomed to join! (Attendees of HinQ meetings can apply for partial transportation reimbursement!!)
In HinQ, we constantly keep reminding ourselves that each and every member has a say in every HinQ decision. Please join us and take part in the decision-making!
For joining us, read instrustions here: https://hinq.wordpress.com/joinadmin/
Know about any resources?
You may have noticed already, but on our website is this new section called Shiryoshu (Resources).
資料集
In this section, we provide a list of resources pertaining to the issues of queer poverty.
The list is, however, pretty short at the moment. We are always looking for new materials to add to the list, so if you know of any good resource on queer poverty, we appreciate your input!
Please send your recommendations to hinqinfo@gmail.com!
Good book on how to apply for public assistance in Japan
When you are in need of public assistance and try to apply, it’s usually a very long shot. The government officials will try to avoid accepting your application by all means, and you may feel pressured not to apply in the first place because of stigma, shame, and less-than-ideal relations to your family.
The public assistance laws were amended last year, and the amendments will take effect in 2015, making it even harder to get public assistance. But for the time being, there are dozens of books, leaflets, and other resources on how to successfully apply and get public assistance.
And here’s one of them:
(This link to the Amazon JP webpage won’t make a dime for HinQ!)
In this current bad social welfare climate, the more we know about the system, the more people will have access to public assistance that they need! (Of course, the system itself must change, as well as the local government policies……!)
The book comes with a real application form that you can fill out and take to the local government office. I think it’s very useful and resourceful. We hope you will find it useful, too!
Thank you for reading this!
I know this is a looooog post. So I appreciate your reading it!
We will be doing a lot more activities this year than last year. So stay tuned, and if you feel like it, please participate in HinQ events!
Thank you so much :)
Masaki C. – currently in charge of SNS.