Toward a world where coming out is unnecessary. The wish Netflix and Dentsu Inc. placed in Coming Out Day.

LGBTQ Individuals Who Want to Come Out But Can't

"I'm a lesbian."

The other day, a friend nervously came out to me like this. It happened while we were talking about our romantic lives. I personally believe everyone's romantic choices deserve respect, so I told her I didn't mind and wished her well with the person she liked. She looked relieved, saying, "I'm glad. I'm glad you didn't reject me."

From the moment I heard her words, I resolved to become an "ally" (someone who understands and supports sexual minorities, including LGBTQ individuals). If someone feels anxious that their relationships, or even their very identity, might be rejected simply because they are LGBTQ, that's wrong. I became strongly determined to help eliminate that fear.

Until she came out to me, I had never known anyone close to me who had come out as LGBTQ.

Do you have anyone in your immediate circle who identifies as LGBTQ?

Perhaps some of you might think, "No, there aren't any around me."

Data clearly shows that LGBT people are actually quite common. According to the "LGBT Survey 2018" conducted by Dentsu Inc. Diversity Lab (DDL), one in eleven people identified as LGBT, a proportion nearly identical to that of left-handed people.

(Note: Dentsu Inc.'s survey design includes people who "cannot or have not determined their gender identity or sexual orientation" within the LGBT category, making it effectively synonymous with LGBTQ.)

 

The same survey also reveals that a majority, 65.1%, responded that they have "not come out to anyone."

This data indicates that it is not that there are "no LGBTQ individuals," but rather that "they exist, yet they have not come out."

Furthermore, many reasons cited for reluctance to come out involve negative perceptions of the surrounding environment, such as "the environment isn't conducive to coming out" and "I don't want to be judged." This suggests that prejudice and misunderstanding toward LGBTQ individuals are major factors hindering coming out.

What is International Coming Out Day? The Meaning Behind the Day

Driven by a desire to improve this social environment, I reached out to members within Dentsu Inc. and formed a volunteer LGBTQ Action Team. We focused our attention on National Coming Out Day.

This day was established in 1988 in the United States by psychologist Robert Eichberg and Los Angeles LGBT activist Jean O'Leary. While it hasn't yet become a widely recognized moment in Japan, it is a global commemorative day celebrating people who have come out about their sexual orientation or gender identity and aiming to raise public awareness.

There are two main reasons we focused on International Coming Out Day this time.

First, we wanted to promote Coming Out Day as an "autumn" LGBTQ moment.

When it comes to the largest and most well-known LGBTQ festival in Japan, Tokyo Rainbow Pride (TRP) stands out. Held annually in the "spring" months of April or May, the event has seen increasing attendance year after year. In 2019, it drew a total of 200,000 visitors over two days. In 2020, the physical event was canceled due to COVID-19, but an online event, "#StayHomePride," was held, drawing 450,000 participants. Media coverage was extensive around this springtime moment, providing many opportunities to hear about LGBTQ+ topics early in the year.

However, this year, not only was the Tokyo Rainbow Pride in-person event canceled, but many other LGBT community events and corporate LGBT training sessions were also canceled. The novel coronavirus made it difficult for LGBTQ topics to gain traction. Feeling a sense of urgency, we decided to create a moment during the autumn International Coming Out Day—a timing completely opposite to the spring TRP—to foster LGBTQ-related discourse within 2020.

The second reason stems from our team's desire to "eliminate the act of coming out itself."

Talking about one's romantic relationships or crushes is a perfectly natural part of conversation, isn't it? However, the reality is that when LGBTQ individuals try to talk about their romantic relationships or crushes, that act becomes a major event called "coming out."

Driven by the vision of a world where formal coming out is unnecessary, we aimed to use Coming Out Day as a catalyst to create opportunities for society to think about LGBTQ issues.

The "Coming Out Day Brand Campaign" with Netflix

Netflix shares this vision and joined us in spreading this message through the campaign. Netflix streams a diverse range of content, including works centered around LGBTQ themes and those featuring LGBTQ characters. It goes without saying that this content has played a significant role in fostering understanding and raising awareness. They supported our initiative, leading to our collaboration.

We express this sentiment in the tagline below.

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10.11 COMING OUT DAY
On this day, there's a scene we want you to watch
 
 
Who you love, what kind of love you desire,
What kind of self you seek to be.
It's different for each and every person.
 
Living authentically, as your true self,
is something no one can deny.
This scene teaches us that.

October 11th is Coming Out Day.
Let's acknowledge all forms of sexuality,
and talk about a world where everyone can be open.
 
Being different is normal.
If more people think this way,
coming out won't be necessary.
It will become just another natural conversation.
 
 
Toward an era where we can speak plainly about what's plain.
NETFLIX
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※October 5-11 Shibuya Station OOH
※Shibuya Ward was the first in Japan to enact a same-sex partnership ordinance

 

※October 11 Asahi Shimbun double-page spread advertisement (30 columns)

Netflix commented on this initiative as follows:

"As more people come to understand that it's perfectly natural for each person to be different, the anxiety and tension surrounding coming out—and perhaps even the act of coming out itself—may disappear. Envisioning such a future, we present the tagline: 'Toward an era where we can speak plainly about what's plain.' We hope this campaign will inspire more people to engage with LGBTQ-related stories, bringing us one step closer to a world where we can show each other compassion."

Expressions that empathize with the feelings of those directly involved

We focused on two key points in this creative work.

First, we clearly communicated that just because it's Coming Out Day, we never intended to promote or force coming out.

Coming out is a deeply personal matter, and the act itself is not inherently the right choice. If someone doesn't want to come out, they don't have to. Precisely because of this, we took great care with our wording to avoid any misunderstanding that the campaign itself was promoting coming out.

Second, we focused on selecting works with balanced representation.

Beyond balancing the representation of LGBTQ characters, we selected dialogue for the copy based on whether it conveyed pride, strength, and authenticity rather than negative feelings. We wanted to convey that coming out is not inherently negative. When adapting the dialogue into copy, we carefully proceeded by consulting with individuals directly involved to ensure the phrasing felt authentic and not jarring. By considering diverse perspectives, we believe we were able to deliver a powerful message.

Observing the actual day's events, the campaign was shared primarily by LGBT activists, individuals directly involved, and allies who resonated with this message, and it was covered by multiple media outlets. Additionally, we received feedback from people who happened to see the ad, such as "I learned about Coming Out Day from Netflix's ad" and "a heartfelt ad," indicating we were able to move people.

Analysis of Twitter posts via Meltwater showed that impressions for posts related to this campaign reached 500,000, a significant figure for a single campaign. We also found that impressions for posts related to Coming Out Day grew approximately fivefold, from 5 million in 2019 to 25 million. Many opinions used the hashtag "#Toward an era where we can say ordinary things as ordinary things." We believe this successfully achieved the campaign's goal of "creating conversation around LGBTQ issues through Coming Out Day."

"Toward an era where we can speak plainly about what should be plain."

Diverse people have always existed in this society, both in the past and present.
Unfortunately, however, it is still difficult to say that the environment is fully prepared to accept this diversity.

Until now, large-scale initiatives in Japan aimed at promoting diversity & inclusion or deepening understanding of LGBTQ issues have been relatively scarce. Netflix's current initiative may well serve as a touchstone for future diversity policies.

I believe that if such initiatives continue, an open world awaits where my friend can speak naturally about the person they love without any fear.

Now, "toward an era where we can speak plainly about what should be plain."
Let's build this era together.