A center serving as a safe space for LGBTQ people and other sexual minorities to come together opened in Osaka this month.
Run by the nonprofit organization Nijiiro Diversity, Pride Center Osaka provides an on-site consultation specialist for not just LGBTQ people but their parents and other people around them.
The group says many LGBTQ people and other sexual minorities feel isolated amid the coronavirus pandemic, and that it wants to "create a place where people can feel able to be their true selves."
The center is located in an office building in Kita Ward near Keihan Electric Railway's Temmabashi Station. Inside, the walls are white, while rainbow flags hang at its windows to tell people "we are here." The bathroom includes a changing table for individuals who cannot wear the clothes they wish to outside.
Other facilities include a minilibrary offering picture books and other items, and anyone can visit.
The Osaka prefectural government building and the L-Osaka labor center are also within walking distance, meaning consultation desks for social support and governmental services are nearby.
According to Nijiiro Diversity, issues including pandemic-caused closures of clubs and bars that LGBTQ people felt at ease gathering in have meant they have fewer opportunities to share their troubles together.
"Although the word LGBTQ is better known now, the difficulties people face leading their lives have not changed," Nijiiro Diversity founder and director Maki Muraki said. "Many are also going through a hard time because of the coronavirus."
Muraki added that she wants visitors to be comfortable at the center and to "feel revitalized."
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