Heya,

And I was under the impression that there wasn't the > >same kind of 

moral opposition to being gay in Japan >that there is here--it's rejected 
more because >it's nonconformist and doesn't fit into regular

society rather than because it's supposed to be
wrong.

The difference between those two things escapes me.

Well, I can't speak for the original poster, but he might be suggesting that 
opposition to homosexual relationships in the west stems, often, from 
religious sources.  Of course, it's a lot more complicated than that, but 
religion can, at the very least, be used as a convenient scapegoat for 
sexual intollerance.  Japanese society, with an entirely different religious 
history(which I'll admit I don't understand at an even superficial level) 
would presumably root it's homosexual intollerance in entirely different 
soil--an apparent dislike of non-conformist lifestyles.  Maybe.

As for how such things are accepted in Japan--man, I wish I could say, but I 
don't really know.  The longer I'm here the more I realize that I'm not 
quite getting it all.  <shrug>  That being said, I know there's a healthy 
gay community in my fairly-rural city, with something like a dozen bars 
scattered here and there.  I know this one homosexual transvestite guy who 
comes out to some dance events; nobody seems to treat him any differently, 
but that could be part of the whole 'not getting it thing.'  He also told me 
he keeps that aspect of his life totally hidden from his salaryman 
coworkers.  At one of the junior highs a friend works at, he had an 
incredibly camp, flamboyant student that had no problem with his peers 
knowing his orientation.  My friend was convinced that back home, that kid 
probably would've gotten the snot kicked out of him; but here, he enjoyed 
the 'protection' of a circle of 'bad' girls who, I guess, kinda accepted him 
as one of their own.

So... I dunno.  I'm thinking that in Japan there's not so much an increased 
sensibility and tolerance of homosexuality, but rather a social ability to 
turn a collective blind eye and exclude them in subtle ways that I'll never 
fully pick up on.

-Mike

Err... to keep this semi-relevant... I liked the story? ^_^  Though the main 
thrust of the story felt a bit forced to me.  The whole question of how 
Ranma's sexual orientation could swing seems pretty complicated to me.

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