Court rejects damages suit over death of outed gay student

I don't understand how the university is responsible for this. It's not the university's fault if one of its students, by his/her own choice, decided to act like a jerk.

Outing myself was a great event. But it was my choice, nobody else’s right.

This story links well to the story that was in the World section yesterday on the UK and its attempts to teach about gay relationships and the objections of some religious groups. There was an ugly conversation about what constitutes "normal" behaviour.

Failure to teach that different sexualities and relationships are normal is what leads to people like this killing themselves.

Two months later, the student suffered a panic attack in class and left before fatally falling from a university building.

Poor writing. Either the panic attack and the "fatally falling" from a building are two entirely unrelated points, or they are related and it means he jumped, not "fell".

I find that highly unlikely and very unbelievable.

Would you care to explain why? I don't see that the rate would be much higher than 1 in 11. Are you thinking 1 in 5?

The school does hold some responsibility for not doing more in general, like not relocating the boy to another class, but in terms of the bullying itself and the suicide, I Don't really see it. What the school needs now to do is expel the kids who bullied him. Period. If they Don't, THEN they are showing that they are fully responsible for encouraging bullying.

This is sad. Just when a historic victory was won in the courts over bullying, it seems as if the same protection will not be awarded to specific types of bullying.

I find that highly unlikely and very unbelievable.

Research has indicated that these types of statements are often made by those who are inclined otherwise.

Smithinjapan:

While the university does reserve the right to expel without cause in most countries, a hearing is usually expected. At such, they must prove that the accused bullied at documented times (the deceased students notes of such and a corroborating witness will help).

A couple of things:

The time between the outing and the death was substantial. Hard to prove correlation.

The student suffered a panic attack in class. There is no indication that any kind of bullying was happening. Perhaps the course contents was too difficult for him.

"fatally falling from a university building"?? Really? Falling? He either jumped (suicide) or someone tossed him over the wall.

There was a correlation, but I think that you mean causation. It may be hard to substantiate, but given the levels of homophobia in Japan, the events are closely related. Remember, it is not the outing itself, but what resulted from the outing that may have driven him to suicide. Two months of being ostriciized and snide remarks may have done that.

You state that there was "no indication...of bullying". Where did you get this piece of information because I did not se it in the article. I only saw that one student had outed him to 10 others - an act which would clearly be classed as bullying.

Weighing up which is more likely to drive someone to suicide in Japan - the negative impacts of being outed or the course being too tricky, it is clearly the former.

As for the method of his death, you overlook the possibility that he accidentally fell. However, suicide looks the most likely.

I don't really care, if you're Gay and don't go around touching my ass then all is good, making gay jokes is banter and fun to retort to, though just like opposite sex relations, make an unwelcome, or repeated pass on me, then that's harassment. Catholic Bishop jokes aside, some of the "Gay" people I have met and worked with, are seriously brilliantly minded, and mild mannered people, fun to be with and portray empathy unlike others - their sexuality doesn't figure into such relationships.

Equally, I also avoid weirdo's , straight men who would rather the company of young pre-adult Girls for example.... there's something wrong about that, even though it was often seen in Tokyo - particularly upon the Streets in Roppongi.

That all said, from the perspective of "mature" Adult, my Juniors, particular kids can be vicious towards differences (not just in sexuality), Fat/Thin/Real Black (Ebony)/Albino/Short/Tall you name it... anything that's on their extremities radar will be subjected to their attention in order to gain cred with their own friends.... this is what needs to change. Making it the "UnCool" thing to do, will soon put an end to the problem. But how ?

The student was exposed as gay by the other student to a group of about 10 peers on messaging app Line in June 2015. Two months later, the student suffered a panic attack in class and left before fatally falling from a university building.

A couple of things:

The time between the outing and the death was substantial. Hard to prove correlation.

The student suffered a panic attack in class. There is no indication that any kind of bullying was happening. Perhaps the course contents was too difficult for him.

"fatally falling from a university building"?? Really? Falling? He either jumped (suicide) or someone tossed him over the wall.

What problem has he undergone to get to the point of commiting suicide (what is implied) ? None is mentioned.

Maybe he was aware of how sections of society and his peers hold gay people in contempt?

Maybe he feared being repeatedly told he wasn't normal, he doesn't fit in, or being compared to a pervert.

Whatever the case, he's gone and he won't be the last to be victimised because of his sexuality.

My best guess is that the students harassing him in LINE were also students in the section that he wanted to be moved out of, which would definitely add to the university's responsibility.

That being said, that's conjecture not directly supported by anything in the article. Based on what I see in the article, it's hard to say that the university really has any responsibility for his death.

The city of Kunitachi, which hosts the university, introduced in April last year an ordinance that states people should not disclose other people's sexual orientation or gender identity against their will.

People SHOULD not? Or they CAN not? Are there any teeth to this law? It seems like a bad law anyway. It goes against freedom of speech.

The university had argued that while it can take measures to heighten awareness, it is impossible to prevent specific acts of harassment.

Yeah, I guess it's too much to expect a Japanese university to actually educate its students. Most universities and colleges in Japan are just a flipping joke! They are more like a kindergarten for young adults than educational facilities. I'm not surprised in the slightest this young man was ostracised to the point of suicide. Children can be very cruel.

I find that highly unlikely and very unbelievable.

Some people don't admit to their orientation. They often remain closeted and some even will clog up the internet, everytime a topic relating to LGBT people comes up, saying how much they doubt/don't think there should be equality etc.

Has it been establish how, or why, this student fell from a university building? Were there any witnesses to this incident? Did the student accidentally fall? Did he voluntarily make the choice to jump? Was he being chased? Was he doing something stupid and lost his footing, or hand grip?

Appeal, appeal , appeal. Japan must be taught to come out of the dark ages

The parents are just looking for someone to put the blame on for the terrible decision their adult son took.

That is a really surprising story, seeing how open and matter-of-fact Japanese society is about being gay, bi, or whatever. Sad, anyway.

In Japan, at least one in 11 people identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to a survey conducted last October by advertising giant Dentsu Inc., covering 60,000 people aged between 20 and 59 nationwide.

I find that highly unlikely and very unbelievable.

I don't understand.

Whatever people say about me, I don't care.

It is only if confronted with real issues that I would get worried.

What problem has he undergone to get to the point of commiting suicide (what is implied) ? None is mentioned.

It is not forbidden to tell truth. It is forbidden to tell lies or personal informations (having a relationship is public if lived publicly).

So wheee does the lack from university would have come ?

Ay proof of bullying ? If so, all bad persons guilty !

Wish the parents to overcome the loss of their son.

An injustice court, a failed legal system, a closed tribal nation.