toiro crowdfunding photo project to express the colors of LGBTQ

According to the representative of toiro Kijima Mizuho, there is a higher percentage of sexual minorities in Japan compared to other countries. However, most of them feel they are not able to gain support from the public. Often, this occurs from a lack of knowledge of gender and sexuality among the people in Japan. Because of this, toiro was established to make a society where everyone can live as they are.

This time, toiro is holding a photography project under the concept “sense of oneself.” In this project, photographer Hiromasa Sasaki, who works with Louis Vuitton or Hermes and Fashion magazine Vogue, is forming a tag team with toiro. They will photograph fifty groups to express fifty colors of sexual minority people, regardless of their gender or age. The photos taken in this project will also be uploaded to their website and Instagram account.

Furthermore, a photo album will be published and distributed. This will offer an avenue for participants to express themselves freely and an opportunity for anyone unfamiliar with LGBTQ to hear and learn the participants’ voices and individuality.

To fund the project, toiro is conducting a crowdfunding project now, which you can support here! On the other hand, crowdfunding is not the sole way to support their spirit. Studying what sexual minority people are suffering from, watching the news from a gender and sexuality perspective, and, above all, accepting any identity type should be the effective way to realize the society everyone lives as they are.

Outline of the project for those who want to participate

• Date: Saturday, November 6 or Sunday, November 7 (Date allocation based on number of participants)
• Place: Somewhere in Tokyo
• Capacity: Fifty pairs (groups)
• Fee: Free
• Use of the photo: The photos in this project will be used on the website and Instagram of toiro. Photo albums will be published and distributed for the return of cloud founding. (Event might be canceled in case of disaster or pandemic situation.)