Cynthia Nixon article makes Yahoo! News

＜English＞

Translated by faiyaque

Hello everybody, TW editor Yuki here!

I’m happy to report that we've received a ton of messages here at TW about Cynthia Nixon's engagement!

Looking at posts on the Japanese SNS site mixi, it was awesome to see so many straight members of the Sex and the City and other communities offering their heartfelt congrats to Nixon and her partner. No sooner had we posted a Japanese translation of Nixon's speech than we began receiving what became a number of emails from straight folks in Japan sharing just how moved they were by Cynthia's message. One person wrote, "I cried when I read Cynthia's speech. It was so touching. Thank you for posting the translation!" You can almost see the prejudice fading in Japan, just as it is in the rest of the world, as positive exposure to more of our stories and voices grows.

Up until six years ago, Nixon was quietly living a "straight" life, raising a family with her former (male) partner in a long-term, non-nuptial relationship. In the years since, she's gone through a whirlwind of amazing changes. It was wonderful when she first came out about having a girlfriend, but who would have guessed that she would soon emerge as one of the foremost gay activists in the popular media!? I, for one, have been blown away by this transformation. Miranda was my favorite character in Sex and the City way before Nixon came out (honest!). So as far as I’m concerned this couldn’t be more perfect.

I wonder though, what inspired this great change in her? As a straight woman, she was able to live free from homophobic prejudice and marry, if she so chose, the man she loved. As soon as she decided to stand by her same-sex partner, however, all legal rights pertaining to their family were suddenly stripped away. Perhaps she couldn’t help but be struck by the enormous gap that exists between how straight and gay couples are recognized.

I may have gotten a little sidetracked here.... actually the point of this post was to let you know that on the day after Nixon announced her engagement, Japan's Yahoo! News told her story, along with a link to our TW article. This is, in fact, the second time Yahoo! News has picked up a TW article -- the first time being our interview with Last Friends screenwriter Taeko Asano in 2008!

I am very happy to see that Yahoo! News chose to highlight an article from the indie lesbian press instead of from the mainstream media. TW was established in the hopes of bringing queer culture to the Japanese mainstream, where you almost never see it. I now feel more than ever that all the love and time we have invested has been well worth it!

I’m also totally thrilled that we've connected with so many straight readers in Japan, too, so a big thanks to each one of you. And I want to let you know that we welcome your feedback on our articles and topic suggestions for future articles. To make it easier for you to send us emails, we’re going to start including our email address at the end of each article. Please feel free to write to us any time. We look forward to hearing from you!

【Cynthia Nixon news on TW】

★Cynthia Nixon speaks on CNN about Prop 8
★Sex & the City: Japan Premier Report
★(June 2008) More News on Cynthia & Christine
★(May 2008) Cynthia Nixon

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