Examining Geographic Distribution of LGBTs in Osaka City, Japan

Abstract

Considerable research has been conducted in Western countries on the geographical patterns of sexual and gender minority populations (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender populations, abbreviated as “LGBTs”) and the enclaves they have created in large cities. However, the geographical distribution of LGBTs in Japanese cities has not been studied. This paper presents a quantitative study of whether LGBTs are unevenly distributed geographically in Osaka City, the central city of the second-largest metropolitan area in Japan. The study uses microdata from a 2019 random sampling survey on sexual and gender minorities in Osaka City, titled the “Survey on Diversity of Work and Life, and Coexistence among the Residents of Osaka City,” which is one of the first representative random sampling surveys with questions on sexual orientation and gender identity. It was found that LGBTs are distributed unevenly in relation to non-LGBTs. However, when we controlled respondents’ demographic and socioeconomic variables, including age, gender, education, number of household members, occupation, and years of residence in Osaka City, logistic regression models showed no significant association between the presence of LGBTs among respondents and the distinct areas where LGBTs were found to be concentrated. Therefore, we concluded that an uneven distribution of LGBTs in Osaka City may not actually reflect the geographical context of LGBTs concentration but rather mirror general variations in population composition.