Promoting DEI through Support for the Deaf and Sports: Former Deaflympics Japan Representative and Double Minority Explains Sign Yell, Historical Background of the Games, and Holds Live Viewing & Minority Understanding Event
NPO Pride House Tokyo held a DEI promotion event in 2025, inviting a double minority individual (deaf and LGBTQ+) to discuss Deaflympics viewing and foster understanding of minorities. The event aimed to ensure psychological safety in sports and embrace diversity.
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- 📰 Published: March 31, 2026 at 22:26
- 🔍 Collected: April 1, 2026 at 13:39 (15h 13m after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 22, 2026 at 02:25 (492h 46m after Collected)
NPO Pride House Tokyo, aiming to raise awareness and achieve an inclusive society, implemented various events in fiscal year 2025 to promote DEI in the sports field. During the Deaflympics in November, a cheering event was held to allow everyone to safely and securely support athletes, while also learning about Sign Yell and the historical background of the Games, and enjoying understanding minorities.
With the upcoming “Tokyo Deaflympics,” an international sports competition for the hearing impaired, Sign Yell—a sign language-based “visible cheering”—is gaining attention. Meanwhile, defamation and discrimination against athletes have become serious in recent years. In particular, LGBTQ+ and other sexual minority individuals are often hurt by “microaggressions,” unconscious actions that, while not malicious, can wound or displease others. Ensuring psychological safety for both those cheering and those being cheered for has become crucial.
Amidst this, to realize a competition and sports where everyone can cheer safely and securely, a cheering event that simultaneously offered live viewing of the Deaflympics women's deaf football match between Japan and the USA, and minority understanding, was held on Saturday, November 15, 2025. The event's concept was “one safe and secure space” where all diverse people, including LGBTQ+, connect through the power of sports. Minato Sato, a former three-time consecutive representative of Japan in deaf athletics since high school, who is also a publicly out LGBTQ+ individual and a double minority, and an ally athlete engaged in awareness activities in the sports world, was invited as a guest lecturer.
Specifically, Ms. Sato explained the historical background of the Games, communication methods during matches such as Sign Yell (published by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Sports Promotion Division's Sports TOKYO Information*), impressions from participating, and sign language expressions to avoid. She also shared her personal story: she was assigned female at birth and lives publicly as a transgender man, but to avoid defamation in competitions, she participated in the women's category without hormone therapy. She commented, “In sports, men and women are clearly separated, but this results in people who cannot participate. I hope we do not turn a blind eye to this reality.”
(*Reference: TOKYO Information 'Sign Yell' – A New Cheering Style for Deaf Athletes – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSXOH9BUEDk)
Pride House will continue its efforts to promote diversity in the sports world and achieve an inclusive society.
With the upcoming “Tokyo Deaflympics,” an international sports competition for the hearing impaired, Sign Yell—a sign language-based “visible cheering”—is gaining attention. Meanwhile, defamation and discrimination against athletes have become serious in recent years. In particular, LGBTQ+ and other sexual minority individuals are often hurt by “microaggressions,” unconscious actions that, while not malicious, can wound or displease others. Ensuring psychological safety for both those cheering and those being cheered for has become crucial.
Amidst this, to realize a competition and sports where everyone can cheer safely and securely, a cheering event that simultaneously offered live viewing of the Deaflympics women's deaf football match between Japan and the USA, and minority understanding, was held on Saturday, November 15, 2025. The event's concept was “one safe and secure space” where all diverse people, including LGBTQ+, connect through the power of sports. Minato Sato, a former three-time consecutive representative of Japan in deaf athletics since high school, who is also a publicly out LGBTQ+ individual and a double minority, and an ally athlete engaged in awareness activities in the sports world, was invited as a guest lecturer.
Specifically, Ms. Sato explained the historical background of the Games, communication methods during matches such as Sign Yell (published by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Sports Promotion Division's Sports TOKYO Information*), impressions from participating, and sign language expressions to avoid. She also shared her personal story: she was assigned female at birth and lives publicly as a transgender man, but to avoid defamation in competitions, she participated in the women's category without hormone therapy. She commented, “In sports, men and women are clearly separated, but this results in people who cannot participate. I hope we do not turn a blind eye to this reality.”
(*Reference: TOKYO Information 'Sign Yell' – A New Cheering Style for Deaf Athletes – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSXOH9BUEDk)
Pride House will continue its efforts to promote diversity in the sports world and achieve an inclusive society.