The Underlying Factors Contributing to a Lack of Social Acceptance Against the Sexual and Gender Minorities: A Comparative Study Between South Korea and Japan

Abstract: In this thesis I am putting the sexual and gender minorities in South Korea and Japan under the limelight. I am discussing the topic of LGBT social acceptance, and the connection between the level of social acceptance and how the sexual and gender minorities have been perceived through history, and are currently being perceived within the law, culture and religion, politics, and Socio-economic areas in South Korea and Japan. In both countries there is still a visible lack of social acceptance towards LGBT persons, and the hypothesis of this paper is that all of the factors contributing to that outcome, except for religion, are evidently similar. The aim is to analyze and show the connection between these factors and how the sexual and gender minorities are viewed and treated, as well as to compare the outcome in respective country and discuss the similarities and differences.