The U.S. Consulate General in Osaka, Patrick J. Linehan met his spouse, Emerson Kanegusuke, in Tokyo 10 years ago and were married in Canada in 2007. He has been at the forefront of the LGBT issue, energetically carrying out his duties as a diplomat and public servant. For this event, Consul General Linehan will be joined by a panel of local activists to discuss the current status of LGBT issues in Japan and the United States. The topic is the “Status of LGBT Issues in Japan and the United States: Aiming for a World That Recognizes & Values Diversity”. The event will be conducted completely in Japanese.
RSVP: Email or fax attached response slip by Thursday, March 7. There will be no registration card/confirmation; simply proceed to the event location. Those responding will be notified if the limit of attendees has been reached.
• 3/8 (Fri.) 15:00~17:00
• Fukuoka American Center
• Free (limited to 100 attendees)
• 8F Solaria Parkside Bldg, Tenjin 2-2-67, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City
• 092-761-6661
• FACProgram@state.gov
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Additional Information: Patrick Joseph Linehan – United States Consul General, Osaka-Kobe
Patrick Joseph Linehan was raised in the Boston area and graduated from the public schools in Tempe, Arizona. He earned a BA in Political Science and Russian at Arizona State University (1974) and an MA in Political Science and Finnish from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1977). He then spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Helsinki (1979-1980). In 1984 he joined the U.S. Foreign Service and specialized in public diplomacy. In addition to postings in Washington, he has been posted abroad in Finland, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Brazil and Canada. He speaks Japanese, Korean and Portuguese. Mr. Linehan is a member of the Career Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor. He took up his duties as Consul General in Osaka-Kobe, Japan in August 2011.
Mr. Linehan first came to Japan in 1988 when he studied Japanese at the Department of State’s Japanese Language Institute in Yokohama. From 1989-1993 he served as the Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Sapporo. He then worked in Washington in the East Asia Bureau where he was in charge of public affairs programs for Japan. In 1999 he returned to Japan for a four year assignment at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo as Embassy Spokesman. In his free time Mr. Linehan enjoys learning about Japanese food and nihonshu, singing karaoke especially “enka,” watching Ozu films and Tora-san films, and enjoying the Boston Red Sox, Japanese baseball and sumo.
Mr. Linehan is married to Emerson Kanegusuke, originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Mr. Kanegusuke served in the Brazilian Air Force for seven years where he was an Air Traffic Controller. He holds a BS in Computer Studies from the University of Maryland, and is currently working on an advanced degree in the Global MBA Program at Doshisha University in Kyoto. Mr. Linehan and Mr. Kanegusuke live in Nishinomiya, Japan. They have two beagles.
Status of LGBT Issues in Japan and the United States: Aiming for a World That Recognizes & Values Diversity
Moderator: Ms. Kanako Otsuji – Former Member of the Osaka Prefectural (“Fu”) Assembly (2003-2007). First openly LGBT person to serve as a legislative member in Japan.
Panelists:
• Anri Ishizaki – Member of Fukuoka LGBT community. Founder of “Fukuoka Rainbow Educational Network” (FRENS). 4th grade elementary school teacher.
• Mitsuko Nakajima – Mother of LGBT child. Fukuoka representative of “LGBT Family and Friends Network” (“Tsunagu-kai”). Active in providing information to educational institutions about dealing with LGBT issues and children in a positive manner.
• Yuya Makizono – Member of Fukuoka LGBT community. Representative of “Love Act Fukuoka (LAF) / Hakata Community Center (HACO),” focusing on men’s health and HIV prevention.
