Voices concern that disruptive gatherings will hurt public perception of LGBT community.
25-year-old Kanon Aoki was born with male genitalia, but from around the age of five began to identify more as a woman. Still, the Tokyo native, born to a Filipino mother and Japanese father, continued to live outwardly as a boy, even playing on baseball teams throughout elementary, middle, and high schools, out of fear of how her father would react if she began living as a woman.
Finally, in the last year of high school, Aoki revealed her gender identity to her parents, and her fears turned out to be very justifiable, as her father responded by jumping on her back and striking her multiple times. After high school, Aoki would undergo voice training to raise her speaking octave, and, with the encouragement of a friend, began wearing women’s clothing when going out in public.
▼ Kanon Aoki
今まで本当にありがとうございました。 youtu.be/T8xYC9IjyMY https://t.co/CCZ7hW5nwr
—
青木歌音 (@memory_kanon) July 31, 2018
Now moved out of her parents’ home, Aoki has a YouTube channel with 130,000 subscribers, over 16,000 followers on Twitter, and has made a handful of television appearances.
▼ Aoki’s most recent full-length video, documenting the birthday presents she bought for herself.
Last Sunday, Aoki was walking by Shibuya Station, one of downtown Tokyo’s major rail hubs, where a group of people had gathered for an LGBT demonstration. Given her background, some might have expected her to join the crowd, and perhaps even say a few words. Instead, she sent out a message saying:
“I passed by Shibuya Station, and there was a huge LGBT demonstration going on.
If people hold demonstrations and gatherings that cause that much commotion, the rest of society will see LGBT people as people to be fearful or wary of.
Society at large views people like me who changed their sex as part of the LGBT community, but I changed my sex without thinking about it so deeply, so I’m not really concerned at all with LGBT issues.”
It’s unclear whether Aoki’s claim that she “changed her sex” is predicated on any sort of gender reassignment surgery/treatment, or purely on her way of thinking and presenting herself. She also didn’t expand on her reasoning as to how changing her sex doesn’t necessarily make her part of the LGBT demographic.
Aoki’s tweet produced numerous online comments from others saying that they have no problems with people being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, but that they too wish the community wouldn’t stage loud, large-scale demonstrations in such already heavily trafficked areas as Shibuya. There were, however, a few dissenters in the mix too, who left comments such as:
“Well, honestly the majority LGBT people wish they could just be left alone too.”
“You might not be concerned at all with LGBT issues, but other people are.”
“[Aoki’s] kind of thinking is a problem among Japanese people. This time the topic is LGBT issues, but [her kind of] attitude is just the sort of thing that plays into the designs of powerful politicians and wealthy people.”
Aoki’s tweet has since been deleted, though she herself has offered no explanation as to the exact reason why.
Source: Twitter/@ memory_kanon via Hachima Kiko, Wikipedia, Share News Japan
Top image: Wikipedi/Theodoranian
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