Japanese Transgender Politician Is Showing ‘I Exist Here’ And the Education Ministry recently declined to add content about transgender issues to its curriculum for kindergarten and elementary and junior high schools, arguing that such discussions would be "difficult " because of challenges in "achieving the understanding of parents and the public." In Iruma, Mr. Hosoda said he hoped to establish a counseling service at City Hall where teenagers grappling with their gender identity could seek guidance. In Iruma, Shinji Sugimura, director of the local chapter of the Democratic Party, said Mr. Hosoda had succeeded because "he didn’t push his thoughts to others but tried to be understood first." "He’s good as a politician rather than an activist," Mr. Sugimura added. Iruma said that I wanted to show children in elementary or junior high school that I exist here, Some people hurled epithets, she said, and others asked, "What kind of parents raised someone like you?" Some transgender activists say that even as Japanese society has grown more superficially accepting of transgender people, many hurdles remain. Even if Mr. Hosoda mainly focuses on the bread and butter of public life, like making sure the streetlights work, experts on gender issues in Japan say he could be a potent symbol. Mr. Hosoda, 25, won his seat on the City Council in conservative-leaning Iruma in March, becoming the first openly transgender male elected to public office in Japan and one of only a handful around the world. Mr. Hosoda thinks that in his small way, he can make an important contribution simply by being public and confident about his identity, particularly for young people who may be confused about their own.
