“I am a gay man”: Japanese pop star Shinjiro Atae comes out in groundbreaking speech
J-Pop singer Shinjiro Atae publicly came out as gay at an event in front of 2,000 fans. The 34-year-old revealed that he was gay in a heartwarming speech during a performance in Tokyo on 26 July. “It has taken me a long time to be able to say I am gay,” the singer shared. “I could not even say it to myself.
I feared that even if I could accept the truth, the world would never accept me as an artist. “However, I’ve come to realise it is better, both for me and for the people I care about, including my fans, to live life authentically than to live a life never accepting who I truly am.” Atae later took to Instagram to release a full statement, stating that the full speech would be posted online with English subtitles the next day.
His former bandmates and family attended the event to show their support and respect. “I don’t want people to struggle like me,” the former member of pop group AAA told The New York Times. Attitudes to the LGBTQ+ community still vary in Japan A public announcement such as Atae’s is unusual in Japan, which is currently the only G7 nation with no legal protection for same-sex unions.
Japan’s parliament has also recently come under scrutiny for passing a bill that ‘promoted LGBTQ+ awareness’ without guaranteeing any rights.
