Shinjiro Atae is coming out. The 34-year-old J-Pop superstar and AAA member revealed he is gay during a fan meet event at Line Cube Shibuya in Tokyo.
The idol made a moving speech to loud applause from the over 2,000 attendees, in which he revealed why he made the decision to tell his fans directly that he is gay and provided insight into his journey to self-acceptance, as well as resources for those that may be going through something similar. Keep reading to find out more… “It has taken me a long time to be able to say I am gay.
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 realize 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.