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Gender discrimination abounds everywhere, and Japan is no exception. Even more problematic is how the media approaches people who identify as transgender. In May, a program on Yomiuri TV faced backlash for harassing and touching a store clerk whose gender was unconfirmed. Now, network Yamaguchi TV (テレビ山口) is under fire for outing a transgender woman.

https://www.huffingtonpost.jp/entry/tys-minority_jp_5dcdf762e4b0294748145bbe?ncid=other_trending_qeesnbnu0l8&utm_campaign=trending (JP) Link: “Yamaguchi TV Introduces Transgender Woman as “A Man Who Looks Like a Woman”

“How Unusual – A Man Who Looks Like a Woman”

The crew of “Weekly Yamaguchi Family” (「週末ちぐまや家族」) went around interviewing people who are considered “rare.” The crew approached the woman while she was changing the oil in her car and peppered her with questions. “Are you changing the oil?” “Are you a woman?” “Is this your car?” It turns out the crew also interviewed one of the woman's relatives, who confirmed she was transgender. Then a picture of the woman appeared with the subtitle “How unusual – a man who looks like a woman” (「珍 女性のような男性」).

The segment aired on November 9. “I didn't think I'd be discriminated in this way,” she said. “It was quite a big shock.”

Asahi Shinbun interviewed the woman about the incident:

「女性として取材を受けたのに、私自身に確認せずにわざわざ男性だとさらされた。職場の同僚や取引先が放送を見たらと考えて一時は絶望的になった」 I was interviewed as a woman, but they revealed me as transgender without my consent. I felt hopeless when I thought about what my coworkers and clients would think if they saw the segment.

The studio network issued an apology to the outed woman and promised to look into the issue and prevent a reoccurrence. However, there's no way to reverse the emotional damage the outed woman now has to deal with.

From enforcing transgender people to undergo sterilization treatments to job hunting discrimination, Japan has a rather sordid history of poor treatment towards transgender people. Support and awareness are rising, but I suspect it will take a long time for media outlets to treat transgender people fairly without branding them as “unusual.”

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