Today's feature is:
Aya Kamikawa (上川 あや Kamikawa Aya)
✿Background Info:
Aya Kamikawa is a Tokyo municipal official born in 1968. In 2003, she won a four-year term, and in 2007 she was re-elected into a second term. Her seat is in the Setagaya ward assembly, Tokyo's most populous district.
✿Making it Over the Rainbow:
Kamikawa was born a male. According to her mother, when she was five or six she said that she wanted to be a girl. So, in her late 20s, Kamikawa decided to follow her dreams and become a woman. However, she was still listed as a male on her family identity records and other records. Because of this, doing simple tasks or applying for a job became difficult, and she was faced with discrimination.
One article explains, "But, living as a woman, difficulties arose because prospective
employers needed family identity documents. In the end she could only
find part-time work, where such documents are not required.
There
was also the day-to-day prejudice she encountered. People wanted to
know in which gay bar. she was working as a barmaid. Others would ask her
what stage she was at with her 'construction' - a reference to
operations to change her sexual organs."Surprisingly, her parents were there to support her through her change. Even when she told them about her plan to run in the election, they were supportive.
She submitted her election application papers. In the space to indicate her sex, she left it blank. After winning in 2003, the government announced that they would continue to consider her officially as a male. Her response was stating that she would work as a woman anyway. She uses her position to improve rights for women, children, the elderly, the handicapped, and LGBTQ people.
Kamikawa is the first transgender to seek or win an elected office in Japan, and she currently is the only openly transgender official in Japan.
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