In Japan, a male who changed his gender and ran for a village mayor position emphasized the importance of deciding how one wants to live their life. A 59-year-old male, who changed his gender and registered as a female, ran for the mayor position of a village in Kochi Prefecture. The man, who is now referred to as a woman and uses the name Yuna Abe, submitted the required documents to run in the election on November 16. The election will be held on December 11. Abe, who was born male, said she feels that she has been living as a woman since she was a child. Abe changed her gender in 2019 and registered as a female. She said she decided to run in the election because she wanted to show people that there are various ways to live. Abe said, “I want to be a leader who listens to people’s voices. I think it’s very important to decide how you want to live.” The village where Abe is running has a population of about 6,000. There are high expectations for a new leader in this village, as the current mayor is 74 years old and will not run for re-election. The residents of the village said, “I think it’s good that there are various candidates,” and “I want to hear her opinions.” Abe said she will do her best to appeal to voters. She said she will go door-to-door to listen to people’s opinions. Abe’s message is expected to attract the attention of many people.
We haven't written up this one. The Asahi Shimbun has the full story — the link below goes straight to it.
