Japanese Pop Star Shinjiro Atae Comes Out as Gay.
“I don’t want people to struggle like me,” the singer said while announcing his sexuality
Japanese pop star Shinjiro Atae has come out as gay.
While speaking to a crowd of about 2,000 fans at an event at the Line Cube Shibuya in Tokyo on Wednesday night, Atae revealed his sexuality, first telling those in attendance, “I respect you and believe you deserve to hear this directly from me,” per The New York Times.
“For years, I struggled to accept a part of myself. But now, after all I have been through, I finally have the courage to open up to you about something. I am a gay man,” he continued, the outlet said. “I don’t want people to struggle like me.”
Atae made the announcement in conservative Japan, a nation — and the only G7 country — that has yet to legalize same-sex unions, according to NPR.
