@Nekketsu:
That's rude, man.
No, this is rude.
@Nekketsu:
Nah, I just want to have a laugh with the snowflakes that immediately called Yamato "trans". Nothing else.
Like, first of all let's just clear the air; by "snowflakes" you mean genderqueer people that are happy to see someone like themselves represented in One Piece (like myself), or people who are not genderqueer themselves but care about representation and are happy for those same genderqueer fans mentioned prior. So then let's get this one straight; you'd rather have a laugh at the expense of queer folk having the opportunity of representation dangled in front of them and then taken away, than actually accept the fact that there is a character in-series that uses pronouns different from the ones assigned to them at birth.
And before you start hand-wringing about authorial intent or putting words in the authors mouth or whatever I remind you that 1. Oda is the one who made the conscious decision to include a character whose gender identity is more fluid, and 2. it has already been confirmed that the team behind the series (including Oda) is well aware of the significance Yamato carries to queer fans.
@Greg:
The development team is aware of the importance of Yamato's LGBTQ+ fans and respects that aspect of the character.
In fact it was a topic we discussed on the WT100 program but it was dropped because, as is fairly clear, it's a devisive topic. I think (at this particular time) the view of the development team is, Yamato is what Yamato wants to be and that can be fluid, thus they're refraining from putting their foot in the ground. Some may see that as a bright move, some may see it as cowardly. I see it as respecting not only the character, but also the fans.
Yamato is, whatever you want him to be, if you think that's what Yamato would want.
so I'm just gonna repost this post I made from the 1,019 spoiler thread, because clearly the forum needs a reminder every few weeks that trans and nonbinary people exist (yes, in fact, on this forum too) and are worthy of some baseline respect, and that the way you discuss the topic of gender for a demonstrably queer character reflects your attitudes about gender and gender nonconforming people in real life.
@JDub:
This isn’t a matter of Yamato “being trans” or being “described as” strictly trans and fitting some constructed criteria of what being “trans” means. That endeavor of nailing down what is and is not criteria for “being trans” quickly becomes a slippery slope of truscum-like “you’re not ACTUALLY trans unless XYZ”. There isn’t a uniform trans experience. Hell, there isn’t a uniform trans identity. The reality is a lot more nuanced than that, with as many experiences as there are people.
Again, the matter isn’t whether Yamato fits a strict definition of “transgender”. What’s important is that he is a character assigned female at birth, that uses masculine identifiers. That’s simply queer! And I want to clarify that as an umbrella term, “queer” comes with that ambiguity built in. Yamato’s gender is whatever he wants it to be, and it’s really nice to hear from Greg that the team treats it that way. His identity doesn’t need to be nailed down into a distinct category. The important part is that he doesn’t identify with the gender assigned to him at birth, and so he changed his identifiers. And that is queer. You don’t have to pin down “what Yamato is” or if he fits strict criteria for an identity category, it’s about acknowledging the self-determination Yamato has and wields with regard to his gender.
