@.access:
This is not the point you are trying to make nor it matters to it, but I would like to point out the people of Kamabakka are most likely not trans.
Regardless of what okama means in the real world (homo? transvestite?), in the OP world the "Okama Way" seem to be more a question of denying the whole gender binarism. The okama and, even further, the newkama seem to treat the notions of man and woman as something they discarded. With Ivankov that is made clear to a point that their "gender fluidity" becomes concrete, with Iva being able to alter his/her own body and others to fit how "they feel in the moment". "Now I feel like a woman/man", Iva said that at least once in ID to explain changing their own sex - to the newkama gender is merely a state of spirit, the whole construct is so menial that wearing a male or female body is closer to an aesthetic choice.
And I absolutely love it. Actually, I find it curious how Oda can have so strict gender roles when it comes to portraying male and female characters and at the same time make such a statement disregarding gender conformation - you would think those would be mutually exclusives.
Of course, of course, I was more using trans as a blanket term for people outside the gender binary than I was trying to say they fit the term exactly. Genderfluid would definitely be a better description of how they are, so you're 100% right.
One thing I think is real interesting about the portrayal of these things, and I couldn't say if this is an Oda thing or a Japanese language thing, is personal pronouns. With Japanese having gendered personal pronouns, you'd think it'd make for a really easy and obvious way for a trans/fluid/queer person to show how they want to be called, just by using a masculine or feminine I/me. But there's an odd disconnect - Big Mom used masculine pronouns for herself, but there's obviously no question what her gender is. Morley uses feminine pronouns and Ivan has totally made up (or maybe just heavily accented) ones, but both have male pronouns used when other characters talk to and about them, and it's not shown to be any kind of a problem. There's some kind of disconnect between first person gender expression and what's expected from people referring to them in third person that doesn't translate at all.
@HeartOfDarkness:
Why would Nami be gay?
I don't mind the whole "progressive" thing if its true to the writer's intention and he is saying something with it. Nami being gay wouldn't make sense in any way and would seem like pandering more than anything relevant.
I'm glad you asked! I haven't just picked a character at random like "we need some lesbian representation so eenie meenie minie her," there's plenty of actual textual evidence that Nami's into chicks. The bath scene with Vivi is a big one, especially with that look that Nami gives her a little bit before they notice the boys peeping. Nami can't help getting distracted by how sexy Kalifa is during their fight. She comments on how pretty Cindry was when she sees her portrait on Thriller Bark. Near the end of Punk Hazard she says she has "a weakness for strong lady sailors," of course comparing Tashigi to her mother but phrasing it in the most loaded way possible. In the passage between Punk Hazard and Dressrosa we can see the two ladies on the ship share a bed (in the Sunny's diagrams in vol 46 it looked like there were two singles side by side in the women's room, but the shot in vol 70 very much seems to show a double). And finally there's literally every interaction between Nami and Wanda on Zou. They go above and beyond the level of garchu happening with anyone else. And like I said in an earlier post, Nami has a tendency to meet a woman she quickly develops an intense friendship to every other island. She goes ride or die real fast for the women she meets.
Conversely I can't think of a single time Nami showed genuine attraction to or even commented on the attractiveness of a male character. She'll play along with Sanji's flirting long enough to get what she wants from him, but it's very obvious that's all it is.
This is all subtext though, and it could be that the evidence aligns differently for you. But as far as I'm concerned this isn't a diversity quota or pandering thing, it's literally what Oda is showing Nami doing and thinking and saying.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
@theackwardstation:
Hey, Sanji doesn't hate gay people. He had a pretty respectable fight against Bon Clay and it was Sanji that enlightened Bon-chan to the path of fightning for your friends. Later after the time skip, Sanji showed admiration towards Iva-chan.
The whole gag with Sanji in Kamabakka is not that Sanji hate the okama, but rather he wanted to protect his sense of masculinity in a context where everybody in that island was trying to convince him to abandon his old-fashioned principles. The other gag is the lack of women, Sanji's oxygen.
Okay fair, he doesn't outright hate them, but the way this protecting his masculinity manifests, like characterising his time with the okama as a hell, or objecting to getting a blood transfusion from two of them, are all things that would considered extremely hurtful if I pulled that shit with any of the queer people I know. Sanji isn't hateful, I'll pay it, but his views are outdated and again, Oda sees it as a quirk, but it comes across to more people as a flaw. And when you have a character with glaring flaws that hold them back and cause them to act hurtfully to their friends but the narrative doesn't portray it as something that needs to be changed or worked on you get this dissonance between the story and the readers.
One Piece isn't the best series for in depth character development, but from the way we've seen Luffy's leadership style and attitude towards leadership grow over time, Usopp finding his confidence and Robin losing her cold, distant persona, we know that Oda can do growth and make changes over time to the cast. He can do better, but in this case he keeps choosing not to.