Discover Nikkei Logo

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1787/

Reason she didn't transition earlier

One of reasons I couldn't come out as early as I think I wanted to was having a death penalty case always weighed upon me I felt like I can't do transition, you know transgender transition is too in your face. It's not like coming out gay and actually go in front of that jury and look exactly the same as I did before. It doesn't work like that when you transition, so I was always paranoid about that. Just like you probably paranoid and I imagined that all LGBT people during my era were paranoid about being outed and identified and targeted.

It was something that was just going to happen once you came out whether voluntarily or involuntarily so you might as well do it voluntarily. If you have the opportunity, you might as well do it on your own terms. So doing death cases though kept me for many years from transitioning, I probably would’ve done it maybe 10 years earlier maybe 20 years of we’ll see there was a period of time in the 90s when I remember thinking I needed to transition. I can't live like this anymore, I can't be the phony that I've gotten good at being.


gender identity gender transition identity lawyers LGBTQ+ people transgender

Date: July 14, 2020

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Matthew Saito

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum; Japanese American Bar Association

Interviewee Bio

Mia Yamamoto is a Sansei transgender attorney and civil rights activist. She was born in the Poston concentration camp in Arizona in 1943 where her parents were incarcerated. She joined the Army and served in the Vietnam War. Inspired by her father's courage to speak out against the unconstitutional incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, she attended the University of California Los Angeles's School of Law and has been a leader in the field of social justice, including working with the Japanese American Bar Association. (March 2021)

*This is one of the main projects completed by The Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) Program intern each summer, which the Japanese American Bar Association and the Japanese American National Museum have co-hosted.

Michelle Yamashiro
en
ja
es
pt
Michelle Yamashiro

Parents identification as Peruvian Okinawan

Okinawan American whose parents are from Peru.

en
ja
es
pt
Michelle Yamashiro
en
ja
es
pt
Michelle Yamashiro

Okinawan cultural appreciation

Okinawan American whose parents are from Peru.

en
ja
es
pt
Michelle Yamashiro
en
ja
es
pt
Michelle Yamashiro

Prejudice against Okinawans from mainland folks

Okinawan American whose parents are from Peru.

en
ja
es
pt
Michelle Yamashiro
en
ja
es
pt
Michelle Yamashiro

American values she aligns with

Okinawan American whose parents are from Peru.

en
ja
es
pt
Michelle Yamashiro
en
ja
es
pt
Michelle Yamashiro

Working together in Okinawa using three languages

Okinawan American whose parents are from Peru.

en
ja
es
pt
Mitsuye Yamada
en
ja
es
pt
Mitsuye Yamada

Expressing herself through poetry

(b. 1923) Japanese American poet, activist

en
ja
es
pt
Juan Alberto Matsumoto
en
ja
es
pt
Juan Alberto Matsumoto

About Escobar (Spanish)

(b. 1962) Nisei Japanese Argentinian, currently residing in Japan

en
ja
es
pt
Monica Teisher
en
ja
es
pt
Monica Teisher

Her definition of Nikkei

(b.1974) Japanese Colombian who currently resides in the United States

en
ja
es
pt
Sabrina Shizue McKenna
en
ja
es
pt
Sabrina Shizue McKenna

Impact of Coming Out on Her Family

(b. 1957) Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii.

en
ja
es
pt

Discover Nikkei Updates

CALL FOR VIDEOS
Pass the Food!
Be in our video celebrating Nikkei worldwide. Click to learn how to submit! Deadline extended to October 15!
NIKKEI CHRONICLES #13
Nikkei Names 2: Grace, Graça, Graciela, Megumi?
What’s in a name? Share the story of your name with our community. Submissions close on October 31!
NIMA VOICES
Episode 17
November 12
5pm PDT | 7pm PET
Featured Nima:
Graciela Nakachi
Guest Host:
Enrique Higa

Presented in Spanish