I’ve been told by other Asians that my family is unusual.
I’m a fourth generation Japanese American black sheep.
My great grandmother was kicked out of Japan.
It was juicy gossip in the 1880s—
how she separated from her husband because her wild sister had divorced her brother-in-law,
and how she walked into the sea with her baby in her arms.
Shipping her off to Hawaii was the best choice. Really.
She didn’t have any ties left except the baby she left behind in Hiroshima,
the same baby she had carried with her.
My grandfather, a Japanese American war hero,
got another girl knocked up after marrying my grandmother.
They married her to his brother. Awkward.
My dad was an anti-war activist and draft counselor during the Vietnam war.
He married not one but two white women.
So really, it does make sense that my dad was delighted that I am trans and gay.
Me being the only son of an only son would piss off the family once again.
If anything, it’s tradition.
—Dean Kumiko Ninja Kawena Kubota