Reon Arao comes out as LGBTQIA+, citing fellow Japanese volleyball player Rui Takahashi
“With the courage of Rui Takahashi, who thrives on the front lines of the same sport, I was encouraged and decided to share this in my own words.”
Japanese volleyball player Reon Arao has come out as LGBTQIA+ in a moving Instagram post, following fellow volleyball star Rui Takahashi’s coming out announcement yesterday.
The 25-year-old player shared a picture of himself laughing while sitting on a sea wall, accompanied by a letter in the second slide of his post.
Arao shared a similarly emotional Instagram post to Takahashi’s, sharing his identity, translated from the original Japanese: “If I had to choose from the LGBTQ+ spectrum, I think my sexuality is closest to ‘Q’ for Questioning.”
But he added: “When it comes to my gender identity and the gender of the people I’m attracted to, I haven’t put myself into a strict box. ‘I am me.’ That’s been my mindset.”
