Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26358011-20151108230633/@comment-10733658-20151112053037

Here's my two cents on the primary argument I am seeing in favor of simply listing "Female".

I feel that the wiki adopting a stance that "Only birth sex matters" would be inappropriate, as such concepts are both outdated and transphobic in origin. It would create an environment which ignores the reality of Gender Identity and erases Transgender individuals. Doing so would create an environment which could be uncomfortable or even hostile to the portion of the community which is Transgender, and deserves to feel comfortable here in the same manner as everyone else.

The fact is that Mutsuki was designated female at birth, and that his Official Profile does state "Female". However, this cannot be used as an argument since Kanae's Official Profile states "Male" and the consensus on that matter settled on "Female" based on the evidence within the material.

The evidence within the material is that Mutsuki wishes to be identified as Male, and has a heavily masculine presentation. Mutsuki's anatomical traits are not typically raised within the series itself, presenting the audience with a masculine character with a stated preference concerning Identity.

As I've already argued, the primary argument I have seen (admittedly elsewhere in the fandom) is that Mutsuki "crossdresses to avoid harassment". This argument is greatly weakened through the flashback in Chapter 21, which explicitly shows that Mutsuki was the target of extensive gender-related harassment and abuse by peers and the faculty of the Academy. This indicates that Mutsuki's desire to live as a man is greater than any desire to fit in and avoid mistreatment by others. This is especially striking considering the concept of "Wa" in Japanese society. The individual is supposed to sacrifice personal interests for the sake of conformity and group harmony. Individuals which do not adhere to proper conformity are subjected to sutbtle (or not so subtle) mistreatment as punishment, in order to bring them back into line.

Therefore, we see that Mutsuki's desire to live as a man is such that he is willing to oppose a major aspect of Japanese society, and endure the consequences of doing so rather than conform.