Naoto Shirogane is a cis, gender non conforming woman. If you cannot see that, I implore you to replay her arc. In Japan, gender expectations and roles are a lot more rigid than in the West. Many, many fields, like detective work, are male dominated. Naoto even says it herself, that people would not take her seriously if they knew she was a girl. She stated that she didn’t want people finding out she was a girl because they already talked down on her for being so young. She doesn’t want to give anyone anymore reasons to discriminate against her (she also says this). So she chose to masquerade as a man. In Persona Q, Junpei mistakes her for a man, and she corrects him, saying she’s a woman. She then goes on to discuss gender roles with the group and how she finds them annoying. Her arc and story are not transphobic because it’s not a commentary on gender itself. It’s a commentary on Japanese roles and expectations of women. She doesn’t “confront” her gender, she confronts sexism in her society. Please understand.
