Old LY Site

By Jacob Lazaro My mother looked at me with a kind and gentle smile on her face. "It's okay. Tell me"  my mother said. "Ma I think I'm gay" I confessed looking in her eyes. Her smile slowly disappeared and her eyes widened in shock. Discovering yourself is an ongoing process,  it's normal and no one ever really stops. But when it comes to sexuality and sexual orientation, things get a bit more complicated - that people won't always be so kind. At LoveYourself Welcome in Sampaloc, Manila, Mark de Castro the community center coordinator organized “Welcome Cafe, Coming Out Stories Night”, an open forum where volunteers and clients could openly share their stories and thoughts about coming out. The following are reflections of what transpired throughout the session. My coming out story Three years ago I remember feeling like I was living a double life. I was Hannah Monatana here in Manila, where I study and in Laguna, my province I...

by Anton Fabico (photo credits: www.biggaycloset.com ) Everyone has a story to tell and everyone has a road to take. No two stories are the same. Some of them might be similar but they are different from one another. In our life, we all go through adversity but these experiences help build who we are. As members of the LGBT community, more often than not, we get the hard end of the stick. Others might not agree with this but there is some truth to it. We experience discrimination, prejudice, even hate and the worst part is sometimes, we experience this from the people who are close to us. This isn’t a generalization but merely an observation. This column will showcase the story of a member from our community, a John Doe or Jane Doe. A stranger who you’ve never met but he or she has a story to tell and experiences to share. His or her story might be similar to yours or someone you know. So let’s take a glimpse at their life here in the Closet Chronicles. Benjamin Garcia   or ‘ ...