“I knew I was gay when I was a kid and only few of my friends knew about my truth. I was 13 when my family migrated to America. It was then I saw and felt how difficult it was for a teenager and not yet out of the closet to belong to any group. I got scared and was hesitant to come out and be the real me when I saw how the openly gay teenager are being bullied by seniors and certain groups at school.
Days before I turned 18, I came out to my mom who was surprised to have a gay son who has her family going to church every Sunday. It is something she wouldn’t want any of her six sons to be. To be gay… Few years later, my mother explained that she is not ashamed of me but love and accepts me for who I am and she was afraid on how the world and the people in it can be cruel for someone like me. She didn’t want me to struggle and have a tough life.
Now things has changed and even though my mom doesn’t say it, I feel that she is proud of the person that I have become.”
Gerald is our Public Relation Officer for the Netherlands Chapter of The Filipino LGBT Europe.
Photo credit: @mr_leeuy
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