Tag Archives: gay man

João Pedro, Graphic Designer/Actor, Rio De Janeiro

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong


photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong


photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong


photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

João, in his own words: “Well, I used to say, and to think, that being gay is nothing but a part of me, just as my black hair, my voice, etc, and this is true, but now, more and more, I feel like its actually much more important. I feel like being gay is being free, but not in the poetic sense (I’m not a huge fan of poetry haha) but free in real life! Free to do whatever I want, wear whatever I want, go wherever I want, etc.

And when I stop to think about it, if I weren’t gay, I’d probably never do many of the things that I’ve done and that have changed my life in someway.

If I weren’t gay I’d be afraid to be who I really am, to do what I really feel like doing, afraid of the bullying, afraid of what others would think of me.

But being gay I grew strong and am not afraid of any of those things anymore. I learned that there will always be people that hate me and people that judge me, you can’t please everyone, so you better please yourself.

If I could give myself advice before coming out I’d probably say something like this: “Baby, relax, chill, don’t you cry and don’t you worry about it! To be gay It’s not nothing, it’s not something irrelevant, it is in fact something that kind of defines you, but for those who actually like you it will be just fine, and for you, well, I don’t want to spoil the surprises, but trust me, being gay, out and proud will be hard sometimes, but it will also be fucking awesome!!”

Tapioca, Political Advisor, Rio De Janeiro

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

João, in his own words: “I don’t really like to identify myself as gay because I believe this concept has been moralized. I feel it’s been captured by a conservative agenda to normalize deviant men. If you perform the role of the sexless fairy consumer, then you are accepted. I’d rather be identified as a queer (in portuguese I like to use the word “transviado”). For me being queer is rejoicing in inadequacy. It’s that permanent feeling that you are an outsider; a stranger to established norms of moral and behavior. Instead of knocking on the doors, begging for acquiescent acceptance, we chose to glitter bomb society. After all, I’m an avowed Pink Bloc, Glitter Vandal, Anal Terrorist and so on. Being queer is resisting oppressive identities that divide us. It is being a nonconforming body and soul.

My advice to myself in the past would be:
Listen, honey! That thing that it gets better is pure bullshit! You do get stronger though. Strong enough to fight for your rights, to go out wearing whatever you want and holding hands with whomever you like. Don’t argue, act. Flaunting is not only beautiful, it’s revolutionary.”

Laan, Dancer, Rio De Janiero

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

Laan, in his own words: (Being gay) means my inner self, my freedom. My biggest challenge was to accept myself the way I really am. Success for me was to be able to live as a gay man, to be happy with it and have lots of friends. Comming out was quick, practical and scary at the same time. (If I could give myself advice before coming out) : go slow kid, the world is big.”