Siendo gay he tenido muchos más desafíos que éxitos, claro si solo nos referimos a ser gay. Sin embargo, uno de los mejores éxitos que he tenido, siendo como soy, es armar eso a lo que yo llamo “familia”, esta familia no engloba solamente a mi familia genérica, sino que también entran mis amigos y, principalmente, mi pareja. Armar ese circulo que me rodea ha sido una de las cosas más difíciles que me he propuesto hacer y ahora, después de casi 5 años, me siento feliz de decir que he encontrado un equilibrio y, finalmente, llegar a tener una familia que me quiere como soy, unos amigos que me apoyan incondicionalmente y una pareja con la que poco a poco estoy armando una vida.

Si me preguntas como es la comunidad gay en el Perú, yo te diría que es extrañamente plural, puedes encontrar de todo; pero algo que nos une es que queremos igualdad para todos. Eso, aunque tengamos diferencias, problemas de por medio o simplemente no haya un lazo de amistad, nos une, y eso nos lleva a otra característica de la comunidad gay en el Perú, que al final de cuentas somos una familia, y nosotros luchamos para preservarla y defenderla ante todo.

(With regards to coming out) Bueno, comencé a decirle a mis amigos del colegio, fue extraño, algunos no me creían. Tiempo después, “salí del closet” de modo general cuando me enamoré de mi actual pareja, y le dije a mi madre… Esto ocasionó fuertes peleas, peleas que parecían que nunca iban a terminar y que causaron el alejamiento de mi familia; sin embargo, después de tiempo estas fueron cambiando y con ellas mi relación con mi madre y mi familia nuclear. Posteriormente, las cosas fueron viniendo como tuvieron que venir y la verdad es que del 100% de personas que conocía el 90% siguió siendo parte de mi hasta la actualidad. Salir del “closet” es algo bien complicado; pero que a lo largo del tiempo te causa alegrías y tranquilidad.

Being gay I have had many more challenges than successes, of course if we refer only to being gay. However, one of the best success I’ve had, being as I am, is that to build what I call “family”, this family includes not only my generic family, but also my friends and my partner . And that circle around me has been one of the hardest things I’ve have to build and now, after almost 5 years, I am happy to say I’ve found a balance and finally get to have a family that loves me as I am, a few friends who support me unconditionally, and a couple that I’m slowly putting together a life with.

If you ask me about the gay community in Peru, I’d say it’s strangely plural, you can find everything; but something that unites us is that we want equality for all. That, although we have differences, a bond of friendship unites us, and that brings us to another feature of the gay community in Peru, which in the end is that we are a family and we strive to preserve and defend first.

(With regards to coming out) well, I started to tell my friends at school, it was strange, some did not believe me. Later, “I came out” in general when I fell in love with my boyfriend, and I told my mother … This brought heavy fights, fights that seemed would never end and that caused the estrangement from my family; however, after time these were changing and with them my relationship with my mother and my nuclear family. Afterwards, things were going as they had come to be, and the truth is that of the 100% of people I knew 90% remained part of me until today. Escaping the “closet” is something very complicated; but that over time will cause joy and peace.

(With regards to challenges) Love. Learning to love myself as I am, to not let anyone make me feel bad just because I do not like the same thing as them. Finding someone I love very much, and that despite the problems encountered, to know how to overcome them.

Learning that we are all different so we think differently, your family may initially not understanding and react badly, but everything takes time, because after all they are only concerned that you’re ok and that the world treats you well.

(The gay community in Lima) It has a bit of everything, but if it has something in common it is that everyone wants Lima to be a place where you can live in peace and that is why they are always supporting inicitivas marches to stop abuses against gays.

(With regards to coming out) I realized I was gay in high school, when my best friend at the time told me that he loved me, and I thought “Why not try?” And that’s when I finally felt that all was as it should be and feel.

At first the people I told were my friends, then my aunt. But all my family found out the day I took my boyfriend to the house, we were in my room and were about to kiss when my mom came in, saw us and went mad. Actually, my mom took a good amount of time to accept the news, especially considering she found out that way, but now all is quiet between us because she knows that I am happy with my decision.