Tag Archives: coming out

Mussa, Outreach Worker, Cape Town, South Africa

photo by Kevin Truong

Mussa, in his own words: “Being gay to me, means being who I am. I don’t see any strange thing in being gay as a human. Because in this world people are not the same. We should just respect one another as God’s creations.

In this world people face a lot of challenges but when it comes to a gay person, it is another issue. Discriminations, stigmas etc…but all of those things you should challenge them in accepting yourself first then you will have full access in dealing with other issues. Like family, friends, communities etc… the moment people stress you, and you allow stress to stress you, you will be stressed the entirety of your life. I believe that any one can have goals to achieve in his life, but so long with grace of God I am coping with any kind of situation which I never thought of. The success it is good thing in life. I can not say that I achieved everything in life needed, but what I can assure you is that I made a peace inside of myself.

My coming out story is so complicated. As I’m telling you, I am 37 years old but this year 2014, that’s when my family knew about my sexuality.

Coming out is not an easy thing, but I always believed that nothing was wrong about me, where by I never felt owing anyone an explanation of me being homosexual or gay. People talk a lot of things about the bible, but what I know is that homosexuals have been there from the start of creation. And I believe that again God is not a killer.

The gay community in Capetown is more broader (generally than in South Africa ). Having a government which recognizes human rights is a big step in keeping your nation at peace. Out of that, South Africa’s law, allowing marriage to the same sex couples even though there is still a lot to do for the community to feel it as normal life, but at least same saxes couples fill protected by the law.

The advice I would give to youths is that in life people love one another and people hate one another. So, they should be prepared for those kind of challenges and they shouldn’t fill ashamed or offended because of criticism, stigmas hate, will be always there until Jesus comes, if it will happen. And they should know that God loves each and every person. However he look like. God loves everyone and they should not keep themselves away from churches or public services which would uplift them for their daily life until a person dies.”

Avraam, Social Worker, Athens, Greece

photo by Kevin Truong

Avraam, in his own words: “Being -openly- gay in Greece is not that easy because of the fear of being bullied or attacked by homophobes. But this is not an option, but a big challenge that makes me feel special. I really enjoy being gay, I have the need to express what I feel without guilt, I love kissing and holding hands in public with my boyfriends and I think homosexuality is the greatest gift nature could ever give me.

I always wanted to be myself without caring about what people think and I made it happen. I achieved becoming an activist fighting against all types of discrimination and standing up for human rights. I give my big smile to everyone, I don’t hide behind my finger, I show people my real feelings and always tell the truth although our society is absolutely addicted to lies.

My whole life is a short coming out story. If you come out of the closet once, you will love this taste of freedom and you will never ever want to go back inside it again. This is the quote I want all of us to memorize and believe in. I’m openly gay not just for me, but for all those who are afraid of expressing themselves and because I can’t imagine myself without fighting for equality. People can be judgmental, but I have nothing to feel ashamed of. The closet has been burnt.

After the Greek Parliament voted for civil partnership equality into law in December 2015, I feel like many things are getting better for us. The gay community in Athens is like a big vibrant village trying to be more visible, have a stronger voice and attract more allies. There is a large number of LGBTQ+ associations that is growing all the time and a developing gay village in an area called Gazi. But to be honest, there is something that has always bothered me: many gay men prove that they experience internalized homophobia and others tend to be really exclusive in their everyday lives. While browsing profiles on dating apps, it’s not that difficult to notice that the majority of gay men hide their faces, they can be rude and aggressive when you are not into them and outspoken about not liking ‘fats’, ‘thins’, ‘fems’, ‘older’ etc.

(Advice I’d give to my younger self) Kid, be more productive, be careful who you trust, f*ck them all, love yourself and celebrate your gay pride!”

Syd, Advertising, Manila, Philippines

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by KEvin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

Syd, in his own words: “In my opinion it’s not that hard to be gay here (Manila) I think people are more accepting now. I work in advertising so people don’t care really if you’re gay or not. To date here is easy, I think, with Grindr and Tinder and Facebook. People just add each other on Facebook and start talking. But in a way that makes it more difficult because I think in the back of people’s minds they have too many options so it’s hard to choose. I think that’s a problem now. Technology and social networking, there’s so many options so people can’t settle with one.”