I started coming out when I was 18, after I had been intimate with a guy I genuinely felt I could love and fight for. Even though I’ve known I was gay since I was a teenager, I had always been afraid of being gay because I did not think it was possible to be a part of society as a gay man of color. I felt that the only “other” identity I could claim was being Latino. There was no way I could be a gay Latino and still have the same future and opportunities my parents and I had envisioned for myself.

I know that coming out is a process, be it difficult or easy, for all LGBTQ people. However, I believe that for some LGBTQ people of color, our coming out story is not complete without referring to our culture and race. We have to not only figure out what being LGBTQ is but what it means to be a LGBTQ person of color.

As open and diverse most LGBTQ people are, I still feel invisible in many gay spaces. Whether it is because of the color of my skin, my body size, my interests or what I am wearing, I feel that there is little room for gay men of color, within that traditional gay male ideal, to be more than just their skin color or culture. However, I think that by promoting and showcasing that there are other gay men that are not white, with different interests, studying, working hard/hardly working or just living their lives proudly, we can break some of these patterns, become aware of our differences and embrace them.