I had to continually fight for my place, the recognition of peers, and constantly remind people that hard work, not faking it matters.

[My coming out] is not as dramatic as how I would imagine.. but I fully came out after my parents have died. First mostly to friends then family. Actually a lot of my relatives might not still know it but I decided it wasn’t important to come out to them.

[The gay community in Manila] has its up and downs. We Filipinos are resilient, optimistic and caring. But like probably any gay community, there are cliques within cliques, with a bit of internal homophobia going around.. but we do rally around a cause when needed.