This is part of #KaraniwangLGBT, which Outrage Magazine officially launched on July 26, 2015 to offer vignettes of LGBT people/living, particularly in the Philippines, to give so-called “everyday people” – in this case, the common LGBT people – that chance to share their stories.
As Outrage Magazine editor Michael David C. Tan says: “All our stories are valid – not just the stories of the ‘big shots’. And it’s high time we start telling all our stories.”
Apple was 10 when she came out. “Nag-cross-dress ako; inipon ko allowance ko, tapos bumibili ako ng blouse (I wore women’s clothes; I saved my allowance to buy blouse),” she said.
Even when she was young, her dad never reprimanded her for being “iba (different).”
“Nagagalit siya hindi dahil trans ako, kundi dahil sa ginagawa ko (He never got angry because I’m transgender, but because of what I do),” she said. “Tulad ng pag-uwi ng gabing-gabi, di nag-aaral (Like going home really late, or not studying)…”
Now as a lady of 23, if there’s an advice she can give, it is this: “Be yourself. Huwag pipigilan ang sarili. Mahirap ang magpigil. Mas masarap na bata ka pa at alam mo namang bakla ka pala, magrampa ka na (Don’t deny yourself. It’s hard to deny yourself. It’s better if while still young and you already know you’re gay anyway, you should already come out).”
Inside the beauty parlor where she worked, she looked at the older gay men around her. “Minsan ka lang sariwa. Kaya dapat, while young pa, out na (You’re only fresh once. So while still young, come out already)!”
"If someone asked you about me, about what I do for a living, it's to 'weave words'," says Kiki Tan, who has been a writer "for as long as I care to remember." With this, this one writes about... anything and everything.
