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.”
Transman Tito Ar-Ar, as the kids whose families also work in the area call him, hasn’t been in Boracay for a long time, “pero marami nang nabago sa buhay ko (but many changes happened in my life already).” He has, for instance, helped popularize the “chori (from chorizo, a type of sausage) burger” that is now associated with the island, having been selling them “bago pa naging sikat (before it became popular).”
But now as a Boracay local, Ar-Ar said that “may isang talagang pinagmamalaki ako (there’s one thing I’m really proud of),” he said. And it’s finding someone to love him for who he is. “Dito lang nangyari; marami na akong naging nobya, pero nakilala ko na ang talagang nagmamahal sa akin (It only happened here; I’ve had lots of girlfriends before, but I finally met the one who will love me for real).”
He has, in fact, already met the woman’s family, and “sabi lang nila huwag ko siyang sasaktan (they just told me not to hurt her).”
And for Ar-Ar, when a “change” in life as big as this happens, “talagang dapat masaya ka (you really should be happy),” he said. After all, “sa tulad natin, mahirap din; pero kung may love, ayos na ayos talaga (for people like us, it isn’t always easy; but if there’s love, it really becomes okay).”
