Suppressing fear to do sex work for easy money: How trans woman Jela entered the sex industry at 15

This is part of #KaraniwangLGBTQIA, 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 LGBTQIA 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.”

Jela, 18, started sex work when she was 15. “Akong friend, nag-kuwan siya, ‘Besh, suwod ani kay maka-kuwarta ka’ (A friend, she said, ‘Friend, join us so you make money)’.”

She admitted being scared, particularly since “mahadlok ko ba, basin kulatahon mi (I was scared since a client could have beaten us).” But the friend was persuasive. “Gikuyog ko niya kanang maka-guest siya. Then mao tu (She took me with her when she had clients. And that was it).”

Jela’s parents didn’t immediately discover her sex work. But they did not like that she was always out. And so one time, “niuli ko sa amoa, taas kog buhok sauna, giputlan ko tungod ana, tungod sa akong pagka-lagad (I went home, I had long hair then, and they cut it, supposedly because I was always out).”

She added that when her parents found out she did sex work, “gibadlong ko nila papa kay basin daw i-salvage ko. Kuyaw daw nang ing-ana kay dad-on ka sa kuwan ba, wala ta kabawo. Mao tu wala jud ko nagpa-tuo; nituo ko sa akong friend (they tried stopping me because they feared I could get killed. That maybe clients will bring me to unknown locations. I didn’t believe them; I believed my friend).”

And when family members started physically abusing her, “adto ko nilayas. Niadto ko sa akoang friend (I ran away. I went to my friend).” That was, basically, how sex work became a way of life for Jela, now earing from ₱1,500 to ₱3,000 per client.

EARLY EXPOSURE TO LIVING

Looking back, Jela said she knew she’s transgender when she was five years old. “Murag natakdan ko sa akong mga friend na kuyog-kuyog nako na mga ibay. Kay murag mag-lipstick-lipstick na ko sa among room, sa eskuwelahan, ana. Sometimes nalipong akong papa, ngano pula kaayo kog lips. Sulti ko, dili, kuwan ra na uy, lollipop ra (My girl friends may have influenced me. I used lipstick in the classroom in school. Sometimes my father who’d ask why my lips were red. I said, that’s just from lollipop).”

Jela was 10 years old when she first had sexual contact. “Gitudluan ko sa akong amiga nga bayot (A gay friend taught me),” said the youngest of nine kids.

A brother whacked her for this since “di man jud musugot nga bayot ko (he couldn’t accept me as LGBTQIA).”

But that also taught Jela to run away. “Layas-layas na ko kay kulatado man ko. Gibitay ko, ana. Kay dili sila gusto nga bayot. Buwisit daw mga bayot. Kanang makabuwisit sa mga pamilya (I ran away because they beat me. They used to hang me. They hated that I’m gay. They said gays are bad luck to families).”

Things eventually changed, noticed Jela, when she started making money, and giving this to family members. “Karon dawat na man ko niy papa ug akong mama. Karon okay-okay na man akong mga igsoon kay silbi kay… mag-chat-chat kog mga foreigner, makakuwarta ko, manghatag man ko nila. Mutabang jud ko nila bisag sakit kaayo sa buot nga ila ko gilatos sauna (Now my father and mother accept me. Even with my male siblings, they’re okay now… because I chat with foreigners, I earn, I give them money. I help even if it pains me since they used to beat me).”

Jela has completely stopped schooling, only finishing Grade 10.

PHYSICAL SAFETY OVER SEXUAL HEALTH

What Jela knows about safer sex came from her peers. Perhaps not surprisingly, what she knows is limited – e.g. “Akong pagkasabot sa PrEP, sa akong huna-huna, maka-slim man tingali na (My understanding of PrEP, in my mind, it could help me slim down).”

The seeming lack of interest in safer sex may be due to priorities.

For Jela, sex workers like herself actually worry more about their physical safety. As an example, an experience that traumatized her was an alleged attempted entrapment by members of the police force. While in Mango Square, a pimp tried booking them, claiming to have a Japanese client who’s willing to pay ₱5,000. But when the willing sex workers gathered, someone supposedly started yelling, ‘Don’t run. This is the police.’ And so many of those who gathered were caught.

“Pag-ingon ug pulis, na-ratol na ko, dagan ko. Nisibat dayon ko. Kay kuyaw man kaayo kung maapil ko (When someone shouted ‘police’, I ran. I escaped immediately. It wou;d have been bad if I was also caught),” she said.

Jela and her peers belatedly discovered that those who were caught were “forced to say they sold drugs”, which – she stressed – wasn’t true, since “they were just sex workers”.

SEX WORKER RELATIONSHIPS

Jela recognized the value of her peers not just as colleagues, but also as friends. “Magtapok mi. Mukaon mi. Istorya mi about life (We gather. We eat together. We talk about life),” she said.

These are also the people who guide her, and other younger sex workers like her, navigate the sex industry. “Badlungon mi sa mga karaan nga bayot: ‘Kamo magpa-condom jud mo, kay once nga magsakit mo, good luck ninyo!’ Anaon mi nila ba (They reprimand us, the older trans sex workers: ‘You all should use condoms because once you get sick, good luck to you! That’s what they say to us).”

And for someone who feels “gikalimtan (forgotten)” by service providers (e.g. HIV-centric NGOs), “the world is made better by friends,” Jela said.

All part of the search to make some living “kay need pod baya nakog kuwarta jud (because I really need to earn money)” no matter the risks people like her face while doing sex work. “Padayon ra (Just go on).”