Letter From the Future
Dear Young, Sweet and Sensational Me,
Hello, it’s me. You from the future. I have little time to explain and even less to give you (Future You is most definitely not an unemployed billionaire, sorry).
Tag: self-worth
Living with HIV: A Life of Meaning
Adrian Tyler speaks on living life after his HIV diagnosis and his advocacy work in educating queer young men about HIV/AIDS
Coming Out from Closet
I was always partially aware of my sexual orientation while growing up, ie I am attracted to men despite being a boy. I started coping with my surroundings by trying to act straight, because showing feminine traits often led to the nicknames given to people in the LGBTQ+ community within this “so-called perfect society.” Therefore, I hid in a deep closet—killing my inner desires of wanting to proudly shout that I am gay—for a whole 19 years.
My True Self
Growing up in Singapore, I was constantly afraid of the law and of discrimination from my friends and family, especially if they found out that I was gay. I acted “straight”, kept my relationships secret, and worst of all, pretended to be homophobic at times because of the pressure from my social groups.
Worthy of Love
I hated looking at myself in the mirror. Whenever I did, I would make a list of everything wrong with me. I was ridiculed at school because I was fat. I felt shamed at home because I was deemed to be not good enough.
The Unspoken Territory
As someone who studied in an all-girl school for 11 years, I was not a stranger to the idea of same-sex relationships. It was fun and liberating to watch some of my friends fall head over heels for other girls
Embracing My Identity
and native dialect were parts of myself that I should be ashamed of. I curated elements that would form a seemingly perfect personality to blend in and fend off any wandering thoughts on my natural gravitation towards boys.
Are We Beautifooled?
Browsing the Internet on a particularly boring workday, I stumbled upon a Canadian Master’s thesis on the subject of gay sexuality, desirability, and race. The main idea was to think of the gay landscape, and arguably the gay experience, in terms of economic incentives: much like a modern capitalistic economy driven by supply, demand, socioeconomics, and race.
Be Kind To Yourself
Rumours tend to come from people who you thought were closest to you.
I used to wonder why people said bad things about me.
Love Yourself
I’m an introverted old soul who thinks deeply about life. To be honest, it’s hard for me to find profound social connections as not all people are deep thinkers.