Being gay among the locals

As I've never really spent enough time in other countries to find out how it's really like to acclimatize my gayness to a different culture, I have no idea how I would act should I be confronted with the question: "Are you gay?" I think it was thrown my way during my trip to Germany, but the people I were with didn't really wait around for an answer.

This article does seem like a pretty good way to go about it. Don't bring it up when nobody's asking, but don't be afraid to say yes when the question is posed to you. Unless of course you know that answering yes is going to result in a world of pain.

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This is Jammy Reyes, and he's about to have to learn how to acclimatize to being gay in our culture here in the Philippine Islands.

He's been in Canada for the past 13 years, and faces deportation because he never applied to become a naturalized Canadian citizen.

There's more to the story, though, than him just beign an illegal immigrant. He's been in jail for theft and prostitution, has been in rehab for six months because of drug addiction, and is just coming out of two years of probation.

If his case against his deportation fails, will he have a supportive family to come home to here? And considering how we aren't exactly the best country when it comes to drug enforcement, how long will his sobriety last in this country where shabu dens are just about everywhere?

Read his full story over here at xtra.ca. You can view his xtube profile here. The second link is obviously NSFW.

Of gays and geeks

A programmer is asking the British government to apologize for prosecuting mathematician Alan Turing for homosexuality, and while I feel that that gesture is about as useful as performing CPR after the person has already drowned, I do understand the symbolic power of such a gesture. Better late than never, I suppose.

But what I was more interested in was the point that the writer raised about geeks and gays, seeing as I'm part of both groups. Has society really changed in the way it views both groups? Or are they still pretty much the same outcasts that they were before?

I can't claim to be an expert on the matter, but it is striking how a lot of Filipinos are really only comfortable with gays if they performed their "assigned" tasks: Entertainment reporter, hairdresser, call center agent. Try to meander out of these clearly defined roles and you find yourself having a harder time than the heterosexuals you share your field with.

I've been insulated from any discrimination so far, seeing as I work in a gay-friendly industry and am pretty much in a bubble, but I am extremely curious as to how it is like to work for an industry that isn't "gay". Do any of you guys have any experiences -- good or bad -- that you'd like to share?