The Philippines is estimated to be 90% Catholic and having lived here many years you see just how important religion and family are here. I am not saying it is right or wrong, it is just part of the fabric of the Philippines. But this country is full of contradictions. There are many gay (they mostly call themselves bisexual) men here who are in and out of the closet.
But the bigger surprise is the number of openly public lady boys in the Philippines. The boys apart from the sex industry are apparent everywhere in public life. They are in the hairdressers and in shops and they seem not to turn eyes as they get about their lie. Remember this is amazing as this is a very strong Catholic country and the lady boys seems to have achieved an acceptance beyond what you would expect in the so called west.
Families seem to accept them and I have even come across lady boys still under ten years old! How a human has decided his or her sexuality at that age is beyond me, but it is so common here that it cannot be ignored. If anyone knows why there are so many lady boys and why the Philippines accepts it so easy please let me know.
Transexual/Ladyboy — This is a man who devotes himself full-time to becoming in every way he can afford to look exactly like a woman. For them it does not stop at just putting on nice dress and shoes or plucking eyebrows. Despite the local poverty level many of the ladyboys here find a way to support their need for constant doses of female hormones. I don’t know if they are the same thing as women’s contraceptives, but seem to be similar. I asked one ladyboy what sort of changes do the pills make. ‘She’ said that ever since taking them it changed the texture of his skin, made his body hair less prominent, redistributed fat in such a way as to make him look more ‘feminine’ and.. shrank down his genitals. To me, the hormone treatment alone is what sets them apart from the transvestite who is just playing dress-up on the weekends. Ladyboys will work their job as a ladyboy and basically go about their complete routine as a ‘woman’. Most of them their family eventually accepts it, though not easily. Ladyboys, if they can afford it, will also get breasts implants and various cosmetic surgeries to make the whole look complete. That’s dedication.
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