ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author outlines some of the recurring themes in gay life-histories relating to the process of growing up gay as a way of exploring in more detail the various forms and formulations of being ‘gay’ in the southern Philippines. The terms were used less to engage the ‘nature/nurture’ debate than to indicate the point in their life-histories to which they traced their gayness. Those who referred to themselves as ‘inborn’ gays said that as far back as they could remember they were already gay, while environmental gays often said their gayness only came out at adolescence, usually during high school. An interesting facet of gay life-histories is that while there was usually at least one incident from early childhood which stands out as uniquely signalling their gender transitivity, many gays were unusually silent about their intermediary elementary school period or what might be called later childhood.
