I owe everything to the 'radical lunatics'

HOW CAN WE REIMAGINE GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE IN THE PHILIPPINES, IN THE FACE OF A GLOBAL FUNDING FREEZE?

- By AISIA CASTELO

I began to feel more connected to my trans identity during my undergraduate internship. That period meant fewer classroom hours, so I didn't have to be in school as much. It was the first time in my life that no one could police me as easily for growing my hair past the collar of my hideous male uniform. It was one inch of hair and the start of my gender arc.

When I was studying psychology and looking for clinical internship programs, it was important to me that they honored my transness. Back then, that was hard to find. It still is. Trans-affirming clinics have always been few and far between. That was until I searched for 'trans clinic Manila' online and found the first community-led transgender health center in the Philippines. The clinic welcomed me as an intern, but also as a trans person in need of healing.

Being there felt like finally breathing. I had never been around so many trans folks at once, in a space where all of us were held in love. It was where I began to find the words for who I was becoming, and the support to live it, all while sweating through the Pasay heat in a tight dress, cakey foundation, and a smoky eye. At noon, no less.

The clinic that changed my life was made possible in part by international aid. For many of us, it was the only way we could access even the most basic trans-affirming care. Today, it's under threat. So is the liberatory work that sustains it and the ongoing resistance of trans communities and grassroots organizers fighting to build freer futures.