I am a gender conforming, heterosexual, able-bodied X-ennial Asian American female. I was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the US when I was 4.

I spent a lot of my childhood and formative years in suburban, ethnically homogenous towns. I grew up feeling very insecure about my identity and wanted so badly to be like everybody else. This came at a high cost. I denied my Filipina identity—refusing to speak Tagalog, only wanting to eat “American” food, and not participating in our cultural traditions and practices.

When I started high school, my father accepted a new job and moved our family to the South. There I felt even more of an outsider, and the people I went to school with reminded me of this daily. I felt angry. I hated my new environment and wanted no part of it. It was then that I embraced my “Asian-ness”. I learned to become proud of my identity.

As a new mother, I don’t ever want my child to experience what I did. I want them to grow up in a world that accepts and embraces them for who they are. That’s why this work is so vital. I am so proud to be part of an organization that helps create spaces for everyone to thrive.