So sorry you have to go through this, mahal. 😔 It's always crushing when we're betrayed by the people we trusted to support and love us unconditionally.Here are some things you can do to prepare yourself for the holidays:* Get your support group in place. Make sure you're able to reach them when you need them. These folks know you and might even have experience dealing with parents like yours. They can also help you navigate your way out of a stressful situation. Sometimes the family you make is stronger than the one you're born into.* Stay away muna. If you can, please just opt out of the holidays. Since medyo bago pa, baka kailangan pa ng panahon na mag-hilom. If you can't avoid it, try to surround yourself with your relatives who are supportive and distance yourself from those who aren't. Pero kung ready ka to engage, very calmly do the following...* Educate. Homophobia often comes from ignorance about being gay and your mom, tito, and cousins are basing their reactions on harmful stereotypes. Lalo kung very religious ang pamilya mo. Try to engage them in a way na maeeducate mo sila. Na you're still the same person, that your religion teaches love, and that you can still be gay and religious. If it isn't a religion thing, find out what they're mad at and engage them from that point.* Dig up LGBT facts! When you can, strengthen your argument with facts, stats, logic. How bullying affects LGBT kids, how kids fare when they're allowed to live their authentic lives, what kind of discrimination LGBT people face, etc.* It won't change overnight. It'll take a lot of engagement to really change their views. The best thing you can do is just give them all the information they need to become better humans. At that point you'll have done all you can and what they do with it is no longer under your control. All you can do is hope they change.* Know when to walk away or remove yourself from that narrative. If you aren't confrontational, when you sense that the conversation is going nowhere, or if you feel you are in any danger, please, please disengage. Keep yourself safe.* Know that this isn't your fault. You are not an abomination. You are not doing the devil's work. You matter. You are not alone. We're right here with you. Any time you need reminding, just send us a message/ask and we'll do just that.Lablab, mahal.💞

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