“Do you intend to steal the crown from the Queen?”
School has to be the place where I feel most comfortable because I haven’t come out to my family yet. But with my friends, I am free to express myself. It’s been this way since 6th grade. Those who discriminated against me are surely not my friends, because none of my friends discriminated or hold any prejudice against LGBTQ+.
I don’t know about other people but I was the one gay that participated in most school activities. What made me the happiest was that I had people’s support. My most treasured memory was during summer camp in 11th grade, I asked two other girls from the Literature class to do a dance cover. We rehearsed for a whole week every second we get any free time. On the night of the camp, I performed in six consecutive pieces. Everyone danced and sang along, they even gave me flowers at the end.
Or there was this one time I competed in the school prom. Initially, I didn’t intend on participating because I felt like it was for male and female couples. It wasn’t until we got close to the sign-up deadline did I tell my friends, “Hey, I’m gonna compete in King & Queen!” They joked around like, “Do you intend to steal the crown from the Queen? There can’t be two Queens, only a King & a Queen.”
I asked a person in the organizing committee if gays can enter the contest and they said to just enter like normal. I was still nervous, it was close to the day of the event when I asked my friends if I should compete and they were so supportive. I was gonna have to pay for prom tickets anyways, if I entered the contest, I get to go for free, so I set my mind on joining. I didn’t win anything, but I learned a lot in the competition.
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Rồi Sẽ Ổn Thôi (“Gonna Be Alright”) is a project that collects coming out stories from the LGBTIQ+ community and their loved ones in Việt Nam. To find out more details or to read more stories from the project, please visit our official social media site on Instagram at ComingOutVN.
