Abstract:
This study focused on the coming out of lesbian University of the Philippines
Manila students. This study was limited to openly lesbian students and it used a
case study design. The researcher has utilized snowball sampling technique and
has gathered five informants to participate in this research. As for the results, the
study has found that coming out is more of a process than an instantaneous event
and that coming out for the informants is generally defined as the expression of
their true selves and their true sexual orientation. The difficulty of coming out and
its effect on the relationships of the Informants with their family and peers are
actually dependent on the how lesbians are accepted or perceived by the family
and peers themselves. The factors have both intrapersonal and interpersonal
aspects but the most common is self-acceptance and simply having that trust
towards the people they will come out to. The researcher also found out that
discrimination is still prevalent in the Philippine society because of how religion and
the media portrays and see lesbians. Discrimination for the informants is when
their sexual orientation is considered as a phase or immoral, when they are
oversexualized, when they are considered worthless citizens of this country and
when they cannot attain basic human rights therefore they are discriminated both
in the cultural and legal aspects. The researcher recommended for another study
to be conducted but in a bigger scale as to have a data that is more generalized
and inclusive of the lesbian population in the Philippines.
