Ang Paglalantad: A Case Study on The Coming Out of Lesbian Students of the University of the Philippines Manila

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.