“Oh, boy. What are you? A boy or… err a… you know?”
People always ask for my identity. Like, duh? Why are they asking for that? I am a boy, for God’s sake! Can you see I have a physical attribute of a boy? Well, of course not. I am not what you think of me to be. I am one of those who live in a body opposite to what they really are.
Can you see those around you? Look around, people! What’s happening to the world? Why is that we’re still not totally accepted in the society? I understand your concern about this matter but will you please understand us, too? We are also human. We are also part of this society. We are also breathing the same air you breathe. We are like you. We are normal like you. So why deprive us the acceptance we need in this world? Do you know what we need? Your acceptance. The world’s acceptance.
I am a product of an unfair world. I have no mother at all. I grow up alone. But, look at me. I am here in front of so many people watching me, a youth of this generation, asking for a chance to showcase my talent. I am like this because I grow up like this. I am one of those who are trying to seek for the just and fair world. What do we need? This world’s knowledge that we truly exist in this vast land. We are also human.
One time in my life, I have experienced inequality. Oh, wait, it is not just one time! But this experience cannot just be forgotten. I was humiliated. I was disappointed. I was neglected. No mother, no father, no friends, none at all. People see me as a joke. Look at me. Look at my complexion. Look at my face. Look how I act! These? These what make me different from other teenagers. I am not normal, they say. How cruel can they get? Just because I don’t act as they expect me to be? Just because I don’t act like what a man should be? Why? Why? How unfair is that? Is it my fault that I act this way? Is it my fault I was born this way? Is it my fault I am like this?
You are asking me to be like them? To be cool and follow the trends? I am a millennial product! What can I do? I cannot act like you. Should I be punished? Should I be condemned? Should I be reprimanded? Or should I be… excluded from your prying sights?
I need you to accept me. I need you to see me for who I am. I need not your commentary about my preference in life. I need you to accept me because I am like you: eating the same food, drinking the same water, breathing the same air, and walking the same land. I need the nod and approval of the people like you to share the same thoughts you are having with us. Let us be part of your world. Let the people like me be part of your world. Let us share the dreams, millennials like us, are dreaming. Let us make a peaceful world. Let us be open-minded to the things happening right now. You are asking for equality. You are asking for a fair and just system. You want to be acknowledged by many. So why not accept us? Why not give the same privilege you are having?
I am a youth of this generation. Help us be known. Help us voice out that we are also existing. The likes of me need your acceptance. The likes of you need to accept us. Give us a chance to prove that we can also help empowering our economy. We can do things you can do. We can be the top of our class if you want. Just let us feel that we are also loved. We are also valued. We are also accepted. The contempt in your eyes when you look at us gives us the chill and anxiety making it a hindrance to perform our task better than anyone. Accept us. Accept us wholeheartedly. Accept for who we are.
God only made a man and a woman. We know that fact. But we are changing. Our world is changing. What can we do? We are born this way. What do we need to finally show to you that we are also part of the society? Please show us how to be good for our country. Please show us the way to be true. We need you to accept us. Because your acceptance will finally make us human, too.
Written as a declamation piece in 2018.
Dreams and Nightmares 