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When
You Were Growing Up...
Who Were Your Role Models?
IT’S
HUMAN NATURE TO SEEK PEOPLE to look up to when we’re
kids. Some of us look up to family members. Others
become enamored with celebrities. But as gay Latinos,
finding role models we identify with can be difficult.
In fact, when we polled our readers, a surprising
41% felt they didn’t have any childhood role
models at all. Here is a look at some of the responses
we received when we asked who our readers’
role models were when they were growing up.
“I
had a wonderful role model who taught me many things—one
being the importance of an education and advancing
one’s self. She is my mother, but not only
that, she is my friend.” —26 years
old, Hanford, CA
“I
don’t feel I had enough role models when I
was growing up. I am still a young Latino in a culture
that is still not open to a gay world. It’s
taken me almost six years to come out of the closet
to my closest friends. I cannot express the ‘true’
me. I am still afraid of what they might say or
what they might do. It is like I am still living
a life full of lies to my friends and my peers.
It is something that I am not proud of. If I had
enough role models growing up, I don’t think
I would be as afraid to inform my peers.”
—22 years old, Houston, TX
“My
great uncles were wise and full of old stories from
the old days. I try to live my life one day at a
time just like they did.” —46 years
old, Phoenix, AZ
“I
really didn’t feel my role models were the
people on TV. I looked at what my grandparents and
parents went through so that I wouldn’t have
to go through that. I saw them as role models.”
—18 years old, Del Rio, TX
“The
only person I looked up to was my grandmother because
she was strong and never let people tell her she
couldn’t do anything.” —19 years
old, Bronx, NY
“One
of my middle school teachers who happens to be gay
helped me to find out who I really was. Like most,
I did not know how to deal with a lot of things,
but he helped guide me through. Having faith in
me and letting me get the answers on my own have
made me the man I am today.” —24 years
old, Houston, TX
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Reader
Childhood Role Models
A Breakdown |
| No
One |
41% |
| Celebrity |
11% |
| Father |
10% |
| Friend(s) |
8% |
| Parents
(Both) |
8% |
| Mother |
7% |
| Sibling(s) |
7% |
| Grandparent(s) |
5% |
| Uncle |
5% |
| Teacher |
4% |
| Cousin(s) |
3% |
| Family
(in general) |
3% |
| Other |
5% |
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“The
only role models that I have are my parents. My father
because he grew up as a little child never having anything
given to him. He always had to work for what he needed
and always did what he had to do in order to provide for
me. As for my mother she grew up learning from her own
mistakes, and she turned out to be a wonderful mother.
She has turned her life around from going no where to
becoming someone.” —19 years old, Chicago,
IL
“My
father was not in my life for the most important years
of my upbringing. The more I think about my past, the
more I admire my mother and my mother’s strength.
My mother is definitely my role model.” —21
years old, Miramar, FL
“Well,
I did not really have that many role models in my life,
but if I had to choose one male role model that would
be all of my friends that I had while I was growing up.
I learned a lot from each one of them. They where all
different in both good ways and bad ways.” —23
years old, Villa Park, CA
“I
feel that my parents were great role models. I was lucky
enough to have both of my parents be there for all of
my life. They still are, and I think that is why I turned
out to be the person that I am today.” —35
years old, Dallas, TX
“My
dad was always a hard-working man that I looked up to.
I appreciated his work ethic, and he always managed to
take care of his family.” —19 years old,
Miami, FL
“My
main role model as I grew up was my dad. He was, and still
is, the most loving, kind, and caring man I have ever
met.” —26 years old, Laredo, TX
“I
didn’t really have any role models. That was one
of the things that made me afraid of being gay when I
was a child. I felt like I didn’t see myself in any
of the people that were prominent in the community. I
am amazed (and thankful) at the current state of affairs
in the media etc. Yes, society still has a lot of issues
with the gay culture, but the progress in the last twenty
years has been heartening.” —37 years old,
Chicago, IL
“I
looked up to myself and did what I had to do to succeed.”
—22 years old, Atlanta, GA
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