When I first came to the Valley Trinidad, I was oppressed by its brewing modernity. This is far different from my beloved bario found at the foothills of Kalinga. I see people of different tastes and looks. I see ladies showing bare calves in their revealing outfits, striking men wore levis jeans and merrelle shoes and chew leaves that would soon be like blood in their lips. In the trade market, the noisy kargadors haul vegetables, the parade of jeepneys, laborers drilling holes in the pavement. There is an endless procession of shops, food courts, garbage, salons, and cheap bars line up in a carnival of worldly possessions.
I entered Collegio Trinidad found at the heart of the Valley but I did not last long, I was not accustomed to books and studying. The endless requirements sapped my creativity. I prefer to look at myself in the mirror and mix hues and tints. I want fashion, hair colors and cosmetics. After some few months of being a drop-out student, I was referred by a friend to work as assistant make-up artist in Ligaya’s Beauty Salon near the Calle Pico. It was a fruitful experience, I felt like I belong to this new occupation. I was caught-up in the glamorous life of Trans-gender women I work with, the easy cash and dramas of gays around me and since day on, I aspire to become someone, to be known atleast in this small town.
My destiny came falling like gold confetti’s from the ceiling, I heard the loudest cheers from the crowd and then a crown, oh my first corona! It was studded with pretentious jewels, this beauty diadem was vested during my first gay pageant! I almost taught I was receiving my college diploma! Since then, my success came like a dream, I won sash, flowers, corona and made a name in the Valley. I became a pageant titlist and save cash for my dream.
After some few months, I left Ligaya’s Salon and bought a room along Calle Sais near the Capitol . I started rebuilding the foundations of Beauty Abode. I began buying some chairs, some make-ups, beauty paraphernalia and vanity mirrors. When the right time came, I organized a debut for my beauty shop. It became known, the credibility and the professional craft I painstakingly build through-out my experience soon gathered customers around the Valley. The Beauty Abode was a conception, a legacy- the insignia won on this life-battle.
It would take many years, even decades of working as a make-up artist, or even painstaking work of some hair dresser before she could make a name in this beauty industry lest becoming independent and put-up a salon! This is the dream of many of my kind. My arrival shook most of the gays from their stupor.
My impoverish life five years ago fated me a very young success. What would have become of me if I didn’t move out from the comforts of Ligaya’s ? I would have lost my arms in years of painting make-up to countless faces; and my body, I would be used up fast in this job. In fact, the stardom of most Transqueens or gay pageant titlists are doomed to short-live. To some, this spectacle could just be an icing on top of a cake, a joke to some intellectuals in front of my salon; but for my kind, this is my entity, this is a miracle not all who dared to pursue their passion would be fated to achieve. This isn’t a story of a beauty queen, nor a lost princess, this is the crown of a Trans-Igorota.
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- The Crown of a Trans-Igorota - April 12, 2020
