Golden Gays,

and never looked back.

“I was born in the late ’50s, so family values were very high,” he said. “My mother was very, very angry at me when she learned that I was a gay. She sent me away.”

‘HAND TO MOUTH’

The Golden Gays became his family and a refuge from the real life in which he makes about $2 a day for a 15-hour shift as a dishwasher.

“But I feel good, especially when it comes to what happened today, the Golden Gays. We all get together,” said Ramasamy, 60, after the pageant.

The age and precarious lives of the Golden Gays mean the group has lost more than a few members to death. The most recent loss was 71-year- old George Fernandez, who died in June of a blood infection.

Anthropologist Michael Tan said life is a struggle for elderly Filipinos in general because social safety nets like pensions and healthcare are quite weak compared to those in more developed nations.

“But it is worse for gay men because of heightened vulnerabilities: not having children to turn to — although many do support nephews and nieces or have adopted children — and again being vulnerable to violence,” he said.

The Catholic Church, which counts a majority of the nation’s 105 million people as believers, remains a major force in Philippine society and has resisted antidiscrimination laws, he added.

Busa, the Golden Gays organiser, shrugs at the challenges of life and says what the group really needs is a permanent new home — preferably paid for by a generous benefactor.

With or without a house of their own the Golden Gays will survive, he said.

“That’s how we live — hand to mouth. But we have to maintain our poise, our will to live,” Busa said.

“It’s truly difficult but there’s no choice.” —