The gender-fluid history of the Philippines

I was an eight-year old kid
in the mid-1990s.

I grew up in the southern Philippines.

At that age, you are
young enough to be oblivious

about what society expects
from each of us,

but old enough to be aware
of what's going on around you.

We lived in a one-bedroom house,

all five of us.

Our house was amongst clusters of houses

made mostly of wood
and corrugated metal sheets.

These houses were built
very close to each other,

along unpaved roads.

There was little to no
expectation of privacy.

Whenever an argument broke out next door,

you heard it all.

Or, if there was a little
something something going on

(Laughter)

you would probably hear that too.

Like any other kid, I learned
what a family looked like.

It was a man, a woman,
plus a child or children.

But I also learned
it wasn't always that way.

There were other combinations
that worked just as well.

There was this family of three
who lived down the street.