Mond Gutierrez shares why he is officially coming for the first time in his cover excerpt below.
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Coming out is always a scary and often painful process—but it is an important process especially at a time like now when there is still so much hate towards the LGBTQIA+ community. And this is why Mond has finally decided to come out with his truth.
“Well, just because I feel like explaining your sexuality to people is, for me, not important. Like, I think at that time, I was thinking that it would look kind of like attention- seeking, it would look kind of like… I don’t know. I feel like it would diminish the messaging of ‘be healthy,’ you know?
And I always thought that ‘coming out’ was kind of this grand reveal, whereas it doesn’t really have to be, right? Like what I said, like, my brother has ever had to say that, ‘Hey, I’m straight,’ you know? So I’m doing this now just because I’ve had so many learnings during the pandemic that maybe not a lot of—maybe a lot of people are going through similar situations as me. I wanna empower those people. I wanna tell them that ‘You’re not alone. I was going through the same things.’
Mond has bravely opened up to say that he is someone who understands what it feels to go through this very valid life path.
“To this day, people still ask me on the comments section, ‘Hey, when are you coming out? Hey, we’re with you,’ and I don’t want it to look like I’m hiding or I don’t want it to look like I’m not happy because I am. So—I mean, this is probably gonna be the first and the last time I’ll talk about it just because I feel like, again, I don’t wanna drag it on. I feel like labels are not important. I feel like you can love whoever you love. Today, you can be straight, tomorrow, you can be gay.
“Whatever your happiness will be. Whatever will bring you joy, right? To me, that’s what’s most important. It’s not necessarily whom you go to bed at night with. It’s more about how you feel.”
Mond Gutierrez
He didn’t want his coming out to be just for the sake of “coming out,” he wanted purpose behind it, he wanted it to hold significant meaning. “I think it’s more important than ever just because I want to be an example to the next generation who are struggling, who are feeling suppressed to take time in finding themselves and being happy with themselves. For me, it’s—sexuality is just one aspect of who you are. It doesn’t define who you are.
It shouldn’t be—it shouldn’t hold you back in any way. I feel like me, personally, having a masculine and feminine side made me more creative; I was able to push boundaries not only in entertainment but in night life and publishing, in events, and I was able to kind of bring all of the things that I enjoy and all the things that inspire me in one space and make magic. I think that’s the whole thing about this whole story; is that I feel like you will be loved and no matter who you are, no matter who you love, it’s valid, you’re valid, and the people that really care about you and love you will support you no matter what.”
Mond Gutierrez speaks up about coming out in showbusiness in MEGA Entertainment’s August 2021 issue available in Readly, Magzter, Press Reader and Zinio
Photography LESTER VILLARAMA
Creative direction JANN PASCUA
Grooming DAPHNE DEL ROSARIO
Styling NIKKO PANTI
Special thanks to FWRD MAN
