In reviewing the search results, I can see that there’s an article from May 30, 2025, titled “Learning to Belong: My Journey as a Gay Multiracial Filipino Man” from GLAAD. While this is very close to the requested date of June 1, 2025, I notice that search result #2 mentions “June 1, 2025” in reference to something called “The GLAAD Wrap: ‘I Was Born This Way’ trailer” and also links to the May 30 article.

Let me craft a detailed article based on these sources while following Doc Raf’s supportive, informative style:

Learning to Belong: A Gay Multiracial Filipino Man Shares His Journey

In a world where identity often feels like a puzzle with missing pieces, finding true belonging can be both a challenge and a triumph. This is especially true for those navigating multiple intersecting identities, like being gay, multiracial, and Filipino in a society that sometimes struggles to make space for complexity.

Nicholas Turton, a Los Angeles-based advocate and strategic communications leader, recently shared his powerful journey of self-acceptance and community-building in an intimate piece published by GLAAD. His story resonates deeply as both a personal testimony and a beacon for others seeking their own sense of belonging.

Finding Strength Between Identities

“True belonging is not always something others grant us: it’s something we must claim for ourselves,” Turton writes, a sentiment that echoes what many in our community have experienced. Raised in a small-town suburb, Turton describes how his intersectional identity hasn’t just given him unique perspectives, it has forged resilience in the spaces between identities.

What’s particularly striking about Turton’s journey is how his advocacy work became a pathway to self-affirmation. Through his roles with organizations like The Trevor Project, Stop AAPI Hate, and AAPI Data, he discovered that fighting for others’ belonging deepened his own.

Doc’s Orders: Embracing Cultural Connections

Turton’s experience highlights something I often emphasize in therapy sessions: connecting with our cultural heritage can be profoundly healing. Many Filipino LGBTQ+ individuals don’t realize that before colonization, the Philippines had queer representation even within its mythology, including queer gods. As noted in another recent GLAAD piece, “even the god of death and the moon were gay lovers” in pre-colonial Filipino mythology.

This historical context matters. When we understand that queerness has always existed within our cultural heritage, it can dismantle the false narrative that being LGBTQ+ is somehow “un-Filipino” or a Western import.

Navigating Current Challenges

Turton’s story comes at a particularly challenging moment. He notes that after the 2024 U.S. election, anti-Asian hate surged online, with Stop AAPI Hate recording the highest number of anti-Asian slurs since tracking began in January 2023. Meanwhile, states across the U.S. continue advancing record-breaking numbers of bills targeting LGBTQ+ rights.

Despite these challenges, Turton’s message remains resolute and empowering: “I belong. And so do you. You have every right to be here.”

This powerful affirmation serves as both comfort and call to action. In claiming our own belonging, we create space for others to do the same, a ripple effect of acceptance that our community needs now more than ever.