Despite being a chatroom for Asian women, most of the chatters were Filipino some based overseas, while a number of us were just in Manila. I wasn’t risking being found out.Ĭontrary to what might be thought of as a scary world, the Asian Room chatroom was actually a warm and welcoming place for any woman who was exploring her identity. It was 1998, and I was neither out nor certain if I really wanted people to know I was a lesbian. The website screamed “gay” that I had to make sure I had Microsoft Word open, in case someone entered my room and saw the page. Once connected, you can only hope that no one calls, otherwise you’d get disconnected and would need to dial up again.Īfter some futile attempts at chatting via IRC (internet relay chat) and ICQ (the late 90s version of a messaging software), a quick Yahoo search led me to gay.com. It would take a while to connect, and while waiting, your computer would be making this weird robotic sound that was music to the ears. You needed a phone line with a modem, a dial-up connection (usually pre-paid hello, Edsamail, ISP Bonanza, and Pacific Internet!), and a pretty decent computer that could connect you to “fast” internet with 56kbps connection. With no more books to read, I needed to get on the internet. I scoured the newspapers and magazine articles, and by then, I had borrowed every book in the Rizal Library that I had to write the call numbers for books listed under the Library of Congress’ HQ classification at the margins of my library card (yes, it was the year before the lib automated its system). magazine column that I would cut out and keep. Suffice it to say, I had a feeling it wasn’t nearly “just a phase.” Prior to going online, my other source of information about gay and lesbian issues was from a Mr.
I was looking for others like me: a girl who likes other girls, too. There were hardly any other lesbians in the Ateneo-much less a suspected one, like that batchmate whom one of my friends described as, “cute, like a little boy.” It lasted four years, and by the time I was in college, we had both outgrown each other. I just turned 18-a sophomore in college-and the brand new computer was a gift in lieu of a grand debut. Back in high school, I had a relationship with another girl-a surprising twist of events for a goody-two-shoes nerd in a coed school. I was in the Asian Room of the Women’s Floor in what was a website called gay.com. But that night, I decided to be completely honest: “18, F, Pasig.”
#Gay chat rooms irc full#
The chatroom was full it was a Friday night, after all, and most people were ready to stay up late just chatting with strangers.įor those who remember what the early days of the internet was like, being asked this question either prompted you to be honest or answer with your chosen persona for the day. Queerty relentlessly promotes marriage, marriage, marriage and promotes THAT as the new norm.It was almost midnight and the house was still. I see the exact opposite of what you contend. (Or so you say.) Let that be enough for you. Yeah yeah yeah, you feel superior to ordinary people because you’re in a relationship. Most guys in their 20s and early 30s aren’t interested, YET, in settling down. Not much commercialism there and anyway, they’re going out of business at a steady clip. In your previous incarnation ad Danny527 or whatever (not much of a change), you were always mad about gay bars too. And porn, ironically, keeps guys at home, whacking off and NOT engaging in promiscuity… not doing much of anything, in many cases, except whacking off with the “death grip.” Hey, that should make you happy since they’re not having sex! (You seem unfamiliar with them first-hand, and you probably won’t deny that.) To the extent they make money, they make money selling porn. You always say that, ad infinitum, ad nauseum, but many of those basic sites are free.