Believe it or not, i was actually born in a small town called Rockford Illonois...July 28, 1981 @ 11:59pm. I am the eldest of a younger Sister (Jessica), a younger half brother / cousin (Derek), and a younger half brother (Danny / Daniel). Where i was raised in Rockford was pretty much a upper middle class white suburb. Complete with Summer lemonade stands, treehouses, neighborhood trick or treating, and school plays that were attended by the 100s. I spent my years in Rockford up until 1989, but before that my mom, Jess and I were always on the move. I borderlined with the sense that we were never home for too long because during those years my mother wasn't exactly taking her divorce too well... always looking for comfort through friends that lived in cities like Belvidere, Cincinnatti, Chicago, Houston, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. So even before we finally moved out to San Francisco, we were traveling alot...come to think of it, not just because her friend's lived far away, but also because she couldn't stand to see my father anymore. My past in Rockford still seems a little sketchy, but i do recall that i had an attraction to men while living there. I remember going to swim school and towards the end of the program i told one of the female life guards that i thought one of the male lifeguards looked good without his shirt on. There you have it, my first homo-romp hahahah.

In 1989 we moved to San Francisco because my mother wanted to be closer to her family. My grandmother, grandfather, several aunts, uncles and cousins all resided on the west coast, so it was only natural that she decided to come here. It was a three day drive, but we finaly made it to my grandmother's place where we would live until 1994. The change of lifestyle was pretty great, from our suburbs that we came to know, we had moved into the projects close to City Hall, where the lower class thrived. This was a change for us, not to mention going to school and discovering that i wasn't the only Asian kid anymore... now.... the classrooms were filled with Asian and black kids. The kids here also seemed more hostile and rough around the edges. I was picked on for being so... out of place, different, short. But over my elementary school years i began to learn how to fight back, how to sway another person's thoughts... i had began to grow out of the shell that was made of me while living in Rockford.

Things in this life took wild turns as the years went by... One of the biggest turn of events was my sexuality. When i was 15, i remember i was called out to join a mob of other people in a fight. Being so that there would be weapons involved and alot of uncertainties as to who would show up i decided not to go, instead i decided that i would escape the world and go to a youth center / program called L.Y.R.I.C. which was a youth group for queer and questioning kids. That right... it was at this age i started to question my sexuality more openly to myself and instead of risking my life at a fight, i sought help. When i got there, the program's activities were already over and what was left was a bunch of renegade gay youth lounging around inside the center as well as outside. The coordinator told me to come back the following week during a drop in session so i decided to walk out. Upon walking out a blonde headed Asian boi caught my eye...i guess in turn...i caught his eyes as well. As i was walking about, i heard him behind me "Hey you! the Asian boi with the bangs!" he introduced himself as Guch Bui. At the time, he was 20 years old but didn't look a day over 16. We conversed briefly outside all the way down to Castro street station. The years that would follow, Guch became a god-father to me... he took me in under his wing and i was watched over by him amongst all the other Castro street rats. This is where my street knowledge bloomed out further then anything i could imagine coming from a world that only the straight people knew. I learned about the desires of men, prostitution, money, drugs, and pretty much ALL the darker side of things that exsisted in the gay world. Guch opened my eyes to a world that thrived on the streets and that only the strongest and smartest survive out there.

Being around Guch, i began to notice that there really weren't that may Asian kids around and out. A majority of the people i hung out with out on the streets of Castro were either black or Latino. After figuring out that , although i found my belonging with the gays, i still felt a little out of place...so with that...Guch found a place for me. AQU25A...another youth program, but only for Asians. It was through the AQU25A program i began to release the activist side of me after i began working for them...i would begin joining others to fight for gay rights. Through AQU25A, i began to join several other organizations around the city that geared it's aim at equality for gay youth in the city. I talked to schools, classrooms of high school students, on several panels with the school boards and the even in front of the State in Sacromento. I marched several Prides, attended a countless amount of conferences, did several interviews... the gimmick was that...not only was i Asian and gay, but i was also young as hell. It was extremely rare for me to come across other gay kids that were around my age doing all the things i was doing. My aim though... i wanted a better life for myself, and a better life for future gays to come out to. I didn't want people to come out thinking that they were the only ones out there. Compared to how the gay world looks now...there have been many improvements... for that, i know i did my best when i was younger.

There was something missing though. I was doing all this work for the community, but i realized how between all this, it was nearly impossible for me to find anyone to call a boyfriend because so many people around me were older then me, and/or would never go near me because i was still VERY underaged. I guess you can say thats where the "chapters" of my life began. At first glance i know it looks shallow, but each ex in my life has represented very specific points, it also makes it a helluva lot easier for me to remember things in whichever order they came in. I'd have to say that it starts off at Zero...where i casually dated. Then one, two, three, four, Four B, five, five B, six, seven, eight, and finally nine. Each chapter, a whole different story, a whole different experience which ultimately leads to whom i am now. but...who am i now?