A few days before we officially enter the month of June, also famously known as Pride Month, Miss Universe Philippines 2023 and Mga Lihim ni Urduja star Michelle Dee surprised her fans and supporters as she unveils in an exclusive interview with lifestyle magazine MEGA Entertainment that she identifies as a bisexual.
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), a person who identifies as bisexual is sexually, emotionally, or romantically attracted to more than one gender. Michelle confirmed, “I definitely identify myself as bisexual. I've identified with that for as long as I can remember. I'm attracted to all forms of beauty, all shapes and sizes.”
After being crowned as the new Miss Universe Philippines, a lot of different stories about Michelle and her sexuality surfaced online. But as the empowered woman that she is, she controlled her own narrative and came out in her own time.
In her caption for the post, she shared, “I hope this cover and my story not only empowers you to be authentic to who you are but to also be a champion of the people who are also taking the steps to be as true as they can be to themselves. Let's not let labels and stereotypes define and control us or the people around us.”
“Rather, let's allow these misconceptions and biases to push and inspire us to own our narrative and become the unstoppable force we all are deep inside,” she further says.
Check out the full story below.
In her newly released cover for MEGA Magazine, Michelle finally unveiled that she identifies as bisexual and is attracted to all forms of beauty, shapes, and sizes.
In the interview, Michelle admitted that her close friends knew of her sexuality and her family had an inkling of it.
Michelle also unveiled that she was never forced to come out because everyone around her was accepting of who she was. She said, “I was getting positive feedback by just being myself. I never had to identify myself. I never had to quote, unquote come out. I was never really confronted about it by my parents or people who matter. When I get into a relationship, the first thing I will tell that person is 'Okay, let's get this out of the way.' And then you can decide if you want to date me.'”
Although she was free at home and with her friends, Michelle admitted that, at some point, she had to conform to the stereotypes imposed by society. She revealed, “I understood the responsibility of being the child of that and this. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't hurting anyone else's or my parents' reputation, despite the fact that my parents never told me it was wrong.”
In the interview, Michelle admitted that she never felt the urge to discuss her sexuality with anyone. She said, “It was never an issue because I felt--and I still feel like--I'm so much more than how I identify myself. I have so much more to offer the world and the universe than how I identify myself. This is also the reason why I chose not to come out despite the pressure to come out during the competition.”
Michelle also revealed that people advised her to talk about her sexuality during her Miss Universe Philippines 2023 journey but respectfully declined. She said, “I joined the pageant because this is much greater than myself. This is not about me. This is about the cause I'm fighting, advocating for: autism awareness. That's my main goal. My identity is not what I want to be remembered for. I felt like coming out during the competition would shock everyone, and cloud everyone's judgment. I also wanted to do that within my own timeline, and it wasn't the right time. Because I want all of my focus and everyone's focus to be on all the good causes.”
Michelle felt the need to speak up about her sexuality when others were telling the stories for her. She shared, “I want to come out with this story because I know that those photos were spread with malicious intent-- to kind of distract me, make me feel I'm not worthy of the crown. I acknowledge that it was so malicious that I felt--and this applies to everyone--when somebody takes away your story, then you should take control of that narrative. Turn it around and make it an empowering story. So that's what I'm doing. I feel that it's so important when somebody tries to knock you down and use your past against you. We all have to realize that we've come such a long way to just let our past define us.”
Michelle finally admitted, “I've been an advocate for LGBTQIA+ for as long as I can remember. Even before coming out, I've been attending pride marches. I have too many friends and best friends in the community. I've been a loud and proud ally. It's just that I never gave a confirmation.” She ended with a good note, “It boils down to respecting people and spreading love and spreading light. There's too much hate in the world. Let's make a conscious effort to make this a better world.”
Apart from MEGA, Michelle also dived deep into her sexuality in an exclusive with Vogue Philippines.
Michelle admitted that when she was in the third grade, she noticed that she liked doing what boys did. She shared, “When I moved here, I studied in an all-girls school. If there was role play, I liked playing the prince, the bodyguard, the maangas (badass) one--not because I wanted to be a guy or anything, but because it resonated with my personality more. I was never kikay (girly) or anything.”
Michelle admitted that being queer was never uncomfortable for her because she was surrounded by a loving and accepting support system. She shared, “In terms of attraction, I would say I became more aware of it around high school. But I've never felt uncomfortable about queerness because my mom is like the queen of the gays. And I was always with her. She never made me feel like there was anything wrong with it. Sure, she would notice that, 'Okay, she's a little bit boyish,' 'Okay, her wardrobe is not like her sister's.' I wore baggy pants, denim--whatever. That was my style. I dressed more like my dad than anything. But my mom would be like, 'Anak, when I was younger, I had five girlfriends at a time.' She would tell me stories that basically normalized it in my head.”
“When I first got attracted to the same sex, it didn't feel like there was anything wrong with it. And growing up, it felt like I was getting so much positive feedback just by being who I was. In a sense, I didn't feel the need to change because I was being validated by my peers. I was just being myself. It just so happens that I am attractive to both men and women,” Michelle further confirms.
In the interview, Michelle admitted, “Labels didn't matter at all. I remember my grandmother was the one who had a talk with me and said that, 'You know, I know you never talked to us about your sexual orientation, but I think it's also very important that you decide how you want to represent yourself to the world because you're not just in high school anymore, you're actually going into college. So, how do you want people to see you? How do you want to leave your mark?' I mean, no pressure at all. She just sat me down in her meditation room and said, 'You know, no judgment here with whatever you decide, but just really think about how you want to represent yourself to the world.”
Michelle spoke up about having her own platform to voice out important issues and said, “I've always promised myself that as soon as I get the platform, have a positive influence, then I'll always take that opportunity to empower as many people as I can. That's how I saw this opportunity to empower a community that is tolerated, but not fully accepted. We have a big, big, LGBTQIA+ community here but, still, we're still subject to bullying, we're still subject to hate, hate speech, and that's just unfortunate.”
Despite all of her struggles, Michelle continues to be empowered. She said, “What's important is to just go through life full of gratitude, full of love and kindness. And, honestly, if every single person went through that mantra, then we would live in a peaceful world. But we should always start with ourselves.“