Raymond Gutierrez officially comes out as gay

August 1, 2021 will go down in history as the day that Raymond Gutierrez officially came out.

In an exclusive MEGA Entertainment feature, Raymond, or Mond for short, shared the challenges he faced as a gay man growing up and why his coming out publicly took a while.

“I'm here to formally say that I am a proud member of the LGBTQ community. And it feels great saying that publicly because I am,” Raymond says in his interview. “I am out to a lot of my close friends and I'm lucky that I have that support system around me to give me the confidence to really accept who I am and to love myself because not a lot of people have that?

Raymond Gutierrez comes out as a gay man / Source: MEGA Entertainment

Mond also narrated how ironically hard it was to come out in an industry were many gay men and other members of the LGBTQIA+ community thrive.

““Growing up, it was hard for me to even acknowledge even who I am. Like, what is this?

“I had my brother who was so similar to me but so different in so many ways. But he never had to explain his sexuality, so why should I? And that was my thinking growing up.

“But then entering show business at 19--well, I was a kid--but going back again to show business at 19 to be a TV host, that's when it really hit me that, 'Wow, being gay is really not accepted in a lot of these communities.'”

He said bullying was one of the main reasons why he held back on coming out as gay.

“Back then, being the new person on TV, I was bullied by a lot of the older people in the studios.

“Being gay now is not the same as being gay back then. 10 years ago, it was totally different. You feel like a mutant?

“You walk in to backstage and people will say, 'Ah, ' di ba 'yun 'yung baklang kapatid ni Richard?' Like, I can literally hear them.

“And because of those moments where people really wanted to put me in a corner and really label me and kind of diminish my skills and diminish what I can bring to the table because of my sexual preference (that I didn't even realize--I didn't even know at that time?)

“I was still going through so many emotions at that time that I had no idea. Like, 'Can I go through this first before you label me anything?'”

Did Raymond feel pressured to live up to the macho image of his brother Richard Gutierrez? / Source: MEGA Entertainment

Mond admitted that it was also hard for him to come out as he had to consider how it would affect his brother, Richard Gutierrez's image.

“And nu'ng time na 'yun, siyempre, being part of a family that is in the public space--we're all entertainers for many generations already--I wasn't deciding on things just on my own?

“Things that I do will not only affect me, but will also affect my family. So, that was kind of like the burden that I was carrying?

“Like, I can't be gay because my brother is a superhero, right? So, that was… Well, it's tough for me.”

Why did Raymond Gutierrez come out now? / Source: MEGA Entertainment

But fortunately, Mond has finally found the right moment for him to come out and shared why he's doing this now.

“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 hopes that his coming out story will inspire others to live their truth and be proud of who they are.

““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.”

He also said that he's never felt more happy and content in his life after coming out.

“I feel like I've never felt more happy and content with my life, and I feel like I wanna share that with people, and I think what the pandemic has really taught me is to live your life because life is short.

“And that's what I've been doing here in California and what I plan to do for the rest of my life.”

We're proud of you, Raymond! Stay happy and continue to be an inspiration to others.

Below are the other proud celebrity members of the LGBTQIA+ community.