About this episode
Season two of The Todd Michael Podcast opens The Ladyboy Diaries with Jesse, 19, and Nelly, 18, two young trans women who have lived in Cebu all their lives. Recorded in the run-up to Christmas, the conversation moves easily between serious subjects and plenty of laughter, carols included.
The pair say they came on the show to share what trans life is really like in the Philippines. They describe being harassed in the street, how hard it is to find work when job applications ask for your legal name and gender, and schools that, until recently, would not let trans students wear the girls' uniform. Jesse, now a first-year tourism management student, says her college lets students wear the uniform that matches how they identify, and that it gives her confidence. Both describe realizing young who they were, and both say the COVID-19 lockdowns, when school moved online, gave them room to grow out their hair and start living as women.
Host Todd Michael Gori asks plainly about the things many listeners may never have thought about: what hormones do, what they cost, and their side effects. He also asks about family, and Nelly speaks openly about growing up in a broken family and now living with and caring for her grandmother. Much of the episode is about what keeps them going. Jesse has competed in more than 50 pageants, Nelly is a self-taught dancer and fire dancer whose festival videos have drawn big audiences online, and both dance in contingents for Cebu's Sinulog festival.
The later part turns to dating apps and the scams that come with them, plus dream destinations from Boracay and Palawan to Baguio, Thailand and Singapore, and the goals behind it all. Jesse wants to become a flight attendant; Nelly wants a good home for her family and good health for her grandmother. Todd also shares his own recent travels around the Philippines and some practical advice on where not to waste a trip.
Highlights
“We are human, we're not animals — so it's very disrespectful for us.”
“I've been accepted first by my family, because they believe that home is the foundation of love.”
“It's okay for me that I got bullied because of what I wear. You need to accept what you are, and who you are.”
“It's been my dream to be a flight attendant. You meet other people, have nice conversations, and treat people as your family inside the plane.”
“Blessings are something that come from our hard work. As long as you do hard work, you can have good pay.”
From the host’s chair
Todd plays the curious outsider. He asks direct, practical questions — what hormones actually do and cost, how the guests found work, what their families think — and admits up front that many men don't know the answers. He lets the guests set the tone, so the talk drifts into Christmas carols, Sinulog, salad dressing and travel tips, and he pushes for concrete detail when the conversation turns to online dating scams. The angle of The Ladyboy Diaries is to let trans women in the Philippines tell their stories in their own words, and Todd openly compares it with his earlier Growing Up Filipina series.
Questions about this episode
- Who are the guests on Season 2, Episode 1 of The Todd Michael Podcast?
- Jesse, 19, and Nelly, 18, two trans women from Cebu who dance together in festival performances. Jesse is a first-year tourism management student and Nelly is a dancer and fire dancer.
- What struggles do the guests describe as trans women in the Philippines?
- They talk about street harassment, the difficulty of finding a job when applications require your legal name and gender, and schools that have only recently begun allowing trans students to wear the uniform matching their identity.
- How did COVID-19 affect their transitions?
- Both say the lockdowns, when classes moved online, gave them space to grow their hair out and start dressing as women without schools requiring short hair.
Notes written from the episode recording. Quotes are lightly edited for clarity; timestamps link to the moment on YouTube.