The Gay Orphan Who Refused to Stay in the Shadows

There’s a version of my story where I disappear.

Where I accept my fate, fade into the background, and let the world have its way with me.

Where I let the people who abandoned me win.

But that’s not this story. That will never be my story.

Because I refused to stay in the shadows.

This Is How They Tried to Break Me

I was 16 when I lost everything.

Not because I did something wrong. Not because I was a failure. Not because I hurt anyone.

I lost everything because I was gay.

Because I existed in a way that made other people uncomfortable.

Because the people who were supposed to love me unconditionally decided that their love had limits.

One day, I had a family. The next, I didn’t. Gone. Cut off. Erased.

No home. No money. No support. Just me. Completely alone.

I was supposed to disappear. I was supposed to break.

And believe me, I almost did.

The world isn’t kind to kids like me.

Kids who don’t fit the mold. Kids who aren’t born into safety. Kids who get thrown away because they refuse to be someone they’re not.

The system isn’t built for us. Society doesn’t protect us. We either find a way to survive—or we don’t.

So I had a choice.

Give up? Or fight like hell?

I Chose to Fight

When I applied to UWC, I wasn’t just applying to a school.

I was betting on myself.

UWC wasn’t just an education; it was a way out. A chance to prove that I wasn’t just some tragedy, some lost cause, some sob story waiting to be forgotten.

It was a way to say: I exist. I matter. And I am not going anywhere.

When I got in, it was more than just an acceptance letter.

It was my middle finger to every single person who thought I wouldn’t make it.

At UWC, I found people who understood. People who weren’t afraid of difference. People who didn’t ask me to shrink myself to make them comfortable.

For the first time in my life, I wasn’t just surviving—I was thriving.

And once I got a taste of that, I knew there was no going back.

Why Skidmore? Because I Wasn’t Done Yet

When it came time to pick a college, I wasn’t looking for a place to just exist.

I was looking for a place where I could build.

Skidmore wasn’t just a school—it was a chance to take everything I had learned, everything I had fought for, and turn it into something bigger.

Because I wasn’t just here to get a degree. I was here to create something that couldn’t be erased.

And that’s exactly what I did.

The Birth of Slayhood: Because I Refuse to Be Silenced

I built SlayHood Magazine with my best friend Erdni Mangutov who I met at UWC Dilijan because I was sick of watching queer voices be erased.

Sick of watching LGBTQ people like me be pushed aside, silenced, told to sit down and shut up.

Sick of seeing people like me struggle alone.

SlayHood isn’t just a blog. It’s a rebellion. A platform for every single person who has ever been told they don’t belong.

For the ones who have been abandoned.
For the ones who have been bullied.
For the ones who have been told they’ll never make it.

This is for us.

You Thought I’d Disappear? Watch Me Build an Empire Instead.

If there’s one thing life has taught me, it’s this:

They will try to break you.
They will try to silence you.
They will try to make you believe that you don’t matter.

But they don’t get to decide that.

I decide that. You decide that.

I was never meant to survive.

So now? I’m going to thrive. Loudly. Unapologetically. And on my own damn terms.

SlayHood.co is just getting started. Stay tuned.