Divine Lee is proud to be called 'becky mother'

The role of “becky mother" is something that suits Divine Lee to a tee. She talks like them, she acts like them. So who cares if the TV personality and fashionista is not technically a gay guy?

“Some people are raised by wolves. I, on the other hand, was raised by beckies,” says Divine, referring to the latest iteration of the word in local gay speak.

Her mom apparently had lot of gay friends, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that she has a soft spot for them, too. She isn't even sure when or how the “becky mother” reference started. All she knows is that she got used to people calling her “mother” that everytime she hears the word, she looks.

“I'm honored to be called such, actually. Without actual children of my own yet, I am happy to have children born from my heart. I've always associated the word mother as someone caring and nurturing. To be called one, in whatever capacity, is such an honor,” she tells the Inquirer.

Divine recalls an incident back when she was still in high school in the late '90s, when a rumor spread that the popular Spice Girls were gay. “Everyone thought I was gay, too. It was so funny!”

Then there was that time during her 18^th birthday when she struggled to enlist 18 ladies for the customary “18 Roses” dance. That's because she didn't have enough female friends. Most of her friends were of the third sex.

Her gay-ness extends to her other projects—her daily show “Showbiz Police” on TV5; her video podcast “Beckynights”; and her blog divinemlee.com, where she dishes out about her most memorable experiences and commentary on events.

“I talk using the gay linggo in my blog because I think that makes me more relatable and shows my personality more. But, of course, I can also talk and write in proper English or Filipino if I need to. Ha!,” Divine says in an e-mail interview with the Inquirer.

She has become a mother to the beckies that they actually celebrate Mother's Day, usually with a simple dinner, nothing fancy. What's important is that their celebrations are always filled with love and laughter.

“I really love my becky family. I will fight for them like how a real mother would for her child. That is why I am so active fighting for gay rights,” says Divine, who is also taking up Master in Business Administration.

She does want a big family when the time comes, perhaps with four energetic children. At the moment, she channels her maternal instincts to the younger brother of boyfriend Victor Basa.

Divine says: “I do look forward to the day I become a real mom. For now, my friends can attest I'm the best ever ninang.”

*** This article is edited for TWIST. It was first published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on May 11, 2014 by Kenneth M. del Rosario. Photo from divinemlee.com. Enjoy! ***