Entertainment
Ice Seguerra reveals undergoing hormone replacement therapy
Singer Ice Seguerra revealed that he is undergoing hormone replacement therapy for his forthcoming sexual reassignment surgery (SRS).
In an interview with Tonight with Boy Abunda on Thursday, June 21, Ice, formerly known as Aiza Seguerra, admitted that when he came out to the public as a transgender man four years ago, he had no conscious decision to change his birth name because that is how people knew him.
But as time went by, Ice said that he felt different when people call him by his birth name.
“I’ve always responded to Ice kasi ayun naman ‘yung nickname ko sa school, sa barkada, sabi ko (because that is my nickname at school, to my friends, so I said), ‘I’ll just use that’ kasi mas (because it is more) comfortable na (to use) Ice,” he explained.
“Kasi ‘Aiza’ sobrang naaalala ko naka- (Because ‘Aiza’ reminds me of a girl in) pigtails and everything. It’s just part of really embracing my identity,” he added.
Abunda, the host of the talk show, then asked the singer if he has ever thought of having surgical reassignment.
Ice responded, “Nung una nandun din ako sa parang why? Bakit kailangan? Pero alam mo (At first I asked myself ‘why? Why is there a need?’ But you know) Tito Boy, sometimes, especially nung nag-come out na ako (when I came out) as [a] trans, it’s so hard to wake up every day seeing that you’re in this body. And alam mo ‘yung pakiramdam na ‘di naman eto dapat ‘yun (you know the feeling that this is not how it is supposed to be),” he shared.
“Sinabi ko ‘yun sa wife ko (I told my wife Liza Diño) before. Kasi nung una parang ‘di niya rin ma-gets eh parang for her, ‘Tinatanggap naman kita eh (Because at first, she also could not understand it, for her it is like ‘I accept you), for me you’re a man.’ But it’s not about that. I mean I thank you for accepting me. But the problem is me accepting me,” he continued.
As he is now in the transition period preparatory, the 34-year-old singer expressed concern on the possible effect of hormone replacement to his voice, which, he said, is the source of his living.
“Pinakamalaking issue talaga diyan is ‘yung boses (The biggest issue here is the voice). Of course, people love what they hear sa akin (from me) and it’s a big risk. This is my bread and butter; I feed my family sa pagkanta ko (through my singing),” Ice stressed.
Despite this, Ice remains positive that the changes to his voice will not be severe.
“Siguro naman ‘yung ganda ng boses hindi mag-iiba (I think the quality of the voice won’t change), it’s just that bababa siya nang konti (it will just get deeper) and all those things,” he said.
“I’m just happy that there’s gender diversity center opened, so at least may doctors na (there are doctors) to talk to about this. Maybe that’s the first step,” he added.
Ice appeared as a guest in the talk show to promote his latest single, Anghel Sa Lupa, which is his first album since 2015.
Ice, a supporter of President Rodrigo Duterte, was also the former chairperson of the National Youth Commission (NYC). He resigned from his post on March 2018 due to “personal reasons.”