White Florida man says he now identifies as Filipino

A man in Florida who was born white now identifies as Filipino as part of a reportedly growing “transracial” community.

Ja Du, a Florida man who was given the name Adam at birth, now considers himself Filipino, according to WTSP.

He said he's part of a growing “transracial” community in which people are born one race, but identify with another.

Ja Du said he truly identifies with the Filipino culture, adding that when he’s around its music and food, “I feel like I’m in my own skin.”

“I’d watch The History Channel sometimes for hours you know whenever it came to that and you know nothing else intrigued me more but things about Filipino culture,” Ja Du said of his upbringing.

Ja Du said he hasn’t told his family yet because he thinks they’ll laugh at him, but a licensed psychologist told WTSP that if someone really feels that way about themselves and they acknowledge it, “the happier you can be” with yourself.

“If someone feels that they feel at home with a certain religion, a certain race, a certain culture, I think that if that’s who they really feel inside, life is about finding out who you are,” Dr. Stacey Scheckner said. “The more knowledge you have of yourself, the happier you can be.”

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Schnecker did note she hasn’t had any clients who have wanted to change their race, but said that before people get offended about the notion of changing races, “We need to take a step back and think about what is the harm.”

“If that’s who they are, and they want to celebrate it and enjoy it, then you have to think what harm is it doing? All they want to do is throw themselves into that culture and celebrate it,” the psychologist told WTSP.

In addition to identifying as a Filipino, Ja Du also says he’s transgender — which can be defined as ”a desire to assume the physical characteristics and gender role of the opposite sex.”

“I think that we all have the freedoms to pursue happiness in our own ways,” Ja Du told the news outlet.

Ja Du’s transition to Filipino comes more than a year after it was discovered that former Spokane NAACP leader Rachel Dolezal — born a white woman — identified as black.