lgbt essay topics tagalog

Talumpati Tungkol Sa LGBTQ

Banderang bahaghari.

by: Talumpati.info

S a henerasyon ngayon, laganap ang salitang “LGBT” sa mga usap-usapan at kontrobersiya. Ito ay pinag-uusapan sa social media, sa balita, at maging sa mga tao mismo sa paligid. Ang LGBT ay inisyal ng lesbiyan, bakla, biseksuwal, at mga transgender.

Ito ay isang komunidad nila na kung saan pinapalaganap, pinapahalagahan, at pinaglalaban nila ang kanilang mga karapatan sa buhay.

Noong unang panahon, ang mga taong parte ng LGBT community ay ginagawang katatawanan lamang. Kung ikaw ay bakla, wala kang ibang natatanggap kundi diskriminasyon at pang-aapi mula sa lipunan.

Ngunit ngayon, marami ng LGBT na winawagayway ang kanilang bandera at ipinagmamalaki kung sino sila.

Subalit, hindi pa rin mawawala ang diskriminasyon at panlalait na natatanggap nila sa lipunan, at lubos pa rin silang di katanggap-tanggap ng mga ito.

Ang pagiging isang LGBT ay hindi isang sakit na kailangan natin lubayan at hanapan ng lunas, sapagkat kailangan natin silang tanggapin, respetuhin, unawain, at mahalin tulad ng pagmamahal natin sa iba. Dahil kagaya mo, tao rin sila.

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The questions Filipino LGBT people have to face

by FilipinoLGBTEurope | Sun, 21 Oct 2018

“Saan ka nag-C-CR (Which toilet do you use)?”

“Hindi ka ba natatakot magka-AIDS (You’re not worried you’d get infected with HIV and get AIDS)?”

These are some of the commonly asked questions to members of the LGBT community. We hear it everyday and everywhere. Sometimes, the person asking this kind of question is just ill-educated about the LGBT community; but more often than not, people who fancy asking these kind questions are just poking fun at the members of the community.

In an effort to alleviate unnecessary discrimination and ridiculing of the LGBT people, while also promoting gender awareness, the University of the Philippines’ Center for Women’s Studies partnered with the university’s premier LGBT organization, Babaylan, for “Anong pangalan mo sa gabi? At iba pang tanong sa mga LGBT”, a photo book project.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Filipinos continue to experience stigma, prejudice and discrimination in Philippine society. This stigma is manifested in actions such as: bullying, teasing and harassment of LGBT children and adolescents in families, schools and communities; media portrayal of LGBTs as frivolous, untrustworthy and even dangerous or predatory; denying transgender Filipinos entry into commercial establishments; pigeonholing LGBT Filipinos into particularly limited roles and occupations; or curtailing their rights to participate in the political sphere. 

LGBT Filipinos often confront social pressures to hide, suppress or even attempt to change their identities and expressions as conditions for their social acceptance and enjoyment of rights. Although many LGBTs learn to cope with this social stigma, these experiences can cause serious psychological distress, including immediate consequences such as fear, sadness, alienation, anger and internalized stigma (Hatzenbuehler, 2009; Meyer, 2003). This anti-LGBT prejudice and discrimination tend to be based on a rhetoric of moral condemnation and are fueled by ignorance or unfounded beliefs associating these gender expressions and sexual orientations with psychopathology or maladjustment. 

However, decades of scientific research have led mental health professional organizations worldwide to conclude that lesbian, gay and bisexual orientations are normal variants of human sexuality. These include: the American Psychiatric Association in 1973, the American Psychological Association in 1975, British Psychological Society, the Colombian Society of Psychology, Psychological Society of South Africa, the Australian Psychological Society, and the International Network on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns and Transgender Issues in Psychology, among others.

The Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) aligns itself with the global initiatives to remove the stigma of mental illness that has long been associated with diverse sexualities and to promote the wellbeing of LGBT people. Moreover, the PAP Code of Ethics (2010) is clear in its stance against discrimination. Filipino psychologists are called upon to recognize the unique worth and inherent dignity of all human beings; and to respect the diversity among persons and peoples (Principle I, a and b). This means that Filipino psychologists should not discriminate against or demean persons based on actual or perceived differences in characteristics including Philippine Journal of Psychology, 2011, 44 (2), 229-230 Copyright @ 2011 Psychological Association of the Philippines gender identity and sexual orientation (Ethical Standard III-A and C; V-B.8). In order to eliminate stigma, prejudice, discrimination and violence against LGBT, the PAP resolves to support efforts to: 

• oppose all public and private discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity and expression;
• repeal discriminatory laws and policies, and support the passage of legislation at the local and national levels that protect the rights and promote the welfare of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions;
• eliminate all forms of prejudice and discrimination against LGBTs in teaching, research, psychological interventions, assessment and other psychological programs;
• encourage psychological research that addresses the needs and concerns of LGBT Filipinos and their families and communities;
• disseminate and apply accurate and evidence-based information about sexual orientation and gender identity and expression to design interventions that foster mental health and wellbeing of LGBT Filipinos.

References 

American Psychiatric Association. (1973). Position statement on homosexuality and civil rights. American Journal of Psychiatry, 131; 497. Anton, B.S. (2009). Proceedings of the American Psychological Association for the legislative year 2008: Minutes of the annual meeting of the Council of Representatives, February 22-24, 2008, Washington, DC, and August 13 and 17, 2008, Boston, MA, and minutes of the February, June, August, and December 2008 meetings of the Board of Directors. American Psychologist, 64; 372-453. Conger, J.J. (1975). Proceedings of the American Psychological Association, Incorporated, for the year 1974: Minutes of the annual meeting of the Council of Representatives. American Psychologist, 30; 620-651. Hatzenbuehler, M. L. (2009). How does sexual minority stigma “get under the skin”? A psychological mediation framework. Psychological Bulletin, 135; 707-730. International Network for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns and Transgender Issues in Psychology (2001). Sexual orientation and mental health: Toward global perspectives on practice and policy. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ pi/lgbt/resources/international-meeting.pdf Meyer, I. H. (2003).Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: Conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 129; 674-697. Psychological Association of the Philippines Scientific and Professional Ethics Committee. (2010). Code of Ethics for Philippine Psychologists. Philippine Journal of Psychology, 43; 195-217.

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Towards an LGBT Rights: Reflecting on the Philippine Setting

The struggle to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons is a global challenge, and one that is central to the United States’ commitment to promoting human rights.” -United Stated President Barrack Obama (2011)

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Queer Politics and Human Rights: A Case Study of Homosexual and Transgender “Parlorista” in Iloilo City, Philippines

Justin Francis Bionat

This is a case study of the selected five (5) parlorista bakla who typically identify as either homosexual men or transgenders women in Iloilo City. Parloristas are typically seen as low-income “bakla” – a colloquial Filipino term that means effeminate homosexual men an transgender women. This study identifies and describes the socio-cultural and economic background of the selected participants, analyzes the forms of oppression and acts of discrimination that they experienced and identify the types of government support and legislation that can serve as basis for further human right programming in local settings in the Philippines. The research utilized queer politics as basis of analysis into the lived experiences of respondents with varying socio-cultural and economic backgrounds. Interviews were conducted and facilitated with the use of one questionnaire. Results have shown that the respondent's multi-faceted intersectional socio-cultural and economic backgrounds play a significant role in the acceptance of the participants in various settings. The participants’ socio-economic background, as well as, the discovery of self-identified sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE). Parloristas have developed a tolerance of discrimination and have regarded it as common-day experience that does not need to be corrected or addressed to the proper authority or institution. The findings also suggest that government support and legislation are essential in protecting the rights of these populations because legal mechanisms are most effective in curtailing discrimination. This study takes on intersectional analysis as precursor to legal redress for the discrimination of sexual and gender minorities in the Philippines.

Anthony J Langlois

and Keywords This chapter commences by examining the status LGBT rights have achieved within the United Nations (UN) human rights system and reviews some key aspects of their trajectory. It considers how best to interpret the varying roles LGBT rights can play in the international system, given their new status, with a critical reading of Hillary Clinton's famous and much lauded "gay rights are human rights" speech to the UN General Assembly in 2011. It then moves on to what LGBT rights as human rights might mean in those parts of the world where this status receives little if any formal institutional recognition, using the case of the Southeast Asian region, where a new human rights regime has been established but where non-normative sexuality and gender have been willfully excluded from its remit. The chapter considers what the politics of human rights mean for sexuality and gender-diverse people in this region with reference to two senses in which human rights claims are political: (1) activists and advocates push against the status quo to have sexuality and gender issues included in the human rights discussion and (2) resistance to this inclusion is often played out by a politicization of sexuality and gender that obscures other pressing issues. This chapter demonstrates both the profound and important advances that have been made for LGBT individuals and communities and the ways in which these successes generate political dynamics of their own, which must be carefully navigated in order to sustain the emancipatory potential of the movement.

Unpublished Research Report

Nanang Zubaidi

Katherine Visconde

Jan Gabriel Castañeda

The report is the first in Southeast Asia and provides a summary of various human rights issues facing LGBTIQ people in the region. It highlights key human rights trends, such as the increasing criminalization and pathologization of LGBTIQ people amidst the rising influence of conservative social forces. The report likewise discusses the increasing threats against human rights defenders working on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). Persistent discrimination in accessing social services and protection are also discussed. The publication was officially launched as part of a series of events organized during the ASEAN Civil Society Conference / ASEAN People’s Forum (ACSC/APF) held in the Philippines on 10-14 November 2017.

Tin Gutierrez

Executive Summary 1 Transgender people are one of the most marginalized and neglected sectors in the Philippines in terms of human rights protection, promotion and fulfillment. Transpinays and transpinoys (transgender/transsexual women and men of Filipino descent) continue to face barriers in legal recognition, accessing education, employment, health care and public accommodations and in seeking redress as victims of violence and bias-motivated crimes. Up until the present, transgender Filipinos remain vulnerable to widespread discrimination based on their gender identity and gender expression. Filipino transmen and transwomen experience human rights violations perpetuated both by transphobic State and non-State actors.

Journal of Government & Civil Society

Jazztin Jairum Manalo

The study is drawn from the challenges and experiences of the LGBT individuals in the country experiencing discrimination and harassment due to marginalization which remained to create barriers to equality for LGBT people. The passing of Anti-Discrimination Ordinances in selected cities in Metro Manila is a triumph for many LGBT groups. The study shed light on comparison of Anti-Discrimination Ordinances and the existing LGBT ordinances between the selected local governments of Metro Manila in terms of its implementation and effects. It identified which among the local government units (LGUS) initiatives suits to be the best that may serve as model for other local governments in their future legislation of their own Anti-Discrimination Ordinance. The study utilized the Principal-Agent Theory to contextualize a situation in which local governments are involved. A qualitative comparative analysis that used key informant interviews and surveys is utilized in the study. Results presented that despite having the same composition and provisions when it comes to its enactment, Marikina, Manila, and Mandaluyong differ in ways and use of systems in terms of enforcement. Thus, the three LGUs may further establish mechanisms to monitor complaints of gender-based violence and provide guidelines in handling LGBT victims and may incorporate awareness-raising campaigns.

Lourenz Bontia

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The Filipino LGBTQIA+’s struggle for equality, on-cam and off-cam

“In a time of great political upheaval, the LGBT community must strive for meaningful and holistic tellings of our stories, and that firstly requires having a comprehensive outlook of our struggle.”

By BERNADETTE ANNE MORALES Bulatlat.com

Warning: There are triggering contents in this article. All sensitive information was written and included with the interviewee’s full consent. Reader’s discretion is advised.

“Surviving is not the same as living… there’s no rainbow in sight for the LGBT during the pandemic,” said non-binary writer and playwright Carlo Paulo Pacolor.

They and many other members of the LGBTQIA+ community seek for their voices to be heard—and their narratives to be clarified in mainstream media representation.

Trying to break away from the glitz and glamor of the big screen, where the LGBT has recently found refuge, what has life really been like for the Filipino LGBT amidst the pandemic?

There’s no doubt that the year 2020 and 2021 saw a boom on LGBT representation in the media.

With the rising demand for online content during lockdown, a not-so-new but very much welcomed genre of entertainment emerged – the BL (Boys’ Love) genre. Generally, positive LGBT representation in Asian media is a fairly recent phenomenon. The BL genre took over Southeast Asia by storm and the craze was felt in the Philippines.

Released in 2020, the world-famous BL 2gether: The Series from Thailand is set for a movie franchise this year.

The BL series Gameboys, released in May 2020, popularized the genre in the country, while the first Filipino GL (Girls’ Love) series, Pearl Next Door, launched also last year, sought to satisfy the demand for female LGBT stories.

As of this writing, around a hundred new LGBT-themed films, series and media content are available in the Philippines including pre-pandemic productions from as far back as 2015. As of June 2021, around 50 new BL series have been created in the country, both released and those that are still in development. That’s a significant number considering the gravity of the negative impact of the lockdown on the entertainment industry.

The problem with mainstream LGBT ‘representation’: then and now

Gay people have a certain are stereotype in showbusiness, but recently, LGBT-centric content are giving gay people a new face on how they are to be portrayed.

For some in the LGBT+ community, this is a welcome change, even, a “landmark” development. However, there are still issues to be addressed with this phenomenon — many of which is rooted in the previous forms of representation of the community.

For queer writer and filmmaker Gio Potes, LGBT in the media wasn’t always this way. He feels that both new and older forms of representation should be critiqued.

“I don’t prescribe to mainstream films nowadays, but when I was growing up, comedic representations in mainstream films affected how we saw queer individuals, usually queers are expected to be funny and sissy,” Gio said.

This LGBT portrayal in the media added to the burden of closeted teenage gays like Gio in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

“My mother didn’t accept me right away when I came out when I was just 14 years old. She said it was just a phase and that she was not expecting me to grow up as gay because I will only grow up to be sad,” Gio shared.

Gio said that there is a danger of prescription and of creating a certain standard image for LGBTQIA++ in the media, even if the newer narratives are supposedly ‘owned by’ or ‘centered around’ the LGBT individual.

“The BL trend may have shone a spotlight on love between men but it had certain tendencies of featuring only masculine expressions that further marginalizes femme gays and even queer males,” Gio said.

“Where are the films that feature love between queers or femmes?” Gio asked.

He believes that there must be a move to diversify representations and not to be stuck on trends and stereotypes that is already the tendency that cisheteronormative media is criticized of.

“Queer media must always be defiant, never settling on certain standards and tropes. I mean that’s also why it’s called “queer”,” Gio mused assertively, certain that queerness shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all.

True to his words, Gio has been striving to provide profound queer representation in his films even before the rise of BL in the Philippines. One such testament of his efforts is his 2018 film Mark & Lenny .

He hopes that the current LGBTQIA++ visibility in the media would inspire fellow LGBTs to not necessarily copy a certain elitist, pink money lifestyle being prescribed by mainstream media, but to find everyone’s own narrative in the diversity of queerness.

Meanwhile, non-binary writer and playwright Carlo Paulo Pacolor has a lot to say about recent LGBT representation and stereotypes in the media. They said that seeing one of the new 2021 Pride Month publicity material gave them a kind of ‘queer anxiety’.

“It was a checkerboard of glossy LGBTQIA++ individuals in various media, all represented as one glamorous front… I got anxious because it felt like it was prescribing for me a kind of queer ideal that I have also consciously rejected, and unabashedly molded my own queerness outside of,” Carlo continued.

“Visibility in a time of smooth surveillance technologies has molded all of us somewhat to act and present ourselves always in good behaviour, stunning, fierce–that is: palatable and family friendly, that is: harmless,” Carlo mused.

Like Gio’s perception of queerness, Carlo wanted to remain defiant with how they identified themselves. They did not want to box themselves even with the newer, ‘shinier’ representations offered by the BL’s and the media.

“But I have been a misbehaving queer all my life. And not because I am deliberate about it: that is who I am. I am who I am–and also who I am not–24/7. I am that messy-ass hoe,” Carlo ended with a meaningful look in their eyes.

The reality of being LGBTQIA++ in the Philippines

In contrast to the rose-colored BL series and movies, things have been looking grim for the LGBTQIA++ community since last year. Their plight was exacerbated by the pandemic, and the community is in urgent need of help.

For the community, a lot of things presented by the BL’s and the media can’t fully capture the hardships they have to go through everyday during the pandemic. One of them is Egay Marie (not her real name), a closeted young transwoman journalist.

“Since the lockdowns were mounted, I was forced to return to my parent’s house, where for years I had tried to escape. It has been difficult for me to fully express my individuality as a gay person in our household since I’m not also out to my family,” Egay Marie shared.

Egay Marie has also had her fair share of discrimination from schools and offices. She recalls the continuing difficulties she experienced while working during the pandemic.

“I got my second job as a journalist weeks ahead of the pandemic. Before I received my work contract, I was told by one of my bosses that I need to cut my hair – at that time I was sporting shoulder-length hair – since they prefer that “male” reporters have their hair cut and clean,” Egay Marie shared.

“I just complied with that since it’s somewhat tied to my employment,” Egay Marie continued.

For a transwoman like Egay Marie who hasn’t transitioned or is not as conventionally feminine-looking as the media stereotype of transwomen, hair is an important part of her SOGIE.

The times were already hard enough, and she says she can’t afford to lose her job— even if it meant suppressing herself and her SOGIE.

Another one of these stories is about non-binary writer and theater creative Allen Joy ‘Ligaya’ Marquez.

“Because of my name, I’m often mistaken for a ‘Sir’ or ‘Mr.’, which could’ve been okay if it was someone I’m close with that’s referring to me as such since I identify as a non-binary individual,” Ligaya said.

Coming out at work is still very much a privilege, and prior experiences of discrimination plus the impersonal environment of working remotely has pushed her to hide her SOGIE from her colleagues.

“Throughout my work, I already had three encounters of being misgendered… [I was] facing [the instances] with fear of correcting the authority because there’s a possibility that whoever I was conversing with didn’t read my name or my message thoroughly. Or worse, they might not even notice or respond to my clarifications,” Ligaya bared.

Despite the many challenges that the LGBTQIA++ community is facing, measures from the national government. like the Anti-Discrimination Bill that could potentially protect employees like Egay Marie and Ligaya, is still not a priority and has been pending for more than 20 years.

Aside from these stories of work-related discrimination, the plight of LGBTQIA++ Filipinos is really in an alarming state. Stories of senseless deaths and violence add to the anxieties of members of the LGBTQIA++ community who are already suffering from the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, together with the rest of the world.

Rey Valmores-Salinas, a transwoman scientist and activist, says that the COVID-19 pandemic has not only exposed the ‘rottenness’ of the Philippine healthcare system, but has also pushed the LGBT community into further marginalization.

“Under Duterte’s lockdown, many LGBT youth have been forced into abusive homes, and some young queer persons, as a result of the economic crisis and difficulty in sustaining expensive online classes, have been forced to sell nudes online to make ends meet,” she added.

Rey also noted that queer couples have been denied the already lacking and anomalous economic aid from the government because the state does not recognize LGBT unions – except in Pasig City.

“Very recently, two Filipino transgender youth have been murdered in brutal hate crimes,” Rey said solemnly. The two transgender youths are Ebeng Mayor and Junjie Bangkiao, both barely in their 20’s.

According to Rey, numerous human rights violations against the LGBT by state actors have also been reported, from sexual harassment and molestation of young LGBT quarantine violators, to trumped-up charges against LGBT organizers, particularly in highly militarized areas in the country like Negros Island.

Rey herself is one of the LGBTQIA++ activists detained last year by police forces during a Pride March protest by Bahaghari in Manila.

Rey, who is also Bahaghari’s spokesperson, revealed the intense discrimination she suffered as a trans woman and was nearly thrown in with the male detainees.

“I experienced sexual harassment in the form of catcalling and lewd comments from the police, and we witnessed acts of lasciviousness when a police officer masturbated while watching us,” Rey recalled painfully.

Eventually, the charges against Rey and 19 other activists and colleagues were dismissed. Rey and her camp are currently pursuing countercharges against the Manila Police District.

Reconciling mainstream ‘representation’ and genuine liberation

One thing common with Rey and the rest of the stories is the desire for genuine freedom and liberation for the LGBTQIA++ community.

“Representation [in the media] is a key manifestation of, but is not equivalent to, liberation. In a time of great political upheaval, the LGBT community must strive for meaningful and holistic tellings of our stories, and that firstly requires having a comprehensive outlook of our struggle,” explained Rey.

Rey noted that plenty of queer stories are already centered around the emotional rollercoaster of coming out—which is a necessary and critical to discuss, but has many times been written exclusively with a middle-class lens.

“When will we hear stories about, say, LGBT workers? LGBT farmers? Urban poor LGBT? Indigenous LGBT? These are the kinds of stories we need to hear more of—and fortunately, these stories are already ripe for the telling,” Rey added with an air of wishfulness.

According to Rey, all that’s left to do is to seek out the bearers of these stories in the communities, in the factories, and in the countryside.

Lastly, Ligaya says that she wants to come out in a world where there will eventually be no need for coming out, since the status quo has already been shaken.

“If we, as a community, are already content with the scraps of representation within the status quo while majority of the people are being killed, starved and silenced, then unfortunately our community will never be truly peaceful nor liberated,” Ligaya said.

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FP @ UNGA79

Ai for healthy cities, her power @ unga79, fp tech forum @ unga79, from risk to resilience, how ‘bakla’ explains the struggle for queer identity in the philippines, the tagalog word eludes western concepts of gender and sexuality—and offers a window into lgbtq+ filipinos’ quest for acceptance..

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Pride Month in the Philippines this year was decidedly spirited: Emerging from one of the longest COVID-19 lockdowns in the world, tens of thousands of people flocked to events organized by advocacy groups throughout the country to protest abuses against members of the LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities, stand up for human rights, exchange ideas, watch speeches and performances, provide mutual support, and revel in one another’s company. “Happy Pride, mga bakla !” (“Happy Pride, queers!”) was a common refrain, charged with a celebratory energy that has not always been present for queer Filipinos.

But despite being home to the first Pride March in Asia and some of the largest pride celebrations in the region since, the Philippines has a long way to go in terms of ensuring the safety and dignity of LGBTQ+ Filipinos, who have few legal protections and are often targets of aggression, even brutality . An anti-discrimination bill has languished in the legislature for around two decades. Police periodically conduct raids , without warrants, of venues frequented by queer people, who are then subjected to verbal abuse, extortion, and unlawful detention.

The Tagalog word bakla might be seen as an index of the struggles that LGBTQ+ Filipinos still deal with. Although it serves as a marker of identity and as a potential means of forging community, the term is also burdened by an oppressive past that shapes its unsettled present.

There have been efforts to reclaim bakla from its pejorative past—resembling, to some degree, efforts to transform “queer” from a slur into a badge of affirmation.

Variously translated as “drag queen,” “gay,” “hermaphrodite,” “homosexual,” “queer,” “third sex,” and “transgender,” bakla shows how in the Philippines, as in many places around the world, gender and sexuality are imagined and lived out in connection with concepts and categories that Western lenses can’t fully account for. Even as LGBTQ+ discourse has taken root in the Philippines, providing queer Filipinos and their peers around the world with a shared language to build solidarity with, it is inevitably inflected by local understandings of personhood. In his landmark study of Philippine gay culture, literary critic J. Neil Garcia notes that the defining characteristic of the bakla has been—and, to a large extent, continues to be—effeminacy rather than the object of the bakla’s sexual desire. Thus, bakla refers more to gender than to sexuality. However, in popular usage, it is liable to encapsulate both. 

Among Filipinos, bakla likely first conjures up the image of a man who wears clothes and makeup meant for women and is predisposed to flamboyant speech and mannerisms. This figure of the effeminate man has long been present in the Philippines. Documents dating back to the 16th century during Spanish colonization allude to people known as, among other things, “ asog ”: men who assumed the appearance and behavior of women to such a degree that an observer would have difficulty distinguishing between an asog and a woman. 

Asog and their ilk throughout the archipelago engaged in what might be most accurately described as gender-crossing. For all practical purposes, they were treated as women, and they married and had sexual relations with men. Like women, asog were well respected in early colonial—and, presumably, pre-colonial—Philippine society. Only women and asog could take on the prestigious role of “ babaylan ,” mediating between the human and the spirit worlds, treating the sick and wounded, and acting as religious and political leaders.

In spite of Filipinos’ subversion, resistance, and hostility, agents of Spanish subjugation endeavored to overhaul Indigenous people’s ways of life. Notably, members of the Catholic clergy branded sexual acts outside of marriage between a man and a woman as sinful and unnatural. Over some 300 years, babaylan lost their spiritual authority to the Catholic Church, women were relegated to the confines of the home or convent, and asog found themselves demeaned by society and ridiculed as bakla.

Some of the definitions for “ bacla ,” an earlier spelling, in an 1860 Tagalog-Castilian dictionary are telling: to beguile or deceive with luster or beauty, to heal with feigned words, and to be frightened of a new thing. In Tagalog writings from the 19th century up to before World War II, bakla signified a passing phase of confusion, cowardice, fear, indecision, or weakness. Although the word is no longer used in these ways, bakla still bristles with a host of negative connotations, especially following its conflation with the (male) homosexual. Following Garcia’s account, this conflation can be traced back to around the turn of the 20th century, when the United States acquired the Philippines from Spain and imposed new modes of thought about gender and sexuality—such as the concept of homosexuality and its pathologization as a disorder. 

A Filipino protester holds up a painted sign at dusk that reads “ Fight 4 Intersectional LGBTQ+ ” during a Pride parade and protest in Manila, Philippines, on June 28. Jes Aznar/Getty Images

Thus, it is not surprising that bakla today is still used as an insult. Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, notorious for his penchant for violence, has denounced several of his critics as bakla, from a rival candidate for president to the chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights to the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines . Duterte has also remarked on a number of occasions that he used to be bakla but “ nagamot ko ang sarili ko ” (“I cured myself”)—giving voice to the conventional belief in the country that being bakla is similar to having a disease.

This stigma manifests in other forms. Consider how the relationship between two celebrities, comedian Vice Ganda and model Ion Perez, has played out in the public eye. Ganda has referred to herself as bakla and nonbinary, with no pronoun preferences. Perez has described himself as a straight man and responded with anger when tagged as bakla. In 2021, to mark their third anniversary as a couple, the two underwent a commitment ceremony in Las Vegas. Regardless of their open expressions of love, Vice and Perez have had to weather persistent rumors that Perez is just bilking his wealthier and more famous partner. It is a common stereotype that the bakla must purchase the affections of a man and will be abandoned once the bakla has been drained of funds or the man has fallen in love with a woman.

There has been a variety of responses to bakla and its adverse history from the people it purports to designate, such as other members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, from adaptation to rehabilitation to rejection. These responses are nuanced by factors like socioeconomic status, geographical location, and access to information on developments in such fields as human rights, law, mass media, medicine, psychology, and public health—and how these bear on gender and sexuality.

Bakla is used matter-of-factly as a self-descriptor and between bakla and their friends as a greeting or a term of endearment. Diminutives, such as “ baks ” and “ accla ,” proliferate, as do alternatives like “ badaf ” and “ bading ,” which are seen as less demeaning. The English words “gay” and “queer” are also in use; these must be understood in connection with long-standing inequalities in Philippine society, in that bakla tends to indicate a person of lower class and status, usually caricatured as a swishy beauty parlor worker. (Many bakla pursue careers in the beauty, fashion, or entertainment industries.)

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Transgender women, meanwhile, have sought to endow their existence with greater precision than bakla affords, with a group of advocates coining the term “transpinay”—a portmanteau of “transgender” and “Pinay,” the latter an informal word for “Filipino woman”—in 2008.

Moreover, there have been efforts to reclaim bakla from its pejorative past—resembling, to some degree, efforts to transform “queer” from a slur into a badge of affirmation. In the 1980s, gay and lesbian activists set up a group named BANANA, which stood for Baklang Nagkakaisa Tungo sa Nasyonalismo (“Bakla United Toward Nationalism”), and participated in protests against the government. In the 1990s, an LGBTQ+ student organization based in the state-run University of the Philippines, called UP Babaylan—a homage to the pre-colonial shaman—produced T-shirts for its members that said “ Bakla ako ” (“I’m bakla”) on the front and “ May angal ka ?” (“Any objections?”) on the back.

A watershed moment in the 2000s was the founding of Ang Ladlad, an LGBTQ+ party that sought to influence national politics by fielding candidates to run under the Philippines’ party-list system, designed to facilitate representation of marginalized sectors in Congress. It faced several challenges —including a ban, later overturned, on its participation in the 2010 elections owing to its alleged promotion of immorality—and was ultimately unsuccessful at its bids to win legislative seats, but it helped draw attention to LGBTQ+ issues and suggest the prospect of the “pink vote”: that is, LGBTQ+ people as a key voting bloc, though its power is yet to be demonstrated. One of the more interesting vote-gathering tactics of Ang Ladlad was to visit neighborhood beauty parlors and engage with the bakla employed there.

Various LGBTQ+ groups continue to play on bakla in their slogans and taglines as they stand up for their rights. The coalition Bahaghari often uses “ Makibeki, wag mashokot !” as a rallying cry. “ Makibeki ” combines “ makibaka ” (“contend with us”) and “ beki ” (another diminutive of bakla) while “‘ wag mashokot ” means “have no fear” in gay lingo. The organizers of the Metro Manila Pride Parade also used makibeki as part of this year’s march theme: “ Atin Ang Kulayaan! Makibeki Ngayon, Atin Ang Panahon .” A rough translation would be, “The colors of freedom are ours! Fellow queers, let us fight together. It is our time.” 

These, it must be emphasized, are not merely linguistic maneuvers. Rather, they represent individual and collective efforts from people who have long been disdained for being different, for defying the norm, to make themselves felt and heard, specify their experiences, and inaugurate modes of living and loving together. Even as the use of bakla remains contentious, LGBTQ+ Filipinos sustain their attempts to negotiate with its difficult history and pave the way toward a prismatic future where they will be embraced with full acceptance by their families and communities.

Jaime Oscar M. Salazar is a writer who lives in Pasig, Philippines.

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Home » Blog » Look, Here! Filipino LGBTQIA+ Representation in 2022: Celebrating 2022 Pride 

Look, Here! Filipino LGBTQIA+ Representation in 2022: Celebrating 2022 Pride 

June 20, 2022

Writer: K Ballesteros Editor:  Richardson Mojica Graphics:  Krystle Mae Labio, Jacklyn Moral Peer Reviewer: Azie Marie Libanan

Visibility and accurate representation of LGBTQIA+ Filipinos enable acceptance. In 2022, the media landscape of the Philippines has shifted and enlarged to better represent LGBTQIA+ Filipinos. The prominence of Boys Love (BL), the increased representation of wlw in Filipino stories, and the rise in visibility and representation of transwomen and transmen create space for Filipinos to move towards acceptance. 

Catalyst for inclusivity, acceptance 

Visibility refers to seeing ourselves and others different from ourselves represented in the community, and in society at large [1]. Being visible impacts an individual and, on a larger scale, a minority’s sense of self, their mental health, and even an individual’s sense of belonging in their community. Minorities and members of vulnerable communities, including LGBTQIA+ Filipinos benefit from seeing themselves in media by developing a sense of affirmation of their identity [2]. Visibility facilitates “an important shift in the social consciousness to include people from a range of different backgrounds” [2].

The Nielsen Being Seen on Screen: Diverse Representation and Inclusion on TV collected data from 300 of the most viewed programs in 2019 on cable channels, broadcasts, and via subscription video on demand (SVOD) to describe the state of accurate and sustained representation in American media. Among this report’s findings is the improved cast diversity of the programs surveyed. According to the data, 92% of these programs reported the presence of diversity. Overall, access to accurate representation bolsters visibility and “helps people feel empowered and learn about those who are different” [3]. However, the same Nielsen report states that the context in which diverse people on screen are presented “can be among the most influential factors in developing our personal attitudes and beliefs” [3]. The push for greater acceptance is therefore the impact and outcome of greater visibility in different media formats and genres, and greater systemic, institutional, and political support. 

Where are we looking?

For members of the LGBTQIA+ community, the recent shift in focus on diverse casts, and more inclusive programming, has resulted in a net increase in mainstream representation. Unfortunately, the Nielsen report also found that the development of LGBT storylines and characters outpace the rate at which LGBTQIA+ actors are hired. Nielsen also reported that LGBTQIA+ women are most strongly represented in Reality, News, and Comedy programs while LGBTQIA+ men are most represented in Horror, Science Fiction, and Comedy shows. The outcome of this kind of unevenness in representation across all genres and programming can affect the identity formation and social perceptions of LGBTQIA+ individuals and the community, as a whole. According to Nielsen, the “quality of representation matters too. The themes and narratives depicted onscreen can contribute to identity formation and social perceptions” [3].  

Locally, the challenge of increasing visibility is compounded by many factors, including systemic homophobia and the fear of being typecast in queer roles [4]. In 2021, the Philippine Star published Chuck Smith’s article on the importance and challenges of queer representation in national media, according to gay creators. In the Philippines, according to Smith, “the call for queer actors to play queer roles in the Philippine media has been loud and frequent lately, perhaps due to the number of queer shows that were released [in 2020]” [4]. The article cited Boys Love shows such as Hello, Stranger and Gameboys , which are headlined by straight-identifying actors. For Perci Intalan and The Idea First Company (TFIC), the challenge of casting films and shows featuring queer themes and characters boils down to which actor is right for the role “whether straight, whether gay” [4].

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and USAID’s 2014 report Being LGBT in Asia: the Philippines Country Report includes an in-depth analysis of eight sectors or areas – including media, education, and politics – to describe the experience of LGBTQIA+ Filipinos in the Philippines. The UNDP recommended strengthening representation in mainstream media by developing an LGBTQIA+ advocacy plan, as well as reporting anti-LGBT shows to the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), as well as to create a network of LGBTQIA+ media practitioners [5]. The UNDP report also recommended establishing a media watchdog to promote SOGIE-sensitivity among media practitioners. In 2022, these recommendations remain valuable actionable points to unify, strengthen, and promote the visibility of queer-produced, queer-supportive, and responsive shows. 

The UNDP study also emphasized the value of new media – social networking sites, microblogging platforms, and other platforms – as tools to promote LGBTQIA+ rights [5]. In 2022, LGBTQIA+ Rights and Activist organizations like UP Babaylan, Metro Manila Pride, LakanBini Advocates Pilipinas, Inc., and LoveYourself are among the most recognizable organizations with empowered communities that continue to push for more progressive representation and increased visibility.  

Outside of the media

As we celebrate Pride, the push for sustained representation for LGBTQIA+ Filipinos continues. The movement calling for increased visibility had been part of the history of LGBTQIA+ activism in the Philippines since the 1980s, during which the Filipina Lesbian community fought to be visible in public [6]. The tradition of the June Pride March is also an exercise in promoting awareness, visibility, and representation as much as it is a showcase of Filipino LGBTQIA+ pride; the first LGBTQIA+ Pride March organized by the Progressive Organization of Gays in the Philippines (PROGAY Philippines) and the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) Manila was held on June 26, 1994 [6]. 

In 2022, fighting for inclusivity also means encouraging LGBTQIA+ Filipinos to push for representation in different areas, and at different levels: by running for public office, through grassroots organizations, and through pushing to enact policies that protect against SOGIE-based discrimination [5]. 

A more progressive agenda will also critically appraise the current ecosystem that drives visibility to point out gaps in LGBTQIA+ representation. According to the GLAAD Visibility Project, “conversations around LBTQIA+ inclusion focus on the representation of gay and lesbian people. There is significantly less comfort and emphasis on including representation of bisexual people, trans people, and gender non-conforming and non-binary people” [7]. Outrage Magazine , the partner LGBTQIA+ publication of the Bahaghari Center, features stories of the “common LGBTQIA people” through #KaraniwangLGBT. Photographer Michael David’s photo campaign featured LGBTQIA Filipinos who are also Moro, sex workers, church workers, HIV advocates, differently-abled or PWDs, members of Lumad communities, contractual workers, homeless, and victims of domestic abuse, among others [8]. 

The challenge before mainstream Filipino representation is to widen the catchment and to push to include Filipinos of every color. This June 20 as we celebrate Pride, let’s also celebrate each other, and boost each other’s visibility. Tara, #UsapTayo!

Pre-session activity: 

For members of the Filipino LGBTQIA+ Community, tweet a gif or image of your favorite LGBTQIA character from a local show or book series!

For allies: let’s echo and boost these characters!

• Do you think there is enough accurate representation in Philippine media of Filipino members of the  LGBTQIA+ Community?
• How might we correct pervasive and hurtful representations of Filipino LGBTQIA in Philippine media?
• How can we, as a community, demand for better representation of Filipinos who are part of the LGBTQIA community in Filipino-created content?

Post-session activity: 

Let’s build a list of shows, movies, stories, novels, and other local content that promotes sustained, accurate representation of LGBTQIA Filipinos. Tweet your favorites!

WORKS CITED

[1]  Alejandra Alvarez, L. M. F. T. (n.d.). Visibility: What is it? why does it matter?  – psychosocial . English. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://psychosocial.media/2021/03/08/visibility-what-is-it-why-does-it-matter/ 

[2] O’Brien, (2017). Why visibility matters . Psychology Today. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/all-things-lgbtq/201711/why-visibility-matters 

[3] Being seen on screen: Diverse representation and inclusion on TV . Nielsen. (2020, February 12). Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/report/2020/being-seen-on-screen-diverse-representation-and-inclusion-on-tv/ 

[4] Smith, C. (2021, March 1). The importance and challenges of queer representation in ph media, according to Gay Creators . l!fe • The Philippine Star. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://philstarlife.com/geeky/765077-queer-representation-in-ph-media-important-but-tricky 

[5] United States Agency for International Development . United Nations Development Programme. (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PBAAA888.pdf 

[6]  The history of LGBTQ+ visibility in the Philippines . LoveYourself Inc. (2020, December 30). Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://loveyourself.ph/the-history-of-lgbtq-visibility-in-the-philippines/ 

[7] Advertiser & Agency Perspectives on LGBTQ Inclusion Study – GLAAD . (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/P%26G_GLAAD_AdvertisingResearch2021.pdf 

[8] Center, B. (2020, May 15). #karaniwanglgbt: Photos from the fringes of the rainbow . Bahaghari Center. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://bahagharicenter.org/karaniwanglgbt-photos-from-the-fringes-of-the-rainbow/ 

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A new Filipino LGBT series will push boundaries with an ordinary love story.

A couple is silhouetted by a rainbow-colored symbol while waiting to march around the University of the Philippines campus in an annual event to draw the attention to issues like gay rights and anti-discrimination Friday, Sept. 11, 2015 at suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines.

Known primarily for his poetry and acting, Juan Miguel Severo announced his latest show this month, produced by Globe Studios, about same-sex love between two adolescent boys. “Gaya sa Pelikula” or “Just Like the Movies” is set to air in the last quarter of 2020. The plot revolves around a university romance and borrows motifs and scene styles from well-known romantic movies. Severo explains that the show will take those aspects and “situate a gay couple in that, that’s it! To tell the public it happens to us, and we should be allowed to have these experiences too.” 

The artist spoke with The Diplomat about how he intends to make something that creates a space for the narratives of the LGBT people while pushing for greater equality and justice in society as a whole. He claims “there is nothing special” about what he is doing. 

“Nothing new with a freshman falling for an upperclassman. The idea is to normalize, not sensationalize queer love,” Severo says.

With the current repressive political climate in the Philippines, coupled with its deep-rooted Catholicism, successfully producing something “normal” for the LGBT community is in itself breaking conventions. 

Genre-Bending

Although preferring not to label it as such, Severo admittedly evokes elements from the popular yaoi or boys’ love (BL) genre in his most recent work. A hit mainly among Asian audiences, the BL genre has been produced largely (but not exclusively) by female writers, for female audiences. It began in Japan through manga and eventually expanded to other forms of media. BL works are distinct from homoerotic content created for gay male audiences. Such stories commonly feature two “regular” young men, who end up entangled in a romance while increasingly shedding their own normative gender attitudes. They become softer and more emotional as the relationship progresses. These plot designs have had a certain empowering effect on both creators and consumers. 

“The genre itself does some good. The writer is able to subvert the predominant gender narrative. Female writers present the formula of an archetypal male who is now a recipient of the male gaze and toxic masculinity as opposed to the woman,” Severo says. 

Despite being a fan himself, Severo feels the BL design has some key flaws evident in its tropes. Because its plots are written by women for women, the charming and good-looking couple typically mark their romance with a disclaimer. They aren’t queer or gay, and drive this home by saying something along the lines of “I don’t like men, I just like him.” It enforces the notion that a man freed from his own misogyny can fall into the arms of the (female) reader. 

However, such a trope, repeated over and over again, can also have problematic results.

Severo comments that “it can result in an erasure of the queer identity, … [suggesting that] being gay is just a phase and thereby construed as negative. Yes, I believe there are straight people who have found partners of the same sex, but if this is the norm in the genre, it can be harmful. It reinforces a false notion and by extension the status quo.” 

What was initially an exception has now become a convention wherein a same-sex relationship across all designs of the narrative structure has no actual gay characters. 

“And it’s for this reason the genre will have to update itself,” Severo says. “Revisionism in whatever art form is inevitable and necessary, especially when the old ways are reinforcing outdated ideas.”

For Bernadette Neri, a professor at the University of the Philippines and chairperson of the LGBT rights group Bahaghari (“Rainbow”), representation should also extend to various social classes, especially the often voiceless. 

“At some point, we need to break away from the literary and media confines of middle class Manila residents. Nevertheless, it’s still a good thing that projects like this are getting lifted up into the mainstream.”

The output of the series is sourced from Severo’s own experiences from a relatively privileged background. While much can be asked of his work in terms of representation, he feels that no single body of work can encapsulate the entire LGBT experience. If anything, like Neri, he hopes his work breeds more of its kind. 

“If we claim to be as multifaceted as we are, we should also accept that no individual can cover everything. If ‘Gaya sa Pelikula’ becomes successful, what can I do as a queer artist who benefitted from that? We should ‘pass the mic’ to the next one.”

Pride Is a Protest

In the Philippines, the notion of “pride” has taken on an undoubtedly political thrust. Since the first Pride March in the country back in 1994, the open expression of gender has been inexplicably linked to the plight and struggles of working class folk. Campaigns against oil price hikes, support for workers’ strikes, and fighting for human rights, in general, have all been hallmarks of the LGBT movement in the Philippines. 

“We’ve come a long way from just coming out with our sexual identity. The essence of pride is directly linked to our solidarity with ordinary Filipinos as oppressed people,” says Neri. 

The development of LGBT political consciousness has encountered opposition from the establishment. President Rodrigo Duterte has made countless statements disparaging women and gay Filipinos, even going so far to say that the latter is a disease that can be cured. In addition, his treatment of the LGBT community was called into more serious question when the arrest of 20 protesters during a Pride March in late June led by Bahaghari drew sharp criticism. The group was protesting the recently signed Anti-Terror Law, which has much of civil society outraged as it criminalizes and labels any critic or dissenter of the administration a “terrorist” and therefore justifies severe penalties. 

Severo is quick to invoke the old adage that art does not exist in a vacuum. He has been an outspoken critic of Duterte’s “macho-fascism.” He says that the worsening state of civil liberties in the Philippines cannot be ignored. 

“This is one of the reasons why my writing has been delayed, I’m behind on my deadlines. I thought to myself, it would be smug to tell people ‘this project is super important.’ It’s hard to do this and I question what weight this work brings while so much repression is happening around us. I feel paralyzed by the situation. But in the end, I think I have to do it because if I stop, the oppressors will have succeeded in silencing me.”

While the show is not overtly political, some themes dealing with societal injustices will definitely be incorporated. The question for the writer is how this can be done “without losing the essence of the genre, without losing track of what I initially intended to do. To be honest, I think artists should get their heads out of their assess and stop lionizing their own works.”

“My series won’t start a revolution,” Severo says. “If a queer kid watches it and is no longer ashamed of who they love, then we’d have done our job. We’ll do this for your entertainment and to mirror experiences of queer people, but it doesn’t stop there. The real fight is outside.”

SOGIE Equality on the Horizon

For 20 years, the SOGIE ( Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression) Equality Bill has stagnated in the Philippine Congress. The principal proponent of the legislation’s most recent iteration, which punishes gender-based discrimination, is Congresswoman Arlene Brosas of the Gabriela Women’s Party. She observed that “these days there is so much opposition from the Church and legislators aligned with Duterte. That’s why it is difficult to get the bill moving.”

For its part, “Gaya sa Pelikula” wants to put a face on the LGBT community, one so common it becomes inseparable from the population in general and hence unquestionably warrants equality. 

“ I want people to root for the characters because I want the audience to root for people like them outside the screen. Because if you feel empathy and compassion for fictional characters, that should extend the people those characters are representing,” says Severo. 

Severo’s new project looks to be culturally ground-breaking. From a mainstream platform, it seeks to break storytelling traditions, shine a light on systematic injustice, and chart a path for an audience to seek more meaningful answers within society. 

That’s a tall order. But when pride and protest are the norms, even the “ordinary” story speaks truth to power. 

Michael Beltran is a journalist in the Philippines.

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But with just a few taps on his phone, he took us to a different side of Twitter and an unrecognizable version of himself: gay, effeminate, and as he described it, “ kanal ” — Filipino for sewer, which in local gay lingo means one who is crass.

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Speaking to us on condition he is not named, Mikee is one of many queer Filipinos who find solace in the internet, afraid of coming out to their conservative families and neighbors. Reluctant and shy at the start of the interview, he got more animated as he described the vibrant queer community on Twitter — what he and his online friends often referred to as “gay Twitter.”

This is not a closed group but a bunch of queer users who follow and interact with each other, forming an extensive network. It’s a safe space where LGBT folks and their allies support and defend one another, anonymously or not. 

Beyond this, the local gay rights movement is pushing for policies that will turn these safe spaces into a reality on the ground, through a  law that punishes discrimination on the basis of one’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression (SOGIE) .

The SOGIE bill’s status in the legislative mill illustrates the challenges that the queer community is facing in the country. The bill already passed the committee level at the Senate and was awaiting sponsorship for a plenary discussion, when on February 9, Senate Majority Leader  Joel Villanueva succeeded in reverting it  to the committee level, practically back to square one. Villanueva belongs to a religious group founded by his father, Eddie Villanueva — the Jesus is Lord Movement.

Protests and support

“Building communities” is the social media magic once celebrated before “fake news” became a bigger buzzword. In the Philippines, where the majority are Catholic, those who are queer won’t always find support from their immediate communities. Thanks to social media platforms, however, they are able to find like-minded people, communicate with strangers, and curate connections online, which is useful for those like Mikee, who have come to terms with queerness but not the consequences of coming out.

Young and immersed in pop culture, gay Twitter is filled with memes, celebrity gossip, and the occasional “thirst trap.” While they are spread across political spectrums, the skew toward liberal values is stark. It is often within these communities that support for human rights and the defense of democracy can be found.

Gay Twitter in the Philippines would come to the defense of basic rights that had been under fierce attacks under the previous Duterte administration.

When then-president Rodrigo Duterte and his allies moved to shut down media organizations in the Philippines, for example,  LGBT-focused accounts  were the quickest to protest online. This sector is also behind the biggest online protests on social media, such as the  #OustDuterte campaign  that happened at the onset of the pandemic.

They’re quick to come together in the face of discrimination, such as an incident last year in one of the country’s poshest business districts.

Transwoman Louis Marasigan recalled to us that while shopping at a store in Taguig City, in October of 2022, she was asked by a store clerk to use the male fitting room. Even after saying that she’s a woman and that she would be uncomfortable using the male fitting room, the store still barred her from the female fitting room. The clerk insisted that allowing her would make the other customers uneasy — even if she was the only customer waiting at the fitting room at the time. The store manager, who also happened to be gay, refused to help her.

In tears, Louis recounted the incident on TikTok, where it quickly went viral, drawing widespread reactions from the queer community.

Within hours, her TikTok video was reposted on Twitter and retweeted thousands of times. At its peak, there were at least 25,000 tweets about the incident in a day. 

The support spilled over to the physical world. People started to reach out to Louis to send her comfort food, while business owners invited her to their stores. Most important to her was the legal support she was offered by concerned groups and allies. “The biggest help to me was the legal advice, as well as the support network I was introduced to by Ms. Mela Habijan,” she told us.  Mela Habijan , crowned the first Miss Trans Global in 2020, is a staunch advocate of LGBTQIA+ rights.

The online furor prompted the store to reach out to Louis eventually. They’ve since apologized and clarified that they have gender-sensitive policies in place and were committed to retraining their staff about them.

But the trauma will likely remain, Louis said, recalling the volume of hate she received online. “I received more hate messages after it went viral … especially on Facebook. Some even threatened to kill me,” she said. After the incident, Louis said she was anxious to return to Taguig City for a while, fearing that the threats may actually turn real. “If only there was a law against discrimination, there would definitely have been a case against the store.”

Country of contradictions

Isolation and exclusion are nothing new to the LGBT community in the Philippines.

“For members of the LGBT community, we’ve gotten used to living in a society where we’re always isolated and excluded, so we’re almost always trying to find, search or create communities. That’s where social media has become particularly effective: connecting us to people with similar values,” said Reyna Valmores of the gay rights advocacy group Bahaghari. 

But surveys show otherwise, as some said that the Philippines is one of the most LGBT-friendly countries in Asia. A  recent survey  by the Pew Research Center showed that at least 73% of Filipinos think homosexuality should be accepted by society. This has been the same percentage since 2013, and the earliest conduct of the same survey in 2002 shows that acceptance was already at 64%.  

The Philippines looks like an anomaly in Pew Research Center’s survey. Where data shows a high positive correlation between the country’s wealth and its acceptance of LGBT, the Philippines is almost as accepting of the queer community as its wealthier counterparts. 

Other surveys tell a more complicated relationship between the LGBT community and the predominantly Catholic country. A  Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey  said that at least 60% of Filipinos know someone who is gay, but only 2 out of 10 Filipinos accept same-sex marriage. 

The  2019 SWS survey  added that 60% of Filipinos agree that the LGBT community experience discrimination and 55% are in favor of passing the law protecting their rights. But there are reservations with this support: 47% think transgenders shouldn’t be allowed in female restrooms and 48% do not agree that they should be allowed to change their official documents, such as birth certificates, according to their gender identity. This is on top of the continued discrimination LGBT persons face on the ground, which is documented in different  reports .

This is why advocates like Reyna always emphasize that the Pride movement, as colorful and vibrant as it has become, is still a protest against the systemic discrimination of the LGBT community in the Philippines.

Over the years, they have leveraged the power of social media to spark collective action and challenge the status quo. Many organizations like Bahaghari have relied on the supportive and social media-savvy queer community online to push the gay rights movement forward.

“Members of the community who also want to push for their rights, they know how effective social media can be,” Reyna told us, but with the caveat that activism on the ground is still important. “After all, not every Filipino has access to the internet.”

The SOGIE bill

At the center of the local gay rights movement is the campaign for  a law that punishes discrimination on the basis of one’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression.

First filed in Congress in the year 2000, the bill is yet to be enacted into law, becoming the longest-running bill to be under Senate interpellation in the Philippines. Now sitting in the legislative body for 23 years, it’s surpassed even the controversial Reproductive Health Bill, which took 15 years to pass into law. (READ:  TIMELINE: SOGIE equality in the Philippines )

The bill was first filed in 2000 by the late senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago and former Akbayan representative Loretta Rosales. Santiago’s bill focused on  degenderizing the Labor Code  and prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, while Rosales pushed for an  Anti-Discrimination Act  that tapped into the Bill of Rights, seeking to prohibit broader areas of discrimination on the basis of SOGIE. 

Facing stiff opposition each time they’re proposed, the bills were rejected, redrafted, and then refiled in every Congress since then. 

Religious groups and politicians have made it a point to stop or delay the passage of any law that, in their view, promotes homosexuality and “immorality.” This includes bills on same-sex marriage and even reproductive health.

Advocates, on the other hand, would push for provisions each time the bills were refiled, covering other forms of SOGIE-based discrimination.

Now known as the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) Equality bill, the current version filed in both the House of Representatives and the  Senate  is aiming for equal access of the LGBTQ+ to basic rights and services. 

It proposes the prohibition of discriminatory acts if made on the basis of SOGIESC, including the denial of access to health and public services, refusing admission or expulsion in schools on the basis of SOGIESC, and revoking the accreditation of organizations based on the SOGIESC of members.

It also penalizes other forms of SOGIESC-based harassment, such as forced medical examinations, as well as conversion therapies. The recent versions also include indirect forms of discrimination like the exclusion of an individual from government aid on the basis of their SOGIESC. 

One of the challenges, according to Reyna, is awareness.

”At the basic level, people don’t know what the SOGIE Bill is. Maybe among progressive circles, we do. But if you reach out to communities, they’re always asking, ‘ Ano ba ‘yang SOGIE bill na ‘yan ?’ ('What is this SOGIE bill?') Even if they’re also gay.”

But gay rights groups all over the country have not stopped campaigning for the passage of SOGIESC both on the ground and online. The network graph below presents a snapshot of the tightly-knit gay rights community on Facebook. Each node presents a Facebook page or group that creates or shares content about the SOGIE Bill, and they are linked whenever they amplify or share each other’s content.

In 2018, conversations on SOGIE on social media were still driven by gay rights groups and queer communities. While there were a few faith-based groups posting against the bill, their presence was still insignificant and showed low networked behavior, at least compared to the pro-SOGIE communities.

“The biggest challenge has always been politicians who are dedicated and have made it their life’s work to stop any legislation for the LGBT community,” Reyna said. She singled out former senator Vicente Castelo Sotto III, who, during his term as Senate president, declared that the SOGIE bill  had no chance of passing in the Senate .

Religious vote

Politicians like Sotto are not the exception but the norm in Congress, where lawmakers are held  captive by the religious vote .

The Filipinos’ predominantly Catholic population gives churches so much influence during elections, and some Christian sects have leveraged this by openly endorsing candidates and offering  voting blocs . Some church personalities have also been elected.

For example, the SOGIE Bill’s biggest opposition in the House of Representatives is Manila 6th District Representative Benny Abante, a pastor for the Metropolitan Bible Baptist Church. Abante, who is also chairperson of the House of Representatives committee on human rights, has been blocking the SOGIE bill since its first filing, saying that it would promote “ morally reprehensible sexuality .”

He has made a brand for himself in advocating against the LGBT community: in 2009 he filed a bill  criminalizing the conduct of same-sex marriage , and in November 2022, he filed a bill that seeks to protect heterosexuals in expressing their views against homosexuality.

The pushback against any policy that goes against religious beliefs is just as strong outside the walls of Congress, where religious groups do not shy away from demonstrating the strength of their numbers.  Thousands of religious Filipinos  have marched on the streets to protest against the Reproductive Health Bill, which passed in 2012 after 15 years of push from advocates, with support from the late president Benigno Aquino III. 

In opposing the SOGIE Bill in 2006, Abante also claimed to represent  35,000 churches  all over the country that have come together to unite against the bill.

In the next part of this report, we’ll go through how the same platforms that empowered communities like that of Mikee’s can also empower those who want to silence them. And while social media has given the queer minority a voice, it didn’t take the conservative majority long to retake control of the online discourse, muddle the truth, and defend an oppressive status quo.

Research for this story was made in collaboration with  TheNerve , a Manila-based consultancy that specializes in analyzing data to bring forth powerful insights and narratives .

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Strength in colors: The Filipino LGBTQ community

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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

MANILA, Philippines – It has been 19 years since the first organized gay pride parade in the Philippines.

At that time, openly gay and lesbian groups were a rarity. Boundaries had to be pushed. Attendance was at a minimum.

Rev Fr Richard Mickley of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) Philippines recalls the June 1994 march clearly. MCC – the church he founded which welcomes members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community – was among the two participating organizations of the country’s first LGBTQ pride march.

“ We got lots of publicity and things started happening… We went on Mel & Jay (a local talk show). Through the years, there has been change in the mindset of the people. Millions of people now believe that there is an alternative to the teachings of the Catholic Church ,” he said in an interview with Rappler.  

The Philippines remains largely Catholic, although with dwindling Church attendance and a relatively low level of religiosity . 

To fight long-standing stereotypes and generalizations, Mickley believes that visibility is important for the LGBTQ movement.

“Because they wanna sweep us under the rug. They wanna pretend that we don’t exist. We want to show that we are here. We are everywhere. We are honorable. We are proud of who we are,” he explained.

Every year since 1994, LGBTQ rights advocates and supporters gather in Manila to express solidarity with one another. The Metro Manila Pride March is reported to be the oldest annual gay pride parade in Asia. 

2013 Pride March

Jade Tamboon, head coordinator of the Task Force Pride Philippines, co-organized the 2013 march held Saturday, December 7. He has been part of the organizing committee for two years now. 

“The theme and the tone of the parade reflects the sociopolitical atmosphere during that time,” he said. “For this year, our theme is strength in colors. It emphasizes the ability of the LGBTQ community to rise up from oppression.”

Tamboon acknowledged that social perceptions have become more accommodating of the LGBTQ community, but believes more can be done to fight discrimination.

“In the country, there’s still no legislation that guarantees equal rights for everybody regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Even though the Philippines is somehow presented as an LGBT-friendly nation, that seems superficial. Underneath that, if you look deeply, you could see little signs of oppression,” he said.  (READ: Is the Philippines really gay-friendly? )

“We, the LGBT community, we’re used to oppression, but we rise up from it,” he added, citing cases of s exual discrimination at work and even simple teasing that could escalate to bullying.

The 2013 Pride March, he said, sought to highlight the movement’s capacity to rise from oppression.  “Our strength, our ability to cope, our ability to recover,” said Tamboon, hopefully serves as an inspiration for other suffering Filipinos.

The event also featured a donation drive for victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) that brought massive destruction to key cities in Eastern Visayas.

Forward strides

Naomi Fontanos, executive director of Gender and Development Advocates (GANDA) Filipinas , was also among the organizers of the 2013 pride parade.

To Fontanos, it was a means for the Filipino LGBTQ community to celebrate the successes they’ve had from 2012 to 2013.

“In the past year, we saw more people from the LGBTQ community engage in politics. We saw the passage of anti-discrimination ordinances in different cities… [There is also] a newly-filed anti-discrimination bill in Congress,” she explained.

Fontanos, however, was dismayed by the lack of LGBTQ representation in the country’s legislative body.  In the May 2013 polls, Ang Ladlad Party-list ran for a seat in Congress but lost. 

Not much has changed in terms of legally enforceable LGBTQ rights since the first pride march in the country in 1994.  Various versions of an anti-discrimination legislation have surfaced in Congress, but no law has been enacted to date.

Nevertherless, Fontanos is happy that there are forward strides.

“Every year, organizations come and go. But every year, we have new blood to fight for LGBTQ human rights in the Philippines,” she said.

Hate crimes

On August 3, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR)  made a move to protect the interests of the LGBTQ community .

It  decided to document hate crimes – violence done on the basis of the victim’s sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) – against LGBTs across the country.

“These are not just common crimes. They (the victims) belong to the marginal and discriminated sectors of society. These are people who are discriminated against —  binaril, tinotorture, ninanakawan —  dahil galit dahil sa  sexual orientation  niya ,” explained CHR Chairperson  Loretta  “Etta” Rosales. (These are people who are discriminated against — shot, tortured, robbed — because of anger over their sexual orientation.)

According to data collated by the Philippine LGBT Hate Crime Watch, there have been around 164 cases of murdered LGBTs in the country from 1996 to June 2012.

The creation of safe spaces – establishments where LGBTs can freely express their sexual orientation and gender identity – and the conduct of gender sensitivity training in law enforcement agencies are among the things that advocates continue to fight for.

Movement’s growth

Mickley said homophobia is still a huge concern for many members of the Filipino LGBTQ community.

“It’s not an easy thing to deal with. I always tell people, ‘It’s your choice.’ Do you want to run and hide or do you want to be who you are?” he asked.

MCC, he said, continues to develop support groups for the struggling Filipino LGBTQ.

“Know who you are. Choose to be who you are,” he said, with a conviction that the growth of the movement is an indication that better things are yet to come.

Over 50 organizations participated in this year’s pride march. Among those in attendance were: Accenture FLAG – LGBT Philippines, Akbayan LGBT, Akei, Amnesty International, Association of Transgenders in the Philippines, BATSI (Bataan), Equality Alliance, Equality Philippines, Filipino Freethinkers, Foundation for Media Alternatives, Galang, GANDA Filipinas, Gay Geeks, Gayon Albay LGBT Organization, G-Male Philippines (Clan), JPMorgan Chase & Co., Kapatid LGBT Community, Ladlad, Lesbian Activism Project (LeAP), Lesbian Alliance Bagbag, Lesbian Alliance Movement: Lakas ng Kababaihan para sa Karapatan, Lesbian For Rights, Lezworld, Love Yourself, Malaya LGBT, MCC QC, MCC Makati, MCC Marikina, MCC Metro Baguio, MCC Olongapo, Metro Guys Society (Clan), Outrage, One Bacardi, Philippine Atheists and Agnostics Society (PATAS), Pink Rockers, Pinoy Deaf Rainbow, Pinoy FTM, Pinoy G4M, PLM Propaganda, Rainbow Rights Project, Rhythm Curve Clan & Lesbian Society of the Philippines, Society of Transexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP), Tegan and Sara Made Me Do It Clothing, Tingug CDO, Transman Pilipinas, Trippers Pilipinas, Ugnayan ng Nagkakaisang Lesbyana Laban sa Diskriminasyon, UP Diliman Ladlad, Valenzuela LGBT, Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau, and Xroads.  – Rappler.com

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