LGBT culture in the Philippines

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the Philippines have a distinctive culture but limited legal rights. Gays and lesbians are generally tolerated, if not accepted, within Filipino society, but there is still widespread discrimination. The most visible members of the Filipino LGBT culture, the Bakla, are a distinct group in the Philippines.

According to the 2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey, 11% of sexually active Filipinos between the ages of 15 and 24 have had sex with someone of the same sex.[1]

Filipino poet and critic Lilia Quindoza Santiago has speculated that Filipino culture may have a more flexible concept of gender because kasarian, the Tagalog word for "gender", is defined in less binary terms than the English word gender.[2] Kasarian means "kind, species, or genus".[3]

Nomenclature

Main article: Bakla (Philippines)

A bakla and bading is a man who displays feminine mannerisms, dresses as a woman, or identifies as a woman. The term itself is not the equivalent of the English term "gay",[4] but bakla are the most culturally visible subset of gay men in the Philippines. They are often considered a third gender, embodying femaleness (pagkababae) in a male body.[5][6] The term bakla is sometimes used in a derogatory sense, although bakla people have largely embraced it.

Bakla individuals are socially and economically integrated into Filipino society and are considered an important part of society. The stereotype of a bakla is a parlorista, a cross-dresser who works in a salon.[7] Miss Gay Philippines is a beauty pageant for bakla.

In the Philippines, the term gay is used in reference to any LGBT person. For Filipino gays, the Tagalog phrase paglaladlad ng kapa ("unfurling the cape"), or more commonly just paglaladlad ("unfurling" or "unveiling") refers to the coming-out process. Tibo, T-Bird and tomboy are derogatory terms for butch lesbians just as bakla is for effeminate gay men. Some lesbians, both butch and femme, use the terms magic or shunggril to refer to themselves.[4] Neutral slang terms for gay men include billy boy, badette, bading, and paminta (masculine gay man).

While many of these terms are generally considered derogatory, they are sometimes used casually or jokingly within the Filipino gay and lesbian community. For example, gay men often refer to their gay friends as bakla or baklatutay when talking to each other.

Rights

Although legislation supporting same-sex marriage in the Philippines has been proposed several times to the Philippine legislature, none has ever been passed.[8]

The Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) disqualified the Filipino LGBT political party Ang Ladlad from running in the 2007 general election when COMELEC concluded that Ang Ladlad did not have nationwide membership.[9] COMELEC again refused Ang Ladlad's petition for permission to run in the 2010 elections, this time on grounds of "immorality".[10] However, on 8 April 2010 the Supreme Court of the Philippines overturned the decision of COMELEC and allowed Ang Ladlad to participate in the May 2010 elections.[11]

The Philippines has recently been ranked as one of the most gay-friendly nations in the world, and the most gay-friendly in Asia. On a global survey covering 39 countries, only 17 of which had majorities accepting homosexuality, the Philippines ranking as the 10th most gay-friendly. The survey titled "The Global Divide on Homosexuality" conducted by the US-based Pew Research Center showed that 73 percent of adult Filipinos agreed with the statement that "homosexuality should be accepted by society," up by nine percentage points from 64 percent in 2002.[12]

Linguistics

Main article: Swardspeak

Swardspeak, or "gay lingo", is a cant slang derived from Englog (a Tagalog-English pidgin) and is used by a number of homosexuals in the Philippines.[13] Swardspeak uses elements from Tagalog, English, Spanish and Japanese, as well as celebrities' names and trademark brands, giving them new meanings in different contexts.[14] It is largely localized within gay communities and uses words derived from local languages or dialects, including Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Bicolano, and/or other Philippine dialects.

The use of Swardspeak once immediately identified the speaker as homosexual, making it easy for people of that orientation to recognize each other. This created an exclusive group among its speakers and helped them resist cultural assimilation. More recently, though, straight people have also started to use this way of speaking, particularly in industries dominated by gays, such as the fashion and film industries.

Politics

LGBT Politics: In the Philippines, the Communist Party of the Philippines Marxist–Leninist and Maoist revolutionary proletarian party in the Philippines are the one and first to introduce and promote the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. They recognize the LGBT as part of the bulk of the masses that can encourage and recruit for their revolutionary work. The revolutionary leader admitted that in their rank. The wide spread of sexual intercourse within their rank and same sex that brought their party principle to set a guideline for those belong with the LGBT's. They also allow to married their fellow same sex revolutionary party member as long it will not affect their revolutionary task in the party organization. Document of the CPP-MLM guideline "Gabay Para sa Rebolusyunaryong Pakikipagrelasyon at Pagpapakasal".

There is an intersection between the ivory trade and Filipino gay men in particular.[15]

In the Philippines, there are no existing laws pertaining to same-sex marriage or unions. There are no laws legalizing nor calling it illegal. It has simply gone ignored.

Same sex marriage is taking gaining some ground in Southeast Asia. In Thailand, the initiative is led by a Democrat parliamentarian, Wiratana Kalayasiri. She drafted a bill that would legalize same sex marriage. An incentive for Thailand is to be the first Asian country to recognize and legalize same-sex marriage. Because of conservative parliaments, assessing LGBT rights is difficult. The intention of the LGBT community is to have a stand in the government and gain the support from policymakers and legislators to obtain and have better political influence.

Another instrumental LGBT group in the Philippines named Ang Ladlad, was able to be recognized by the government and participated in party elections which was a milestone for the Philippines. Here is a party whose founding leaders, members, and core constituency belong to the LGBT community.

Unlike the Philippines, Singapore has made little strides to support LGBT members and their platform. The country has kept in place the infamous Section 377A of the Penal Code which criminalizes sex between members of the same sex, specifically between men.

As a huge slight to the LGBT in the Philippines and Southeastern Asia in general, Thailand's draft of same-sex marriage was denied by members of the parliament, homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia, and the Ang Ladlad Party failed to get enough votes to win a seat in the Philippine Congress. Vietnam has not been ruled out when it comes to supporting the LGBT community. They have not out right spoken in support of it but have also not denied it. ***

Advocacy

References

  1. ↑ "Survey shows young Filipinos are opening up homosexual activities" (PDF). 23 July 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2005. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  2. ↑ Garcia, J. Nelia C. (2000). "Performativity, the bakla and the orienting gaze". Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. 1 (2): 265–281. doi:10.1080/14649370050141140.
  3. ↑ "Kasarian." Tagalog-English Dictionary. 2nd. ed. 1986.
  4. 1 2 Garcia, J. Neil C. (2008). Philippine gay culture: binabae to bakla, silahis to MSM. University of the Philippines Press. ISBN 978-971-542-577-3.
  5. ↑ Aggleton, Peter (1999). Men who sell sex: international perspectives on male prostitution and HIV/AIDS. Temple University Press. p. 246. ISBN 1-56639-669-7. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  6. ↑ Casabal, Norberto V (2008). "Gay Language: Defying the Structural Limits of English Language in the Philippines". Kritika Kultura (11): 89–120. doi:10.3860/kk.v0i11.754. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  7. ↑ Benedicto, Bobby (2008). "The Haunting of Gay Manila: Global Space-Time and the specter of Kabaklaan". GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. 14 (2-3): 317–338. doi:10.1215/10642684-2007-035.
  8. ↑ LeiLani Dowell (17 February 2005). "New Peoples Army recognizes same-sex marriage". Workers World Party. Retrieved 17 November 2008.
  9. ↑ Aning, Jerome (1 March 2007). "Gay party-list group Ladlad out of the race". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
  10. ↑ "CHR backs Ang Ladlad in Comelec row". ABS-CBN News. 15 November 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  11. ↑ "SC allows Ang Ladlad to join May poll". ABS-CBN News. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  12. ↑ Tubeza, Philip C (8 June 2013). "PH ranks among most gay-friendly in the world". Inquirer.net. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  13. ↑ Empress Maruja (27 July 2007). "Deciphering Filipino Gay Lingo". United SEA. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  14. ↑ Jessica Salao (30 April 2010). "Gayspeak: Not for gays only". The Philippine Online Chronicles. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  15. ↑ Bryan Christy (1 October 2012). "Ivory Worship". The National Geographic Society. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
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