The Wheel and Axle

This short video from Ministry of Funny could very well be the spiritual sister of UP Babaylan’s anniversary book from a few years back, Anong Pangalan Mo Sa Gabi? at iba pang tanong sa mga LGBT (What Do You Call Yourself At Night? and other questions for LGBTs).

In the clip, the interviewers asks random straight people (in the streets of Singapore, apparently) some questions commonly asked of LGBT people. The hilarious squirminess and/or bewilderment of the straights should make anyone realize just how inappropriate or foolish asking these questions can be when directed at non-straights.

Enjoy and learn.

Last week, news came out that Philadelphia was lobbying to add brown and black stripes to the iconic Rainbow Flag of the LGBT community. The reason is that they want to represent the inclusivity of (American) racial minorities that have a history of being discriminated against even within the LGBT community.

Needless to say, this sparked heated debates over the internet. I also had my own thoughts which I shared on social media, and with Metro Manila Pride March scheduled tomorrow, I thought it was appropriate to also share my thoughts here on my blog.

To sum it up: I believe it is completely unnecessary and, if I may say so, foolish. Adding black and brown to the flag won’t solve any problems of racial misrepresentation or underrepresentation. It also ignores the fact that the flag already is supposed to represent inclusivity and that the stripes represent specific concepts, none of which are race-related.

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Continued From:

The Wonder Woman, Part 3: Get Us Out From Under

*** SPOILERS ***

Since I’ve talked about what I wasn’t too fond of in Wonder Woman, I decided to list some of the things I truly loved. Note that I loved so many things about the movie, so this quick list is really just to sample some of my fave highlights.

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It’s IDAHOT once again, that is, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia. And like I once said, everyday shoud be IDAHOT because our struggle is everyday.

That said, today is a special day to raise further awareness across the globe about the issues and hatred that the LGTB community continues to face. There has been traction in various legislations as well as social acceptance, but we still have a long way to go.

May 17th is a particularly relevant choice for IDAHOT. It was chosen because this was the day – back in 1990 – that homosexuality was removed by the World Health Organization (WHO) from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

In other words, it was the day that somehow – even though it should have been a given from the onset – validated that we are not a plague upon humanity.

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Who would’ve thought that Boysen, of all brands, could come up with such a hilarious commercial? 😂 I’m still laughing AF.

Yesterday, being a member of Babaylanes, Inc. (the alumni organization of UP Babaylan), I joined a meeting of various LGBT groups and allies. A number of these groups were part of the umbrella LGBT network Lagablab, including my two aforementioned orgs, although there were also plenty of representatives from non-Lagablab groups. There were also non-affiliated individuals. We all had one goal.

The meeting was held as a forum on what we as a community can further do to lobby support for the Anti-Discrimination Bill. As I’d previously noted, this important piece of legislation has been in congress for some time now, and the most recent version is the furthest the bill has made it so far. Of course, this being Philippine politics and all, interpellations kept on getting delayed and delayed until Congress went on hiatus in March.

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Yesterday, I joined a panel of bloggers and social media personalities in a Facebook Live broadcast of Senator Risa Hontiveros. Facilitated by Peruvian-Asian gay celebrity Sebastian Castro and supported by Atty. Jazzy Tamayo of Rainbow Rights, the “Bekitaktakan” was centered around the Anti-Discrimination Bill (ADB), a piece of legislation that would provide protection for a very vulnerable segment of Philippine society: the LGBT community.

The ADB has been languishing in legislation limbo for almost two decades – or at least, the ADB in various forms. The current version is the one that has made it the farthest so far, with a couple of interpellations left after congress went on recess earlier this week. (I shan’t comment further as to the reasons why it got delayed again lest I start throwing large, electrically-live appliances around the room in frustration.)

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Recently, current Wonder Woman comic book writer Greg Rucka (who also had an acclaimed run on a prior volume of the book in the 2000s) gave an interview wherein he basically confirmed that Wonder Woman is “queer.”

Of course, this made the rounds of social media, with a fairly good number of people praising the revelation. It is, after all, the natural progression for a character who has been seen as an icon for the LGBT community for the longest time and whose very roots are intimately tied to queerness.

As expected, however, a predictable subset of society that is ignorant at best and homophobic at worst also had their rant say. Negative reactions I’ve read ranged from the comparatively-mellow-yet-simplistic, “But she’s always been straight!” to the hysterical-and-simultaneously-moronic, “Why are we promoting porn in comic books for kids? Think of the children!”

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Just because I’m in the mood and am tired of having to debunk various moronic statements every time the topic comes up, let me shoot down the common arguments of anti-gay and anti-same sex marriage simpletons.

This way, I don’t have to repeat myself; I can just point them in this direction.

1. “It’s not natural.” The animal kingdom is full of species that have documented homosexual behavior. But obviously, we shouldn’t let science and facts get in the way of our preconceived prejudices.

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Last night, I attended Babaylan Night, celebrating the 24th anniversary of UP Babaylan. As an alumnus of this trailblazing LGBT organization and a member of its alumni NGO (Babaylanes, Inc.), I am proud of all that the group has achieved in the past quarter of a century.

It was also great to have seen old friends once again and to have met a few new ones, both founders as well as newbies.

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