Felix Isaac Tiburcio wroteHi guys! I hope I'm not too late to join the conversation! Anyway, I'm here to discuss Philippine society’s perception of the LGBT community. I know that this is a bit controversial considering that some of us may have differing opinions regarding this topic, but I hope that each of us can respect each other's viewpoints. Moving on, in the Philippines, gays are typically portrayed as the effeminate, drag queen characters with highly feminine features. It’s not surprising that when you hear gay, or in Filipino terms, “bakla” (a portmanteau of babae, the Filipino word for girl, and lalaki, the Filipino word for boy), the first thing that comes into mind is the image of a highly feminine man in women’s clothes. As such, gay beauty pageants are common here (or at least from the area that I’m from). In retrospect, lesbians are portrayed as women who assume a masculine appearance and attitude, yet from where I come from, lesbians aren’t as celebrated compared to the gays. Unfortunately, these same stereotypes have plagued what members of the LGBT community can and is capable of doing.
If you’re gay in the Philippines, society dictates that the only jobs that you could take are beauticians, fashion designers, comedians or anything remotely related to promoting a feminine image. Filipinos are so stuck on the preconceived notion of what gays are that they don’t see their potential in other professions, which is sad. Lesbians aren’t as restricted on what society dictates on what they can do, but they aren’t given enough emphasis all the same.
As for the bisexuals, they are often overlooked in favor of their gay and lesbian counterparts. I’m bisexual even though I prefer guys over girls, but that doesn’t mean that I’m totally gay. As a bisexual in the Philippines, it’s difficult to explain what my sexuality is because most people just generalize. Yes, I may be effeminate and I may swoon over the next guy or two, but I still like girls. Unfortunately for some people, bisexuality is an excuse to make you seem socially acceptable as a “straight person”. Sadly, this is the problem with bisexual culture in the Philippines: most people are unaware that we exist! Instead, they tend to blend with the “gay” and “straight” ends of the spectrum.
Transsexuals, on the other hand, are often synonymous with gays in terms of societal perceptions and expectations. In fact, when you’re gay in the Philippines, most people tend to think that you “eventually want to become a girl”, which is sad because there’s a difference between being gay and being transsexual.
That’s all so far! I’m not going to discuss other sensitive topics related to the LGBT community because this post might reach three pages long, but I hope I’ve piqued your interests without offending anyone.
As someone who is also bisexual, I super agree!! It's annoying to hear people constantly say I don't look like a lesbian or "tibo" at all (even though I'm bisexual haha). And even though gays are "accepted" into society, media continues to perpetuate the negative gay best friend stereotype. LGBT people are merely seen as side characters without much depth or just to add comedic relief (as if them being gay makes them automatically hilarious, sassy, and sarcastic).
However, I think it's nice to see the efforts of people, especially college students, to break these negative stereotypes. I've heard of several LGBT-centered zines being made by art students from places such as Benilde and Ateneo which help inform people about the problems of the community. Independent online artists such as huhsmile or rombutan also create illustrations about LGBT that go viral on Facebook. I've even heard a recent mainstream teleserye features a gay main character who seems to break these stereotypes. Given, the plot is somewhat cliche, it's definitely a step towards the right direction for Filipino people to be more aware.
