LGBT culture in the Philippines
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In the Philippines, the term gay has been used loosely to include homosexuals, bisexuals, transsexuals, crossdressers, and effeminate men. Filipino gays are mostly stereotyped as effeminate, crossdressers, hairdressers, camp and ridiculed. Bakla or Bading, a derogatory Filipino word for gay, is commonly used; tibo or tomboy has a similar function, and refers to lesbians, usually of the butch and masculine type. A more benign slang word for gay men is billy boy.For Filipino gays, the Tagalog phrase "paglaladlad ng kapa" (literally means "unfurling the cape") refers to the coming-out process. Although gays and lesbians are generally tolerated within Philippine society, there are still widespread cases of discrimination.
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[edit] Society
[edit] Gay Lingo
Swardspeak is a vernacular language derived from Englog and is used by a number of gay Filipinos. It uses elements from Tagalog, English, and Spanish, and some are from Nippongo, as well as celebrities' names and trademark brands, giving them new meanings in the context of this unique language. A unique trait of swardspeak is that it immediately identifies the speaker as homosexual, making it easy for people of that orientation to signal to each other in a place where such tendencies are not easy to display (ie in the Philippines). This creates an exclusive world among its speakers and helps them to resist cultural assimilation.
By using swardspeak, Filipino gay men are able to resist the dominant culture of their area and create a space of their own. The language is constantly changing, with old phrases becoming obsolete and new phrases frequently entering everyday usage, reflecting changes in their culture and also maintaining exclusivity. The dynamic nature of the language refuses to cement itself in single culture and allows for more freedom in expression among its speakers. Words and phrases can be created out of reaction to popular trends and create alternatives to a strictly defined lifestyle. By these characteristics, swardspeak creates a dissident group without any ties to geographical, linguistic, or cultural restrictions, allowing its speakers to shape the language as appropriate to the times. In this way, the language is "mobile", and is simultaneously part of a larger community but also open to more specific or local meanings.
[edit] Gay Villages
Malate District, is known as Manila's gay district. It is here where the Gay Pride Parade is held every July.
Other gay areas in the Philippines include:
- Quezon City - Timog
- Legazpi City - Rawis
- Pagsanjan, Laguna
[edit] Filipino LGBT Organizations
- ProGay
- gay rights organization (Metro Manila)
- UP Babaylan is the only active and existing campus-based LGBT organization in the Philippines. It is based in the University of the Philippines, Diliman.
- LAGABLAB
- the Lesbian and Gay Legislative Advocacy Network
- Can’t Live in the Closet
- lesbian activist group (Metro Manila)
- LeAP
- lesbian advocates Philippines (Metro Manila)
- IWAG
- gay social support group (Davao City)
- GAHUM
- gay support and advocacy (Cebu City)
- STRAP
- Society of Transsexual WOMEN of the Philippines(Metro Manila)
- Order of St. Aelred
- spiritual gay center (Metro Manila)
- UTOG
- union of truly organized gays
- Metropolitan Community Church Philippines
- a positive ministry for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities in the Phils., a local church of UFMCC; the first pro-glbt church in the world, the first church to hold same sex holy unions in the Philippines
GASAP Gay association based in Las Pinas City
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Manila Gay Guy - recent gay happenings in and around Manila, Philippines, as related by a local gay guy. S
- Bakla Ako, May Reklamo? (I'm Gay, Got a Problem with That?) - See the gay world in the Philippines through the eyes of this twenty-something gay urbanite!
- Pink Philippines Ireland Website
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