Tolerant or Prejudiced?

By Tea Concio of 11-Zeal

Graphic by Jasmine Ong

THE PHILIPPINES has been deemed a relatively LGBTQIA+-friendly country. In the 2013 survey “The Global Divide on Homosexuality” encompassing 39 countries, the Philippines ranked the 10th most LGBTQIA+-friendly on the basis of 73% of adult Filipinos agreeing with the statement “homosexuality should be accepted by society”. The Philippines has then been perceived as LGBTQIA+-friendly, which may hold some truth considering that some LGBTQIA+ can serve in the military and several have been elected into the government. However, this perception has led many people to ignore the still blatant discrimination and mistreatment of the LGBTQIA+ community in the Philippines. While it may be true that Filipinos are largely tolerant of LGBTIA+, they are still a long way from being totally accepting.

The “acceptance” of LGBTQIA+ people in itself is largely problematic and based on exaggerated stereotypes. In fact, general acknowledgement of the gay community is somewhat due to their wide exposure and visibility in the media and entertainment. However, these images center around and emphasize a lot of stereotypes. Lesbians have short pixie-cut hair and are tomboyish. The portrayal of gay men is often limited to cross-dressing and drag. Mannerisms such as the way they talk and act are often similarly exaggerated. These portrayals just highlight the stereotypes already associated with gay people and give off the impression that every LGBTQIA+ person acts the same. Thus, a woman acting more masculine would signal that she’s a lesbian. In the same way, if a man so much as lilts his words in a certain way, people would think that he’s gay. The differentiation between the components of SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression) is often looked over. Instead, many Filipinos would label an effeminate man or masculine woman as “bakla”. With all of these stereotypes, LGBTQIA+ people that do not fall within this narrative are often excluded and forgotten. There is a significant lack of acknowledgment and awareness of sexualities and genders outside of gay, lesbian, cisgender, or transgender. Even those under these labels, those that are less “flamboyant” would often be ignored and less accepted. These stereotypes largely form the attitudes towards LGBTQIA+ people and exclude those that do not fall under these narratives.

There are many Filipinos who claim that they are not homophobic. When it comes to personal morals, however, they may admit that being homosexual is unnatural or immoral. While many Filipinos may not wish true ill on LGBTQIA+ people, they would still think that homosexual acts, and by extention their own identities, are immoral. A 2014 survey entitled “Global Morality” showed that 65% of Filipinos find homosexuality morally unacceptable, 25% find it morally acceptable, and only 9% said that it is not a moral issue. Even without being completely critical or violent when it comes to LGBTQIA+ people, the rejection of their own identities is a form of homophobia and would show that they are not truly accepting.

With these beliefs and ideas, violence based on sexual orientation still remains rampant. Bullying and abuse is very common, especially for younger Filipinos. Most of the bullying, especially for students, would be in forms of sexual assault. The perception of LGBTQIA+ people is often associated with some sexual connotations, especially prostitution. Thus, even younger teens would be sexually harassed and assaulted. Slurs would be repeated and directed towards them. For example, while the word bakla, which can mean cowardly, may carry negative connotations, many Filipinos would use it to casually describe any gay person. Verbal bullying would include abusers repeatedly calling them bakla. A 2017 paper by Human Rights Watch, “‘Just Let Us Be’: Discrimination Against LGBT Students in the Philippines”, shows how bad the discrimination, assault, and bullying that the LGBTQIA+ youth have to face, especially in schools, has become.

Although there are some Philippine laws and policies that mention and somewhat protect the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, such as the SOGIE Equality Bill, there are still a number of absent laws that may even be used to hurt them. Moreover, the majority of the government is still against the legalization of same-sex marriage. As it is, granting protection and passing policies that would be for the benefit of LGBTQIA+ people is still something that seems to be difficult. The SOGIE Equality Bill, for example, only passed after a few years and many modifications.

Despite the assumption that the Philippines is an accepting country, the treatment of minorities still leaves much to be desired. Equality does not stop at tolerance. The true acceptance of LGBTQIA+ Filipinos would take fully recognizing the behaviors that are hurting them and working towards treating them like any other person. Only then can the Philippines truly be LGBTQIA+-friendly.