Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the Philippines have a distinctive, influential culture but limited legal rights. Gays and lesbians are generally tolerated, if not accepted, within Filipino society, however widespread discrimination remains. The most visible members of the Filipino LGBT culture, known as the Bakla, are a distinct group in the Philippines.
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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.
Filipino poet and critic Lilia Quindoza Santiago speculates 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. Kasarian means "kind, species, or genus".
Nomenclature
A bakla and bading is a man who displays feminine mannerisms, dresses as a woman or identifies as a woman. While the term itself is not the equivalent of the English term gay, 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. 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. A common stereotype of a bakla is a parlorista, a cross-dresser who works in a salon. Miss Gay Philippines is a beauty pageant for bakla individuals.
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. "Paminta" is used to describe masculine gay men. Neutral slang terms for gay men include billy boy, badette and bading.
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 beki 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.
The Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) disqualified the Filipino LGBT political party candidate Ang Ladlad from running in the 2007 general election when COMELEC concluded that Ang Ladlad did not have nationwide membership. COMELEC again refused Ang Ladlad's petition for permission to run in the 2010 elections, this time on grounds of "immorality". However, on April 8, 2010, the Supreme Court of the Philippines overturned the decision of COMELEC and allowed Ang Ladlad to participate in the May 2010 elections.
The Philippines has recently been ranked as one of the most gay-friendly nations in the world and is 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 from 64 percent in 2002.
Linguistics
Swardspeak, or "gay lingo", is a cant slang derived from Englog (a Tagalog-English pidgin) and is used by the LGBT community in the Philippines. It uses elements from Tagalog, English, Spanish and Japanese, celebrities' names and trademark brands to give them new meanings in different contexts. Words derived from local languages or dialects, including Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Bicolano, and other Philippine dialects, is also largely used within LGBT communities.
Initially, a speaker using Swardspeak could be identified as homosexual, making it easy for people in the LGBT community to recognized each other. This created an exclusive group among its speakers and helped the community resist cultural assimilation and marginalization. However, more recently straight people have also started to use Swardspeak, particularly in industries dominated by gays, such as the fashion and film industries.
LGBT Politics
In the Philippines, the Communist Party of the Philippines Marxist–Leninist and Maoist revolutionary proletarian party in the Philippines were the first to introduce and promote the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community. They recognized the LGBT as a bulk of the masses that could encourage and recruit for the party's revolutionary work. The revolutionary leader admitted to this in their rank. Widespread sexual intercourse within ranks and same sex brought their party principle to set guidelines for those belong in the LGBT community. They were also allowed to married their same sex party member as long as it didn't affect their revolutionary task in the party's 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.
In the Philippines, there are no existing laws pertaining to same-sex marriage or unions. There are no laws legalizing nor calling it illegal. Legislature regarding the LGBT community has simply gone ignored. [1]
Same sex marriage is 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 to be the first Asian country to recognize and legalize same-sex marriage. Because of conservative parliaments, assessing LGBT rights is difficult. The LGBT community's intentions and goals is to have a stand in the government, gain the support from policymakers and legislators and obtain more political influence.
In 2013, an instrumental LGBT group in the Philippines named Ang Ladlad, was recognized by the government and participated in party elections; a milestone for the Philippines. This is a party whose founding leaders, members, and core constituency belong to the LGBT community. [2]
Geraldine Roman is the first transgender to be elected in the Philippine congress. She has been a staunch advocate of the anti-discrimination bill.
Entertainers Aiza Seguerra and Arnell Ignacio were the first LGBT members who were appointed as government officials as they was appointed by President Rodrigo "Rody" Duterte as Chairperson of National Youth Commission and Vice Chairman for Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation respectively.
Unlike the Philippines, Singapore has made little progress in supporting LGBT community 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 verbalized support of it but have also not denied it.