THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2011
On Flaunting
A few days ago, our nation was shocked by the news of the teen shooting incident that happened at SM Pampanga.
Read about it here: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/232883/regions/teenage-boy-in-pampanga-shoots-male-lover-before-shooting-self%E2%80%AA
The first concern that comes to mind: Where did this kid get his goddamn gun? How did a deadly weapon like this becomes so accessible to a 13-year old? More so, how easy was it for him to bring it inside the mall? Is mall security selective in a way that it is only focused on shop lifters?
Apparently, most people in the media has other things in mind and as expected, they never fail to sensationalize. Rather than focusing on the issues of security and responsible gun ownership, they focused on the sexuality of the victims and the shooter which is irrelevant to the case. Okay, their sexual preference needed to come out to the open to establish the motive of the crime, which according to the police is love triangle. But hey, c'mon, there are 3 people involved, all of them were boys who are supposedly in a love triangle so there's a highly probability that they were gay. Big deal? And so what? Why does it matter if these kids were gay? If the victims were a guy and his mistress and the shooter, the wife, would it be such a big deal?
What really bothered me, however, is a comment that was brought to my attention by Reighben Lacsamana of the Philippine LGBT Hate Crime Watch (website here:http://thephilippinelgbthatecrimewatch.blogspot.com/).
Mr. Anthony Taberna, an anchor on the ABS-CBN morning show Umagang Kay Ganda stated and I quote:
"May mga nagsasabi din satin, kung bakit... ma-anguluhan lang ha. di na to tungkol sa seguridad. kung bakit ang bata ay humahantong sa ganitong ka-agang gulang ay humahantong, nabibilad na sa pagkakaibigan o umiibig sa kapwa lalake lalo na at ito'y bading. or nabubuo na ung ganong pagkatao nya. Meron din nagsasabi na mga taga telebisyon din ang may kasalanan nyan eh, media daw ang may kasalanan nyan eh. Dahil pag bukas mo ng telebisyon eh puro kami na nakikita nyo. Pasensya na po sa termino, puro kabaklaan ang nakikita nyo. Pagbukas mo ng telebisyon, pagbukas ng online social networking... pinapahintulot at tinatangap na ng publiko. Sigurod parang wake up call na din to. Hindi po para siilin ang karapatan ng mga third sex na magagaling talaga sa mga performance at iba pa. Pero mukhang naeenganyo ang marami na maaga pa ay i-flaunt na ang kabaklaan."
Watch the video here (Courtesy of pinoypride.net):
http://www.pinoypride.net/video/136293/Umagang-Kay-Ganda-Sep-22-P3
So, Mr. Taberna, ma-anguluhan lang ha, sinasabi mo ba na masama ang epekto na nagiging tanggap na ang, para gamitin ang yong termino, kabaklaan, sa lipunang Pilipino?
Ma-anguluhan lang, sinasabi mo ba na kaya ito nangyari ay dahil bakla tong mga batang ito na nagfu-flaunt nang kanilang sekswalidad sa maagang edad? Na ang pagiging bakla ay direktang magdudulot sa isang tao na kumuha ng baril, dalhin ito sa mall para barilin ang iyong kasintahan at kalaguyo nito? Hindi ba mas madalas natin itong naririnig na nangyayari sa mga heterosexual couples?
Ma-anguluhan lang ha, Mr. Taberna. Araw-araw sa telebisyon, hindi ba finu-flaunt mo ang pagiging lalake mo na heterosexual? Bakit hindi naman kami na eenganyo? Siguro marahil dahil ang pagiging bakla ay di nakakahawa sa parehong paraan na ang pagiging heterosexual ay hindi. Kung bakla ka, bakla ka. Di mo kailangan ng pang eeganyo.
Mr. Taberna, ito ba ay ayon sa mga nasabi sa iyo o sariling opinyon mo? Napakagaling ng pagkakagamit mo ng pretense of popular opinion para maiwasang direktang maibalik sa iyo ang mga anti-gay sentiments na ito. Bakit? Dahil ba alam mo sa sarili mo na nakakasuya ang pagkakaroon ng ganitong pananaw? Na sa iba-ibang dako ng mundo ay nilalabanan ng mga bakla ang ganitong klase ng pagiisip at natatanggap na ito ng mga gobyerno at lipunan na may bukas na pagiisip, pero ikaw hindi? I'm sorry, Mr. Taberna. I think I just stepped on the rock where you live under. Walang personalan, ma-anguluhan lang. Parang, para lang may masabi.
There's nothing wrong with flaunting your sexuality. Saying that we should not flaunt our gayness is tantamount to denying our individuality and the person who we really are. It's suppression of our freedom of expression and our rights, as protected by the Philippine Constitution. If you say that we should do so we won't influence the youth then where's the humanity in that? Where's the rationality in that even?
To people who are not gay, do you get judged for flaunting your masculinity or your femininity on a daily basis? No! Then why should we be?
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