Stirred, AND Shaken...
Finding Filipino GLBTQIA Shakers and Movers
By M.D. dela Cruz Tan
PUBLISHED: FEBRUARY 2009

Growing up gay in the 1980s, recalls M.D. Espinoza, 33, was “no walk in the park.”  “The only representations we had were Herbert Bautista as Hilario/Jill (in Jack & Jill, 1987, with Sharon Cuneta as the tomboy sister Jackie Lou/Jack), and, before him, Dolphy as Facifica Falayfay (1969; then in Anak ni Facifica Falayfay, 1987),” he recalls. 

“No wonder that, noting I was a bit too effeminate to his own liking, my Dad asked me: ‘What now, you’re going to cross-dress and start working in a beauty salon, gossiping like some silly girl while cutting somebody’s hair, only to spend what you earn on a man who’ll leave you because you’re... bakla?’”

What bothered Espinoza was “not so much the lack of representation aside from those of Jill and Facifica, largely erroneous, and non-representational of the GLBTQIA community they may have been; but, even more so, the lack of voices to bring up (the very observation about the lack, if only so that) something can be done about it,” he says.

The lack is – stating the obvious – the best proof of the lack of movers, in the first place, of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and allied (GLBTQIA) communities.  And sans the movers, “obviously, too, not much (is done to change) the status of the GLBTQIAs,” Espinoza says.

BIG ON REPRESENTATION

According to media-awareness.com, “media stereotypes are inevitable, especially in the advertising, entertainment, and news industries, which need as wide an audience as possible to quickly understand information.  Stereotypes act like codes that give audiences a quick, common understanding of a person or group of people — usually relating to their class, ethnicity or race, gender, sexual orientation, social role, or occupation.”

While simplifying, in not so many words, the conceptualization of any group of people, stereotyping is, definitely, “problematic, as they can reduce a wide range of differences in people to simplistic categorizations; transform assumptions about particular groups of people into ‘realities’; be used to justify the position of those in power; and perpetuate social prejudice and inequality.”  What can only be worse than all these is that, “more often than not, the groups being stereotyped have little to say about how they are represented,” media-awareness.com continues.

Specifically pertaining the GLBTQIA community, media-awareness.com cites media educators Larry Gross and George Gerbner, who argue that the “media participate in the ‘symbolic annihilation’ of gays and lesbians by negatively stereotyping them (often consigning them to the margins of entertainment media, playing either ‘colourful’ and ‘flamboyant’ characters or dangerous psychopaths), by rarely portraying them realistically, or by not portraying them at all.”  Both believe that “the commercial structure of the mass media limits the opportunity for representing diverse characters, (as) too often, networks and film companies shy away from portraying gays and lesbians for fear of alienating or offending advertisers, investors, and audiences.”

For GLBTQIAs, this means that stereotypes – not what’s real – are perpetuated, thereby believed to be what’s real.  And this, Espinoza says, “is always a disservice to us – just count how many times my Dad tried to change me by hitting me, putting me in an empty sack of rice, drowned in a drum of water, et cetera to make me not want to be like (Jill and Facifica).”

MAKING SOME SHAKING

The riots, spearheaded by drag queens (the pa-girl, in local gay lingo, who continue to be looked down, even by the “butch” members of the GLBTQIA community), in Stonewall Inn in September 1969 is largely attributed to have pushed to the forefront GLBTQIA issues (at least in the modern times, what with movements already existing prior to Stonewall) – but it also gave pride to so many, so that coming out was easier (somewhat).

And so increased the numbers of GLBTQIA advocates.

This, unfortunately, was not the same elsewhere, especially in developing and/or largely undeveloped countries, the Philippines included – after all, even if the likes of famed (and rightly so) Lino Brocka, who was openly out, tackled gay issues in his films, the approach was not always to promote GLBTQIA issues; ditto, in more modern times, the likes of Rustom Padilla (out, yes, but actually said he won’t undergo sexual reassignment because he respects his body, as if transgenders, by undergoing surgery, do not respect their bodies), or even Boy Abunda (him with his admirable over 20-year relationship), who, despite donating to GLBTQIA groups (such as the Task Force Pride, organizer of the annual Pride March), do not really use his upper-tier position in local media to advocate for GLBTQIA issues.

If it is any consolation, Espinoza is first to note how “times have changed.”  “The media may be slow in coping, but impressions of the GLBTQIA community have been changing over time – at least we already had the likes of Pusong Mamon, Ang Lihim ni Antonio, Ang Lalake sa Parola, et cetera (and that’s even much is taken from that, too, by the likes of Pantasya, et cetera).  We are, finally, headed somewhere,” he says.

Much of the change is ushered in by the ongoing efforts of the – finally – emerging shakers and movers in the Filipino GLBTQIA community, those whose efforts have significant impact the creation of opportunities for the GLBTQIA community to progress.