By Mary Therese L. Catapang

TW: homophobia and violence

The pre-colonial times are almost a blur now in the modern-day Philippines. There are many facts in our history textbooks that have been trivialized and sanitized, and among those is the gender-fluid history of the Philippines.

Contrary to popular belief, the LGBTQIA+ is not a “modern construct” as evidence states how there is an early existence of transvestism and crossing gender during the 16th and 17th centuries. Although the modern media commonly portrayed babaylan—a shaman (of an ethnic group) who possesses a spiritual power—as a profession exclusively for women, facts state otherwise, as the biological male was allowed to practice such and cross-dress back in the past. From the story of a Jesuit missionary, Francisco Alcina, there was a shaman who believed he is more of a woman than a man, that he does all the things women (of the traditional construct) usually do such as weaving, making pots, or dancing like a woman.  

In the pre-colonial Philippine society, the gender crossers had an esteemed status just like women where they were allowed to be priestesses while they also gained the power to divorce their husbands and accumulate property and wealth. Men, women, and all genders are on equal terms. 

The indoctrination of our Filipino ancestors under colonial rule has forced them to comply with the constricting and conservative beliefs of colonizers. These have become the instruments that honed the homophobic attitudes of the following generations. 

Today, although there is progress in forwarding the LGBTQIA+ cause since the colonial period, they are only tolerated and not fully accepted by the majority of Filipinos. They are often subjected to microaggressions such as “sayang ka”, “phase lang yan”, or “idaan na lang sa dasal”. 

When the Spaniards came and wreaked havoc on our sacred beliefs 

Bahaghari cited how the Spaniards would demonize and slaughter the babaylan because they feared their powers. There were even gruesome accounts where the babaylans were “chopped up and fed to the crocodiles.” Then and there, the social order of equality among all genders ended as patriarchy emerged from the ceaseless inculcation of the Spaniards. 

Based on the piece of J. Neil Garcia, “Male homosexuality in the Philippines: a short history,” while the status of women deteriorated, gender crossers suffered from ridicule and scorn inflicted by the Spaniards’ machismo. Gender crossers were compared to the species of bamboo called “bayog” where the word “bayoguin” originated that means a native effeminate man which shows typical characteristics of a woman. Later on, it was converted into “bakla”, which is sometimes used by some as a derogatory term connotating a coward and confused person, but instead of conforming to this ill definition of bakla, the LGBTQIA+ community, together, with their allies use this word with pride of their identity.

On another note, although a massive piece of our pre-colonial culture as Filipinos was eradicated during the Spanish colonial rule, a part was also preserved and has been surviving for centuries in some indigenous civilizations. Ethnic groups and communities such as the Terudays of the Southern Philippines have preserved their tradition, not letting their biological sex dictate their roles in society. 

Since the majority of civilizations still underwent Spanish indoctrination, this has led us to this unacceptable state today, where the LGBT community and women are regarded as inferior to men and are constantly being subjected to both obtrusive and microaggressive forms of discrimination.

When religion became an instrument used to hone homophobia

During the Spanish colonial rule came also Christianity which has held on to heteronormative values that adhere to the gender binary while also imposing how romantic relationships are only fitting on people of the opposite sex. 

The rise of Christianity during Spain’s ruling is also a major factor that brought babaylans to their doom. Their ritual instruments and villages were burned while young boys were ordered to defecate on them. They were forced to use Catholic images and rituals instead of their own anitos or diwatas that eventually led them to abandon their ritual practices. As the babaylans met their downfall, the ancient religion of the Filipinos crumbled as well as the diverse gender identity and equality in the society,

In the present, although Pope Francis has expressed support over the LGBTQIA+ community countless times as seen in his statement in 2015 and this year, it was not without reservations. Recently, the Vatican wants changes on the law centered on the LGBTQIA+ community’s rights because they fear that the law could criminalize the churches in Italy that refuse to conduct gay marriages, oppose adoption by homosexual couples through Catholic institutions, and refuse to teach gender theory in Catholic schools. These actions and practices are inherently discriminatory that the Vatican should condemn in the first place if they truly advocate for equality. 

Another case is how influential personalities such as Senator Manny Pacquiao justifies their homophobic and hateful attitudes using religion. In 2016, he called people in same-sex relationships worse than animals, only to apologize later after receiving the backlash. However, his apology was even more problematic, reeking of bigotry, as his last line said, “…I am praying for you”. Praying the gay away is an insensitive remark that invalidates the whole being of a homosexual person. 

When it’s the Americans’ turn to rule

American colonialism has also brought major changes to our country that are still visible today. There has been an expansion of middle-class society and standardization of public education, especially a new regulation of sexuality in academic learning and mass media. The sexual indoctrination under American influence has complicated and forwarded the current sexual order in the country under the influence of Spain and Catholicism. 

The 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, USA began when the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club, and hauled employees and patrons while transgender people and people in drag were arrested. The riots lasted for about six days of protests against the law enforcement on Christopher Street and other neighboring streets. After one year,  the “Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day” was held to remember the event. This has sparked the gay rights movement around the world as it became the inspiration for Pride March, a parade celebrating LGBTQIA+ pride. Although this event has forwarded the LGBTQIA+ cause in the Philippines, the impact of American colonialism was a different matter.

From the different “modes of gender and sexual identity formation” of American education, the “homo/hetero” distinction was highlighted and furthered the stigma that homosexuality goes against normalcy, instilling the idea that homosexuals are different from the majority. Consequently, they were subjected to self-loathing as if there is something wrong with their being due to the pathologization (treating someone psychologically abnormal) enabled by the American sexological regime.

We may not know everything about pre-colonial times in the Philippines, but the historical accounts prove that our ancestors lived ideally as compared to today’s situation where women have to withstand the brunt of toxic masculinity and machismo, while the LGBTQIA+ community has to suffer from alienation and discrimination.

The toxic culture of homophobia perpetuated by Filipinos today is unacceptable, but we have to understand how this attitude came about. Filipinos should not be blamed for the years of indoctrination that caused a huge alteration in the mindset being passed down for generations. Learning and unlearning homophobic behavior also come through the privilege of education. People who came from a conservative environment or simply those who do not have the financial capacity to access education may have it harder to unlearn the customs they were used to. 

It is valid to feel outraged and hurt by the bigoted remarks, but if we have a choice and the capacity to educate the people we know, then we shall try to go through that option, but it’s still up to them to listen. We can only do so much. 

From a larger lens, the LGBTQIA+ movement, campaign for information dissemination, and the collective efforts to inaugurate laws for LGBTQIA+ rights must continue because only through these can we truly break free from the damned roots of homophobia and gender inequality that have long been strangling our society.