By Reign Querido

Home is where the heart is, they said. With wallpaper-wrapped walls and chandelier-clad ceilings, a house wears the heart of those who inhabit it on its sleeves. A living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, a roof, all with a purpose — to feel welcomed. In the streets of despair, however, such houses do not exist. The warmth is not blazing; every door slammed is a closet locked in place. In the corner of this home, however, there is a rainbow that shines. It’s calling you to march, it’s calling you to find your pride. It’s telling you just how you belong.

“This is the place where you belong.” Every step towards the doorway is a step towards acceptance. A mat says, “Welcome!” The doorbell calls you to ring the others.  In a place where everything is blue, the door stands openly — it’s inviting you, this is where you belong. This is your home.

Living Room, Living Pride

A home where you can truly be who you are. This is just one of the statements to describe Ateneo de Manila Senior High School (ASHS). As you enter the doorway,  a community welcomes you to the heart of the home — the living room. In this room, a celebration awaits where everyone’s colors come alive. This year’s One Big Pride (OBP) invited everyone to be one with home and embark on a journey through its university-wide March and Opening Night Concert. OBP, a month-long initiative, promotes the concept of a family through the LGBTQIA+ community as a way to emphasize pride whilst advocating for societal issues. Through ASHS Lakambini’s shared project, “Makibahagi sa Bahaghari,” it aims to bring ASHS into the spirit of OBP.  It opens the pathway for the Senior High School to be in solidarity and advocate for a safe space among its students. With several subprojects like the Collective March and advocating through LakaMayari, there is nothing more prideful than standing in pride with a goal to move as one.

“There is nothing quite like solidarity in the name of queer voices parading through the brick-tiled pathways of the Ateneo, advocating for change and intersectional social justice.” 

This was only a gist of what Dev Barrantes, a Grade 12 student, felt during March. The OBP March, to her, as always, felt empowering as ever. With every protest shouted and placard held high, the community remains an arm for support and a seat to uplift one another. No one is left behind standing in the doorway. Through OBP, every individual is given a seat on the couch and be part of a family that comes together. 

Grade 11 STEM student Manalo Decastro recalled feeling comforted knowing that others are fighting alongside him — people who embraced him with warmth from the flames of pride. “The people I was with in the march made me feel welcome by simply being themselves. No one really cared who you were, or what you were wearing, or who you were with,” he said,“All that mattered was that you were there to fight against the injustices that our society faces at the present moment.” OBP wasn’t just an event to walk around the campus; it was an event to find the people who would welcome those around them, no matter who they are. On that red-bricked road, what really mattered was that they were together as a family, ignited for their pursuit of change.

As laughter and joy fill the living room, it holds on to the thought that ASHS will forever be welcoming in its nature. Aside from its walls, it’s the people who stay in this room that make OBP colorful.  It’s these people who truly make the room a home — empowering and comforting.

Peace Meets Pride

Through this safe haven, a door opens — the bedroom. In a place where peace and relaxation are given, one has the freedom to be their true, authentic self, free from judgment, free from stigma. With ASHS’s red-bricked road and greenery fields, this room does not limit oneself to something, because with ASHS, you can be anything. For Ae Tiglao, a Grade 11 student, he does not need to put up a mask to fit in. His true self is enough to be at peace in this home we call Ateneo. 

“I never felt the need to ‘closet’ myself or put up a façade in order to bond and connect with others,” Ae stated. “Because I am with people I feel safe with, people that I feel are very similar to me, it is much easier for me to show these people who I truly am and create strong connections with them that will last past the one school year I’ll spend with them.” 

Ae’s experience reflects that of many students who find peace in the walls of ASHS. This room is not just the place to rest, it’s the place to find solace. Because of those who make the bedroom safe, and in Ae’s case, his class, peace meets pride in this home. 

Through the bedroom, the community finds the fine line between peace within self and the acceptance of knowing that with the people around you, you can be you. “I owe it to the people who saw through the stereotypes obstructing my being for protecting my peace, affirming my identity, and allowing me to live out the truest manifestation of my own self.” Barrantes reflected. A bedroom may offer you the relaxation that is long overdue, but within the corners, it offers you something greater — a sense of belonging, knowing that vulnerability is not a weakness, but a vessel for pride. 

What’s Cooking this Pride?

The aroma throughout the house is strong. It smells like the essence of advocacies implemented by Lakambini. While these projects are still evolving, these involvements are what make up the meal that satiates our need for inclusivity and rights. With Lakambini’s goal to focus on gender sensitivity and women’s empowerment, OBP is just one of the many projects that they are currently cooking up. 

Lakambini’s Finance and Logistics Co-Head, Aren Cainglet, tells how exactly they ensure that these goals are being put together. “Sandigan Lakambini does not have authority over the student body,” she explained, “but a responsibility to make sure they are aware, informed, and educated properly on matters that are closely related to creating a safe space.” Not only should concrete plans be made, but also a sense of responsibility among the community. Awareness and competence may seem like a dab of salt, but it does wonders for the initiatives that are served. 

In every home-cooked meal, however, there is always room to switch up and improve the recipe. Barrantes shares her insight into cooking up more initiatives like OBP. “I look forward to seeing the ASHS open up further and embrace the need for gender sensitivity initiatives that not only benefit the LGBTQIA+ community, but the cisgender heterosexual community as well. After all, we all walk upright…on two legs no less!” This home does not close its doors to those who are heterosexual. The doorway says, welcome, and therefore welcomes everyone. While the month of October sheds light on the family where pride becomes the roof, gender sensitivity does not exclude those within the outside walls. 

After the cooking process, a meal cannot be eaten without a dining table to come with it. With every bite comes a story to tell the community. As the OBP progresses in its month-long initiative, it opens Bakliterati’s Quentuhan, an open-mic storytelling competition. Through this, the highlights of queer individuals and the creativity of those in the community are given the chance to be brought out in this home. Quentuhan inspires the community to speak up more because their voices are not important only during this month, but they echo through the roof of the home forever. This event is only the tip of the iceberg, however, because with these types of initiatives, it opens up more doors for projects to be served to the ASHS body. 

With a roof above our heads, we remain protected as one. This roof that shelters the home ties the community together, fostering a sense of interconnectedness wherein everyone protects everyone, each supports each, and all empowers all. Celebrating One Big Pride is a huge step, but applying its theme of ‘Tahanan sa Tanan’ is where the true spirit of home awaits.

Ateneo is not just an institution; it is everyone’s tahanan that encompasses one’s identity. Here in ASHS, we can be who we really want to be. With every gasp of saying, “This is where you belong!” Think of why — we belong because this is our home. Tahanan sa tanan, this is everyone’s home, and in this home is where the pride truly is.