Last year, Metro Manila Pride March set a record of 25,000 LGBTQIA and allies all gathered in and around the Marikina Sports Center, the biggest in Southeast Asia. On Saturday, Jun. 29, on its 25th year, the march goers have almost tripled in number with 70,000 attendees tallied by midnight even though it rained the whole day. But more than these statistics, it was the multiplicity of queer and minority narratives that shone through despite the gloomy weather that day.
“Ang Pride, ang Pride, ang Pride ay protesta!” was the chant that started the march, and even the one that fueled the movement prior to Saturday’s festivities. This year’s theme #ResistTogether is an ode to Pride March’s activist roots which begun with the Stonewall Riots in New York 50 years ago.
Roy Dahildahil of the Mental Health Cluster: “Your sexual orientation, identification, and expression are not mental disorders. You are not a disease that needs to be cured, nor a mistake that needs to be corrected. You are NOT a problem.” #ResistTogether✊🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/FLwPKEbttD
— 🌈Metro Manila Pride (@mmprideorg) June 29, 2019
Mark Ryan Adas, a representative from Lumad Kids: Pinapasalamatan namin ang LGBTQIA+ community sa pag-imbita sa amin dahil hindi lang sila ang nakakaranas ng diskriminasyon ngunit pati rin kaming mga Lumad na pinapalayas sa sariling lupa na parang mga aso. #ResistTogether pic.twitter.com/eVdOWSNovo
— The Benildean (@TheBenildean) June 29, 2019
It was not just about the oppression and the discrimination that the LGBTQIA community experience but it was also that of Filipinos’ in other marginalized sectors in our country—from our displaced fellows at San Roque in Quezon City to our Lumad brothers and sisters who have been kicked out of their own lands in Mindanao and Cordillera, and to people living with HIV/AIDS and mental health advocates.
This just proves how intersectional the flight of queer Filipinos are and that protest is still very much alive in the spirit of Pride.
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This year was also our company, Hinge Inquirer Publications’ first Pride March outing. Recognizing the media’s role in promulgating the fight of our local LGBTQIA people, we have long been allies, providing a platform to unheard voices through our stories published not just through Nolisoli.ph, but also through our sibling titles Preen.ph, Scout, Multisport, and F&B Report.
Designers Renz Reyes of Scout and Tricia Guevara of Preen.ph were behind the design of our arch which resembles a (painted) lip where the words “lavarn”, “push”, and “makibeki” derived from the queer lexicon flow out of.
Meeting different personalities of all walks of life, young and young at heart, as well as advocates makes us feel hopeful about the future, not just the queer future but one where all of us could truly stand with pride, freedom, and equal rights.
Read more:
Pride steps out of night bars and into broad daylight at The Lil’ Gay Shop in Poblacion
Queer safe spaces that aren’t clubs
For LGBTQ Filipinos, ManilaMed’s new Gender Diversity Center is here to help
Local queer literature to add to your reading list