This is part of #KaraniwangLGBT, which Outrage Magazine officially launched on July 26, 2015 to offer vignettes of LGBT people/living, particularly in the Philippines, to give so-called “everyday people” – in this case, the common LGBT people – that chance to share their stories.
As Outrage Magazine editor Michael David C. Tan says: “All our stories are valid – not just the stories of the ‘big shots’. And it’s high time we start telling all our stories.”
“Dili tungod bayot ko wala na koy Guinoo (Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I don’t have a God),” said a gay Sto. Niño devotee while attending this year’s festivities to honor Child Jesus in Cebu City.
He started his “panata” (religious devotion) years ago. And not because he wanted to ask God for some graces. Instead, “nisugod ko aron ipakita akong gugma Niya (I started to show Him my love).”
And while his family also believes in the Child Jesus, he is the only one to actually join the street dances to show devotion.
As a gay guy devoted to the Sto. Niño, he admitted that there are doubters, particularly when they note of his gender expression. But he said he just waves these doubts off.
“Dili mutan-aw sa imong dagway ang Guinoo (God won’t judge you according to how you look on the outside),” he said. “Ma-bayot, ma-laki, ma-tomboy, ma-baye… kitang tanan, anak sa Guinoo (You may be gay, a straight guy, a lesbian, a woman… all of us are children of God).”
