Film – and gay – icon Nora Aunor, considered the “superstar” of Philippine cinema, passed away on April 16; she was 71 years old.
Born as Nora Cabaltera Villamayor in Iriga City, Camarines Sur, Aunor started her career as a singer, winning a local talent search (the Darigold Jamboree radio singing contest). Though defeated on her first try, she also won the national singing contest, Tawag ng Tanghalan.
Aunor eventually entered showbusiness both as a singer and an actress.
She first appeared in All Over the World (1967), followed by highly-acclaimed films like Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos (Three Years Without God) (1976), Minsa’y Isang Gamu-gamo (Once a Moth) (1976), Ina Ka ng Anak Mo (You Are the Mother of Your Daughter) (1979), Himala (Miracle) (1982), Bulaklak sa City Jail (Flowers of the City Jail) (1984), and Bona (1980).
In total, Aunor appeared in around 200 films.
Aunor was proclaimed a National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts in 2022.
Akin to the likes of the tragic Judy Garland in Hollywood, Aunor was also largely considered a gay icon.
In part, this may, perhaps, be explained by her rags-to-riches story that highlighted resilience – e.g. before making it big, as one of nine children, she used to sell water and peanuts at a train station. But Aunor also portrayed some of the more empowered LGBTQIA+ characters in Philippine cinema – e.g. in Danny Zialcita’s T-Bird at Ako (The Lesbian and I) (1982), she played gutsy lawyer Sylvia Salazar who was attracted to her female client; and this is even if the film’s ending may be considered both anti-woman and anti-LGBTQIA+.
But Aunor – who married actor Christopher de Leon in January 1975, with their marriage annulled in 1996 – was also married to Nori Sayo on May 22, 2000 in Las Vegas in the US.
In 2011, Aunor acknowledged in a YES! interview that people always assumed she’s a lesbian, though this may be because of her masculine gender expression – e.g. she claimed she used to cling to moving trains to sell water. She could not, however, say if she’s a lesbian.
But Aunor said she could be bisexual. “Baka nga gano’n ako. Kung gano’n ako, masaya pa rin, di ba? At least, puwede ka kahit ano, ‘yong gano’n,” she was quoted as saying.
The multi-awarded actress is survived by her one biological child with Christopher, Ian de Leon, and four adopted children (Lotlot, Matet, Kiko, and Kenneth)… and her throngs of “Noranians”.
