Outrage Magazine launches #KaraniwangLGBT

Outrage Magazine has launched the #KaraniwangLGBT, which gives face – and even celebrates – the common tao (that is, the “everyday people”), in particular the common LGBT people.

For Michael David dela Cruz Tan, editor of Outrage Magazine, this is relevant because of the need for ways to highlight the issues/positions/takes of the so-called ‘99%’.

“The LGBT community is but a microcosm of the bigger society, which is – sad to say – continuing to be largely controlled by the so-called ‘one percent’. As such, while there are more ‘common tao’ in this world, the representations we often see/hear come from those who are in the high(er) echelons of society,” Tan said. “This easily invalidates the issues of the majority, and – sadly – emphasizes the issues of the minority, no matter how trivial these issues may be.”

In a 2014 report, The Economist noted that while global wealth increased from $117 trillion in 2000 to $262 trillion (in 2014), “fortune is far from evenly distributed”. In fact, citing data from Credit Suisse, only 20% of the adult population hold 94.5% of the world’s household wealth.

“Wealth is so unevenly distributed, that you need just $3,650 (less debts) to count yourself among the richest half of the world’s population. A mere $77,000 brings you among the wealthiest 10%. And just $798,000 puts you into the ranks of the 1%—within the reach of many white-collar urban professionals in the West. Hence, more than 35m people carry such a plump purse. Among the three billion adults at the bottom with less than $10,000 in wealth, 90% reside in developing countries. Yet 15% of millionaires live in developing countries too.”

For the LGBT community particularly in the Philippines, the seeming segregation of the 1% versus the 99% was recently highlighted by the Valkyrie issue, when – after a transgender woman claimed discrimination after getting barred from entering an elitist club – members of the LGBT community could not agree on giving full support to the one who claimed discrimination. This was because while discrimination per se is seen as wrong, others did not see someone’s “right to party” as relevant as the need for, say, finding/keeping a job, which other LGBT people (particularly poorer members of the community) continue to face (see THIS, THIS and THIS).

Tan acknowledged that “people with access to information – for instance, celebrities, politicians, et cetera – should be appreciated for the efforts that they do in advancing our cause/s, particularly since they are more often the go-to people when statements from our community are sought. However, they do not necessarily represent/encompass our diversity.”

#KaraniwangLGBT offers vignettes of LGBT people/living, particularly in the Philippines, in the hopes of “giving us all that chance to share our stories,” Tan said. “All our stories are valid – not just the stories of the ‘big shots’. And it’s high time we start telling all our stories.”

#KaraniwangLGBT now has a section in Outrage Magazine.