Rain or shine, Pride comes.
Though the province was drenched by tropical storm Salome, Southern Tagalog held its 7th Pride March.
Seen as a chance to celebrate the passing of the SOGIE Equality Bill in the House of Representatives after the same was largely ignored for almost two decades, the march was also a political move that highlighted what the organizers see as continuing moves that are anti-Filipino, including LGBT Filipinos, particularly as the country hosts #ASEAN50.
Particularly highlighted were: President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody drug war that led to rampant human rights abuses and extra-judicial killings; the visit of US President Donald Trump, declared as a “misogynist and sexist”; and inter-country treaties/agreements that put to disadvantage Philippines’ sovereignty (e.g. VFA-EDCA, which is said to not only undermine the country’s sovereignty, but allow abuses to happen, such as the brutal murder or transwoman Jennifer Laude by Joseph Scott Pemberton).
PHOTOS COURTESY OF B.R. VILLACRUEL PHOTOGRAPHY
“LGBTQ+ rights are human rights,” said Charm Maranan, chairperson of theUniversity Student Council of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB), “and with the human rights abuses perpetuated by State-sponsored violence attacking particularly the poor and marginalized sectors, we enjoin everyone to unite and fight against this tyrannical oppression.”
UPLB Babaylan and USC-UPLB helped organize the 7th Southern Tagalog Pride March with Task Force Pride.
Pride March is a worldwide event commemorating Stonewall Riot that happened in June 29, 1969 in New York which helped ignite the modern LGBTQ+ movement.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF UP PHOTOGRAPHERS’ SOCIETY
