Pride revisits the Visayas.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, as well as allies gathered for another rainbow-studded Pride gathering at the University of the Philippines in the Visayas. Aiming to continue to raise awareness about LGBT issues, including the rising levels of LGBT hate crimes and the need to lobby for the passage of the Anti-Discrimination Bill, the gathering was supposed to be a “collective action” to stress that “the fight of the LGBT community is the fight of the society as a whole.”
Spearheaded by the Student Council of UPV, simultaneous Pride marches were held in the Iloilo City campus and the Miag-ao campus.
“Ang Pride march ay isang simbolo ng pagiging kolektibo at paglaban ng mga LGBT at allies sa laban para sa pagkakapantay-pantay ano man ang kasarian. Bilang miyembro ng LGBT community, ang Pride march ay isang hakbang para makamtan natin ang isang malayang lipunan mula sa mala-kolonyal, mala-pyudal, at patriyarkal na sistema at kung saan hindi basehan ang kung ano ang nasa gitna ng hita para ikaw ay mahalin (Pride march symbolizes the united front and the struggle of the LGBT people and their allies for equality no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity. For members of the LGBT community, Pride is a step to achieve a society free from colonial, feudal and patriarchal systems; and where what’s between one’s legs is not what decides who one should love),”said Jandeil Roperos, member of UPV’s LGBT organization, LIPAD, and concurrent head of CAS Student Council Students’ Rights and Welfare Committee.
For John Vincent Andig, UPV KAAKBAY’s VP for external affairs, “the event succeeded in creating much-needed awareness. As ‘Iskolars ng Bayan’, it is our duty to stop LGBT violence, hate and discrimination, and let equality, diversity and love prosper above all.”
UPV KAAKBAY was one of the major sponsors of the first LGBT Pride march in UPV Iloilo City campus.
Meanwhile, Vanessa Labramonte of the Sandigan ng Mag-aaral para sa Sambayanan (SAMASA-UPV) said that “ang laban ng LGBT ay hindi kailanman mahihiwalay sa laban ng mas malawak na lipunan… dahil ang paglaya ng mas malawak na lipunan sa kahirapan, kawalan ng lupang sinisaka, kontraktwalisasyon, pandarahas ng estado at ano pang porma ng oppression ay paglaya din ng sektor ng LGBT (the fight of the LGBT community cannot be separated from the struggle of the wider society… because the freedom of the wider society from poverty, lack of land to till, contractualization, abuses of the State or other forms of oppression will also free the LGBT sector).”
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CARLO EVIDENTE, ILOILO PRIDE TEAM and UPV UNIVERSITY STUDENT COUNCIL
