ARTS AND CULTURE Celebrating diversity and pride: TikTok’s vibrant LGBTQIA+ community

(From left) TikTok creators and personalities Marina Summers, Eva LeQueen, Roanne and Tina, and Paul Sumayao

Philstar.com

June 14, 2024 | 4:55pm

MANILA, Philippines — TikTok has become a vibrant and inclusive space where Filipinos from all walks of life find empowerment and community. Through its platform, TikTok aims to enable authentic self-expression while ensuring that it remains a safe and positive space.

This Pride Month, TikTok celebrates and uplifts the voices of queer creators who inspire and advocate for a more inclusive world through the hashtags #ForYourPride and #YouBelongHere.

From entertaining makeup transformations to heartfelt discussions on embracing authenticity, these queer creators are leveraging TikTok to champion inclusivity and pride. With each video, they redefine visibility and celebration, fostering a more inclusive digital landscape.

Ready for a rainbow-infused TikTok experience? Check this list of creators who are sure to fill your feed with fabulous and inclusive content.

Marina Summers

Marina Summers’ journey from TV and advertising producer to drag queen extraordinaire is a testament to the power of self-expression and resilience. Having graced the stages of Drag Race Philippines and captivated audiences on RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World, Marina’s ascent to fame inspires members of the LGBTQIA+ community seeking to unleash their creativity and authenticity.

“TikTok gave me my first million views and viral moments,” Marina shares. “It helped in cementing the idea of Marina Summers, especially the brand online. It democratizes creativity and inspires the whole world to discover their artistic expression.”

Through TikTok, Marina showcases her glamorous performances and infuses them with meme-worthy comedy content. For her, TikTok represents a platform that empowers queer Filipinos and provides them with bigger stages to shine on.

“It proves that not only are we worthy of the spotlight, but we are also admired,” she proudly asserts.

Eva LeQueen

From the stiff corporate life to the dazzling world of drag, Eva Le Queen’s transformation is undoubtedly one for the books. The competitive contestant of the inaugural season of Drag Race Philippines was a former overseas Filipino worker in Singapore before she boldly pursued her passion for drag.

Remarkably, within four months of her drag debut, Eva clinched the first runner-up title at Singapore’s Drag It Out All-Stars competition, showcasing her rapid ascent and innate talent.

“During the pandemic, the world of drag queens closed down,” Eva recalls. “We started #KeepDragAlive and brought drag online through TikTok. It provided access to many talented individuals who wanted to explore drag.”

TikTok offered a platform for Eva to share tutorials and transformation videos and facilitated the growth of the drag community in the Philippines. “TikTok provided access to all queens, all kids who wanted to take part in the art form,” Eva emphasizes. “It's high time to do drag in the Philippines, and TikTok has been instrumental in bridging that gap.”

Paul Sumayao of Barbierro

In the Philippines, traditional gender norms have long determined the acceptable spaces for haircuts: salons for women and barbershops for men. Unfortunately, this binary system has left many in the trans and queer community feeling uncomfortable, unwelcome and uncertain.

Paul Sumayao believes that, “Ang buhok ay walang kasarian” (Hair has no gender). He advocates for self-expression through style, affirming that everyone deserves a hairstyle that makes them feel their best.

Consequently, he co-founded Barbierro, the Philippines’ pioneering queer barbershop, with a mission to create safe spaces for the queer community through superior grooming services. TikTok played a pivotal role in amplifying his message and connecting with a wider audience.

“Through TikTok, we found out that many of our transmen and lesbian brothers and sisters felt ostracized during haircuts,” Paul shares. “TikTok helped us hear their stories and provided a platform to engage with thm.”

For Paul, Barbierro Barbershop represents more than just a business—it’s a legacy of acceptance and empowerment. “Establishing a safe space called Barbierro Barbershop is our way of leaving something behind for young queer kids everywhere,” Paul affirms.

“And with TikTok’s support, we can reach even more people and let them know that #YouBelongHere.”

Roanne and Tina

Roanne and Tina, the dynamic duo behind Queer Safe Spaces Inc., have been vocal advocates for love, acceptance and inclusivity. Their journey on TikTok has been a testament to the platform’s ability to amplify marginalized voices and spark meaningful conversations.

“Thanks to TikTok, we feel heard and seen,” Roanne expresses. “It served as an entry point for our partnership with TikTok Philippines, leading to initiatives like the Queer Prom co-presented by TikTok.”

Having faced their share of struggles as a queer couple, Tina and Roanne empathize with the challenges encountered by fellow LGBTQIA+ individuals. This empathy led them to establish Queer Safe Spaces Inc., which is dedicated to fostering a supportive environment for the Filipino LGBTQIA+ community and their allies.

Their partnership with TikTok Philippines has enabled them to reach a wider audience and advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights more effectively. Through creative campaigns and collaborations, they’ve amplified their message of love and acceptance, paving the way for transformative initiatives like the Queer Prom: You Belong Here, a fundraising effort to establish a physical safe space center for the Filipino LGBTQIA+ community.

“We hope that through initiatives like the Queer Prom, we can provide a physical institution that addresses the diverse needs of our community,” Tina explains. “Because everyone deserves to feel validated and loved, and TikTok has been instrumental in amplifying that message.”

Editor’s Note: This press release is sponsored by TikTok. It is published by the Advertising Content Team that is independent from our Editorial Newsroom.

Public service… is it for you?

THERE'S HOPE!

BY GODDES HOPE O. LIBIRAN

Jun 16, 2024 00:22 AM

  

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GUEST COLUMNIST

Public service is often romanticized as a noble endeavor, a calling for the greater good. The reality of being a public servant, however, is far from simple or ceremonial. 

Government work entails navigating complex bureaucratic processes, balancing diverse stakeholder interests, and enduring intense public scrutiny, all while striving to deliver essential services with limited resources.

In the case of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), managing the budget while attempting to address the diverse and growing needs of various sectors is a constant challenge. We likewise have to deal with economic challenges, inflation, and other macroeconomic factors that can affect revenue collection and budget planning. So many factors are at play.

It is especially challenging now that it is the budget season, a critical time for the Philippine government, when we set the financial framework for the country's programs and initiatives, influencing economic development and public service delivery.

Two weeks ago, I participated in a series of Executive Review Board (ERB) meetings, where I witnessed the dedication and resilience of the top brass of DBM. For context, the ERB consists of the DBM leadership, headed by Secretary Amenah “Mina” F. Pangandaman. It evaluates all proposals and funding amounts from agencies, for inclusion in the proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP). The finalized NEP is then presented to the President and the Cabinet, and, once approved, to Congress for scrutiny. 

The late nights, the tireless efforts, and the unwavering commitment to ensuring that every budget allocation is meticulously reviewed and justified—all these are part and parcel of the process. I salute the individuals who sacrifice a great deal of time and energy to guarantee that every session is productive and every decision is made with the nation’s best interests in mind.

One of the most demanding aspects of our role at the DBM is the delicate balancing act we must perform. We have to serve the interests of both the public and private sectors, a responsibility that requires not only a keen understanding of economic principles but also a deep empathy for the needs and aspirations of the people.

On one hand, we must ensure that public funds are allocated efficiently and effectively, supporting essential services such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure. These allocations directly impact the quality of life of Filipinos and are crucial for the nation's development.

On the other hand, we must consider the needs of the private sector, which drives economic growth and creates employment opportunities. Striking the right balance between these often-competing interests is no easy feat and requires a nuanced approach that takes into account the broader economic landscape and the long-term implications of our decisions.

Beyond DBM, and I have said this often, public service is not for the weak-kneed and craven. It is a thankless job that tests your strength and deprives you of sleep. There are times when you will experience spending days away from family, and yet, in return, you get to be the public’s object of ridicule, hate, and mockery. But, still, you have to always work hard.

Serving the public involves a level of dedication and resilience that few other professions require. The scrutiny we face, both from the public and from various stakeholders, can be intense. Further, the pressure to deliver results promptly, often with limited resources, can be overbearing.

Reflecting on the DBM once more, the duty of managing the nation’s budget is enormous, with high stakes. Any misstep can have far-reaching consequences, affecting millions of lives and the country’s economic stability. This is why I am incredibly impressed by how Sec. Mina handles these complexities with remarkable skill.

Of course, despite these tribulations, there is a profound sense of fulfillment in public service. The knowledge that our work has the potential to create positive change and improve the lives of our fellow citizens is great motivation. It is this sense of purpose that keeps us going, even when the going gets tough.

Public service may be an unforgiving and often unappreciated work, but it remains an essential and honorable pursuit. For those who choose this path, the merits are not measured in accolades or financial gain but in the lasting impact of their work on the nation and the Filipinos.

There is hope!

Daddy underrated

Or why fathers are underappreciated for the role they play in parenting

BY AA PATAWARAN

Jun 16, 2024 04:11 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• He promised us that everything would be okay. I was a child, but I knew that everything would not be okay. That did not make my father a liar. It made him my father. — Jonathan Safran Foer

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Dads are different now.

I’d go as far as saying that men are different now. As a result of decades or centuries of struggle for gender rights and equality, where women—and the LGBTQ+ community—have been historically the ones struggling, fighting, the men aren’t exactly the oppressors anymore.

At least not in my world, at least not within my circle in Manila, where women have always been powerful, such great characters equal to men in terms of intelligence, cunning, potential, and sometimes even physical strength.

I’m no father, but I’ve had the privilege of playing a major role in raising two nieces and a nephew and, as they were growing up, I could see a sort of reversal of roles. The girls, having been brought up in #metoo time, encouraged to be ever braver, more aggressive, less compromising, have turned out to be more independent, less needy whereas the boy, my nephew, is proving to be more affectionate, more expressive, more sensitive, even more clingy, and that’s because the world has been nagging boys like him to be kinder, gentler, more attuned to their “feminine” side, more open to their emotions. Men are being asked to be more like women while women are being asked to be more like men.

I don’t know how this reversal of roles will play out once these kids become parents themselves.

My father became a parent at a time distant parenting was the norm. To be fair, so was my mother, but women in those times were constrained to be the caring, nurturing side of the parental team. It was the mother who woke up to get their children ready for school. It was the mother children looked for if they were running a fever or they bruised up from a fall or if they needed money for school projects. The men, on the other hand, were expected to be the breadwinner, the provider and, if we must go by stereotypes, did not really take an active role in their children’s lives. At any rate, while I was growing up, most of the parenting chores were delegated to the yaya, the nanny, who often became as close to their wards as the parents in addition to becoming confidante. The role of fathers in our lives, unlike mothers, aren’t sentimentalized. If it’s given any thought, it is often underrated. The phrase “Mother knows best” isn’t exactly innocent in establishing the role assigned to each gender. It implies, maybe without meaning to, that it is their mother children should turn to should they find themselves in any sort of conundrum. 

Even the celebration of Mother’s Day goes earlier back in time, all the way to the 1860s, whereas the seed of a Father’s Day celebration was only planted in 1910 when, inspired by a West Virginia church initiative of delivering a sermon in tribute to the 362 men who perished in a mine explosion in 1907, Sonora Smart Dodd, who worked briefly in fashion for Hollywood, pledged to celebrate it in honor of her father, the American Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart. I hope we are different now, although it’s funny how now we applaud the dad who walks his daughter to school and still condemn the mother who arrives half an hour late at the schoolyard to pick up her son. The burden of societal expectations on mothers is still heavier, but I suppose more and more of that weight is being transferred to the father, who is now expected to hold his wife’s hand while she is giving birth, who is now expected to take turns with his co-parent to feed the baby or change his or her diaper, or read a child a story at bedtime.

MEMORIES OF A FATHER My father was a distant authority, but he was allpresent, a great inspiration — his love of movies, music, good food, and coffee made a lifelong mark on me

I have no qualms about the way my father raised me, although I could say he was technically an absent parent, as far as the chores of parenthood were concerned. I don’t remember him ever taking me to National Book Store to buy my books, notebooks, and school supplies at the opening of a new schoolyear. I don’t remember him ever helping me tie my shoelaces, put on my socks, or button my shirt. Did he ever put a towel on my back when I was all sweaty in the playground? Or made an airplane of a spoonful of carrots and broccoli on its way to my cave of a mouth to get me to eat my veggies? And did he ever read me passages of The Wizard of Oz at bedtime?

Maybe not, but my father was all-present, a looming figure, a giant in my eyes growing up, even if he was mostly out. He did hold my hand walking into a dark theater in what used to be Quad in Makati to watch King Kong or Star Wars. He did carry me on his shoulders so I could have a good look at the animated Christmas display at COD (Christmas on Display) in Cubao, Quezon City. He took me and the rest of the family to occasional dinners that were always special, costing more than my mother would consider reasonable.

My father never told me what I should be, what I should do, what success or failure should mean to me. He let me figure it all out on my own, unaware that I took cues from everything he did, like the newspaper he would tuck in his armpit on his way to the bathroom, or the way he would rhapsodize over Marlon Brando, whistle a tune from The Bridge Over the River Kwai, or talk at length about his opinion on the Cold War, the benefits and repercussions of nuclear energy, and the complexity of time as caught in the very first of The Terminator franchise.

I think the most important thing he had ever done for me as a father, eclipsing what today’s standards might consider his omissions or even negligence, is that at no point in my life, even in those times I was at odds with him with my teen hormones in full attack mode, did I ever have to doubt that he cared for me and, more important, that he loved me.

K-pop group Mamamoo’s Solar sings BINI’s ‘Pantropiko’ at her Manila concert

BY JONATHAN HICAP

Jun 17, 2024 01:37 AM

  

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K-pop girl group Mamamoo’s leader Solar surprised Filipino fans by performing P-pop group BINI’s “Pantropiko” not once but twice at her concert in Manila. 

She held her "Solar 2nd Concert [COLOURS] in Manila" on June 16 at The Theatre at Solaire Resort. 

Mamamoo's Solar performing at her solo concert in Manila on June 16 (Jonathan Hicap)

P-pop group BINI (Instagram) 

“There is a song that I prepared. I expected you guys to know this song,” she said. 

As Solar started singing “Pantropiko,” the audience screamed. After her performance, the audience chanted “BINI! Solar! BINI! Solar!” 

“One more time? Okay,” she told the audience and performed  “Pantropiko” for the second time. 

As the audience chanted “BINI! Solar!” again, Solar said, “BINI, Solar collaboration.” 

“The song was really nice,” said Solar about ““Pantropiko.” 

“Pantropiko” was released in November last year. 

 The "Solar 2nd Concert [COLOURS] in Manila" was organized by O.N Worldwide and co-organized by Three Angles Production. 

Going beyond our human standards

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

WE should never forget that we are meant to live our life with God. Our life therefore should not simply be purely natural and human. It has to be supernatural and divine. The standards we use should not just be human. They should be, above all, divine.

We are reminded of this truth of our faith in that gospel reading of the Mass on Monday of the 4th Week of Easter (cfr. Mk 5,37-42) where Christ told his stunned disciples: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.”

And clarifying what that would mean, he said: “When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles…”

Definitely, if we are to consider these words according to our human standards, we would find them crazy. But precisely these words of Christ are an open invitation for us to enter into his supernatural and divine way of life. We can only observe them if we have faith in Christ and do our best to follow him and identify ourselves with him, who after all is the pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity.

We have to learn how to drown evil with an abundance of good. That’s how things should be. Instead of responding to evil with evil, hatred with hatred, we should rather respond to evil with good, hatred with love. That way we turn things around, rather than plunge into the spiral of evil and hatred.

This was specifically articulated by St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans where he said: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” (Rom 12,17-20)

We have to try our best to erase whatever disbelief, doubt or skepticism we can have as we consider this teaching, since most likely, our first and spontaneous reaction to it would precisely be those reactions. We can ask, even if done only interiorly, “Is Christ really serious about this? Can this thing that Christ and St. Paul are telling us, possible, doable?”

With God’s grace and our effort, let us learn to live with unavoidable evil in this world. “Let them grow together until harvest.” That was the answer of the master in one of the parables about the kingdom of heaven. (cfr Mt 13,24-43) He was telling the servants to let the weeds down by his enemy to grow together with the wheat. Pulling the weed out now would just endanger the wheat, he reasoned out.

This parable is an image of how our life now, with all its good and bad elements, is already the beginning of the kingdom of heaven. We have to learn how to live in this condition, where evil is unavoidable, without getting confused and lost.