PUP BroadCircle, the premier academic student organization of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Department of Broadcast Communication (PUP-DBC), conducted its pride month event titled "WAGAYWAY: Celebration of Pride and Colors" at COC Audio-Visual Room on Monday, June 19.
In line with pride celebration, the event highlighted real-life experiences of the LGBTQIA+ community and introduced the importance of genuine queer media representation to the public.
Krupskaya Valila, Director of the PUP Communication Management Office (CMO), talked about "The Art of Queer Storytelling" with a personal queer story and discussed the history of queer representation in Philippine film history.
Valila also discussed the contributions of Dolphy, Roderick Paulate, and Vice Ganda on pioneering gay representation in the entertainment industry and added how lesbian and other parts of rainbow communities’ films and shows were inadequately produced.
“Sobrang limited ng mga kuwento ng lesbians na nag-e-exist compared sa mga gays. Queers, bisexuals, and transgenders stories and films are close to none,” Valila said.
Valila used Jake Zyrus’ experience to show society's stagnant binary system, and not queer and fluid as it should be.
“We may be using [terms like] queer, LGBTQIA+ community everytime we go out and talk to our friends, but the reality is we are still far from fighting and diminishing this kind of culture.”
Moreover, she reminded that storytelling is an art of fighting for equality and encouraged the audience to use social media as a platform to tell stories of empowerment and fight for the community.
"Huwag kayong mahiya magsalita, huwag kayong mapagod to change the system, huwag kayong mapagod na bumalikwas because it will be tiring. There will be a lot of times that you will get disheartened because the industry and the system would not work for you but you should fight on."
Meanwhile, actor and advocate Phi Palmos talked about humanizing the stereotypes about the LGBTQIA+ community instead of breaking it.
“Ito ang paniniwala ko, unconsciously, when we say break these stereotypes, we are also saying to break the stereotypes of those people who identify themselves as stereotypes. Maybe ang kailangan nating gawin is to humanize those stereotypes,” Palmos said.
Palmos also added that stereotypes of the LGBTQIA+ community become bad if people see this as one dimension. He also added that the stereotypes in the community are also a privilege too.
According to Palmos, queer roles should be played by queer actors because these roles are lived by the experiences of the people from the rainbow community.
“If a cisman plays a queer character, people would think that the identity of queer people can be easily turned on and off. That is why representation is important. Bakit importanteng bakla? Because these people lived the experiences,” Palmos emphasized.
The talk finished off with an open forum with the two speakers, and the participants were given a chance to share their takeaways and manifestations after the event.
Meanwhile, PUP BroadCircle adviser George Vincent Tamayo ended the event with words of encouragement for the members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“Isa lang ang pakiusap ko sa ating buong komunidad: iyon ay magkaisa tayo, maging mabuti, at magpakatatag para sa isa’t-isa dahil mahaba pa ang ating laban. Hindi tayo iba. Hindi tayo sayang. It is never wrong to reinvent ourselves and to be the best versions of ourselves,” Tamayo said.
Article: Joanna Martinez and Hanah Coleen P. Reformado
Graphics: Cathlyn De Raya
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