Táyo na, Tayô na: ALAB HQRP Joins International Pride Month 2021

By Rin (@raijintarou)

Indeed, the LGBTQIA+ community has come a long way since the Stonewall Riots of 1969, despite discrimination, harassment, and injustices that are rampant until today. That is why the protest still rages on across the globe.. Annually, June is dubbed as Pride Month — the most vibrant month of the year — and it serves as a constant reminder that the long-standing tradition to promote equality, inclusivity, and acceptance is only getting fiercer and louder.

ALAB, as an organization, has always been firm on standing in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ sector. With the theme, “Tatayo at titindig sa iisang kulay at iisang himig. Táyo na, tayô na,” ALAB has launched month-long activities to further help in raising awareness, as well as to give the members and the audiences a platform to speak about their experiences without having to fear unfair judgment and ostracism.

ALAB RADIO

Pride Month kicked off with a series of ALAB Radio episodes, bringing the most important points of discussion surrounding the community to light and opening up means of a healthy discourse among the audiences.

What’s Your SOGIE with DJ Cari dwelled on clearing out the misconceptions regarding sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression, and that SOGIE is a trait very much like race or ethnicity — everyone has it. Musta Ka Na, Mumsh, hosted by DJ Twy and DJ Paraluman, tackled the current dealings of the LGBTQIA+ community and emphasized that there are jarring issues with the society that need to be addressed. DJ Katok’s #SOGIEEqualityNow centered on the importance of recognizing every individual’s SOGIE and how the SOGIESC-based Anti-Discrimination Act, once passed in the Senate, will help improve the quality of lives of the individuals belonging LGBTQIA+ sector in the Philippines.

Bahaghari, with DJ Leila and DJ Hali, bookended the month spectacularly with an open mic tribute, featuring various performances and collaborations from the HQRP community.

ALAB TAYO and ALAB TAYO Project

The celebrations would not be complete without the much-awaited production entitled ALAB TAYO last June 26, coinciding with Metro Manila Pride’s virtual march and festival. The night was an excellent showcase of powerful art, music, and poetry, thanks to the artists and performers who participated, familiar and newly debuting. The concert reflected themes of same love, safe spaces, equality, and found families, originally from artists which are closely tied or are allies to the LGBTQIA+ community.

It has also staged the biggest collaboration in HQRP up to date, ALAB TAYO Project, involving 23 artists in total. It included spoken poetry entitled “Dinggin” by Riley (@themiya_atsumu) and Nikko (@shobibiniya), and an artwork by Sho (@aishouyoteru), Suna (@yachisaiki), and Alex (@alxkiyoo). The highlight of the project is a remake of Keala Settle’s This is Me, featuring five instrumentalists and sixteen vocalists, arranged and produced by Moonsidus’ Miguel (@rakistafiles) and Asmodeus’ Aki (@nanghuhubad).

The ALAB TAYO Project perfectly concludes the run with swirling emotions and fondness which will surely make the night something to remember for weeks or months to come. The event’s hashtag, #ALABTayo, also has trended in the Philippines for the duration of the concert.

LAGABLAB Pride Series

ALAB’s official publication, LAGABLAB, has also scheduled releases for the entire month, covering significant areas of interest regarding the LGBTQIA+ community through expansive articles and infographics. It also reinforced the topics previously discussed in ALAB Radio episodes for those who missed listening.

Misconceptions and lack of understanding towards the community have long been a problem, coupled with inadequate government support and closed-minded perception from society. A couple of articles have expounded on this, namely Core and Act: Gender Identity and Gender Expression by Calix (@kiyoomisksa), and The Colours of the Rainbow by Akira (@pinakatanaka).

There are also organizations and resources that can help expand people’s knowledge about the community, as well as literature, music and movies with proper representation and characterization. LGBTQIA+ Approved Movies, Music, Literature is an infographic by Rinš (@snrintrou) which touches on pieces and artists which present their subjects more accurately instead of the mainstream stereotypical and harmful depictions. Another infographic, Helpful Resources and Organizations in Learning More About the LGBTQIA+ Community in the Philippines by Rin (@raijintarou) lists the support groups and pool of resources available in the Philippines which also provides a glimpse on the approved bills or access to rights which could be experienced by the community members in the country if they were to receive the same support from the government.

It also cannot be denied that prejudice, exclusion, and tolerance still runs high in the Filipino society, with the various marginalizing offenses shown in the media and the thousands more which are unreported. While city-wide ordinances and existing human rights laws are in effect, they still are not enough to cover the discriminative offenses done against the LGBTQIA+ community. What’s in the Bill? by Rin (@raijintarou) focuses on the importance of passing the SOGIESC-based Anti-Discrimination Act and how it could help save the lives of 22 million Filipinos who are left unprotected against discrimination and violation of rights.

The Articles can be found over at LAGABLAB’s official Medium account: https://lagablabhqrp.medium.com/ and ALAB’s twitter account, @ALAB_hqrp.

Onwards

Even as the pride month draws to a close, ALAB shall continue to push for a society where anyone could be themselves unapologetically, devoid of fears of earning disdain or being judged unfairly. ALAB is a platform, a safe space for everyone, regardless of their SOGIE, especially to those who are still trying to find their identities and their niche in the community.

The fight doesn’t end here. There will be obstacles along the way and the journey is long and arduous, but ALAB will remain as an active advocate, always standing for fairness and equality, in hopes for a world where anyone could love whoever they want to love and be who they want to be, loud and proud.

Suna “Raijin” Rintarou is a news writer for Lagablab. He can be contacted at @raijintarou on Twitter.