• Culture
    Culture
    Filipino actors Bridgerton

    Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

    pura luka vega chappell roan church

    Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

    AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

    AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

    • Women
    • Queer
    • Politics
    • Environment
    • Food
  • Style
    Style
    Pond's serums

    These night serums are your new solutions for radiant, glowing skin

    5 original Filipino fragrance brands to check out

    5 original Filipino fragrance brands to check out

    Here’s where you can get unique, one-off accessories—designed by you

    • Fashion
    • Beauty
    • Space
    • Shopping
  • Entertainment
    Entertainment
    Filipino actors Bridgerton

    Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

    pura luka vega chappell roan church

    Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

    charlie’s angels totally spies!

    Our favorite onscreen spies, from Austin Powers to ‘Totally Spies!’

    • Celebrities
    • TV & Movies
    • Music
  • Life+Money
    Life+Money
    Single woman adopts baby

    Forming a family: When a single woman adopts a baby

    painting of baby

    A mother-to-be’s survival guide

    Navigating a friend breakup that has no bad blood

    It’s no one’s fault: When a friendship naturally runs its course

    • Career & Money
    • Parenting & Relationships
    • Sex & Health
    • Astrology
    • Travel
  • Inquirer.net
  • Lifestyle
Reading
Four films to educate you on the PH’s decades-long LGBTQ+ movement
ShareTweet
In Culture
5 min read

Four films to educate you on the PH’s decades-long LGBTQ+ movement

By Jacqueline Ariason June 1, 2019
Share

Those who fought for equal LGBTQ+ rights as early as the ’60 know there’s still a lot to work on in 2019. Compared to before, we have the power and privilege to spread awareness on social media. But, as director and writer Nick Deocampo noted, this movement was launched through various forms of media back in the day—from short stories to films.

The sad part is several pieces of history of the Philippine LGBT movement in the Philippines have not been digitized. According to the LGBT Chamber of Commerce, “The heritage and history of LGBT Advocacy in the whole of Asia and in the Philippines is extremely important for current and future advocates to understand their work, themes, and thrusts. While the current movements of the advocacy are very much well-documented by digital media (posts, online material, news features on the net, etc.), much of the decades before 2000 remain inaccessible to the digital world because their stories were not digitized as they were happening. This, plus hard copies of photos and texts, remain inaccessible to the world as they are kept in files and vaults of individuals throughout the region. Some/most of their efforts also, have been largely forgotten or not acknowledged.”

Which is why it’s both exciting and intriguing to hear such stories via the upcoming short film series, Before Rainbows. This was conceptualized by the LGBT Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with The Netherlands Embassy in the Philippines, to bridge the gap between the past and present generations of the LGBTQ+ movement and activism.

The four short films will be premiered digitally on June 12, and we were able to see the teasers of each one at The Netherlands Residences last Thursday. Here are quick synopses of the films, plus notes from the subjects who were there.

Anna Leah Sarabia

Directed by Petersen Vargas (2 Cool 2 Be Forgotten), this short film revolves around writer, media expert, and feminist Anna Leah Sarabia. Here, she talks about making her book, Tibok: Heartbeat of the Filipino Lesbian, where she compiled short stories and poems from various writers in the country. During the panel, she shared there was a mother who wanted to pull out her entry a day before printing because her daughter “found out and was ashamed.”

Anna Leah also talks about fighting for women’s rights as an out-and-proud lesbian during the ’80s and ’90s. “Much of the LGBT movement here in the Philippines is all thanks to the women’s movement,” she said, noting that women activists helped in fighting the discrimination of sexual minorities.

Rev. Fr. Richard Mickley

Rev. Fr. Richard Mickley came to the Philippines in 1991 and founded MCC Manila, a church where the LGBT community is welcome and same-sex unions can be officiated. Director Cha Roque wanted to highlight Fr. Richard’s accomplishments and how he served LGBTQ+ Filipinos since coming to our country. This also includes MCC Manila’s role in the very first Pride March in 1994. This story is also timely because of the conversation surrounding the legalization same-sex marriage in the country.

Nick Deocampo

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ESKWELA (@eskwelabap)

As a celebrated filmmaker, Nick Deocampo pushed boundaries via his short films and documentaries on LGBTQ+ Filipinos since the ’80s. He was also in the frontlines of several LGBT rights rallies back in the day, and has helped write IRRs for the government. He is now an associate professor at the UP Film Institute in Diliman.

Gio Potes’ film about Nick not only tackles his life as a filmmaker, but also the hardships he went through as a gay man. “I was a walking word. They would call me ‘agi‘ (gay) before I even knew what it meant,” he said, recounting the times he was defined by a homophobic slur. “Now, if you call me, ‘bakla,’ then eat me. I’ve learned to embrace the slurs.”

Aida Santos-Maranan

Aida Santos-Maranan was the co-founder of Katipunan ng Kababaihan para sa Kalayaan (KALAYAAN), which was the first feminist organization established in 1983. She also co-founded WeDpro, an organization that aims to protect women and youth from violence. One of their initiatives is to “educate and organize community-based LGBT youth leaders.” Rae Red’s film on her will show how she and her groups helped in pushing for LGBTQ+ rights during the early days of activism.

 

Photo courtesy of Unsplash

For the latest in culture, fashion, beauty, and celebrities, subscribe to our weekly newsletter here  

Follow Preen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Viber

Related stories:
7 LGBT films to watch out for this 2019
How to live the values of Pride Month every single day
The harmful implications of “praying the gay away”
This redesigned Pride flag may be the new LGBTQ+ symbol

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0

Action Required!

We embed Facebook Comments plugin to allow you to leave comment at our website using your Facebook account. It may collects your IP address, your web browser User Agent, store and retrieve cookies on your browser, embed additional tracking, and monitor your interaction with the commenting interface, including correlating your Facebook account with whatever action you take within the interface (such as “liking” someone’s comment, replying to other comments), if you are logged into Facebook. For more information about how this data may be used, please see Facebook’s data privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.

Accept    Decline

Tags
LGBTmovies

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay in the loop


By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

ShareTweetEmailShare
Jacqueline Arias

Peek This

Pond's serums

These night serums are your new solutions for radiant, glowing skin

Filipino actors Bridgerton

Get to know the Filipino actors in ‘Bridgerton’

pura luka vega chappell roan church

Matched her freak! Pura Luka Vega performs Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ at ‘Church’

AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

AI and deepfake porn is a form of sexual assault—and we need to talk about it

Preen.ph © 2020. Hinge Inquirer Publications, Inc.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • HOME
  • ARCHIVES
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
Previous
We all need a “marriage vacation” from time to time
Next
Rissa Mananquil-Trillo’s Happy Skin story goes beyond succeeding in business
  • Culture
    • Women
    • Queer
    • Politics
    • Environment
    • Food
  • Style
    • Fashion
    • Beauty
    • Space
    • Shopping
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrities
    • TV & Movies
    • Music
  • Life+Money
    • Career & Money
    • Parenting & Relationships
    • Sex & Health
    • Astrology
    • Travel
  • Inquirer.net
  • Lifestyle
  • Subscribe
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Search
Start typing to see results or hit ESC to close
fashion fashion news music Culture News movies
See all results

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stay in the loop


By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.