• 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
You can be religious while supporting the LGBTQ+ community
ShareTweet
In Culture
4 min read

You can be religious while supporting the LGBTQ+ community

By Jacqueline Ariason June 17, 2019
Share

Miss Universe 2019 Catriona Gray recently expressed her support for the LGBTQ+ community through Instagram. While it was welcomed with so much love, one follower asked her about her Christian faith and how she shouldn’t “compromise” it with her post.

Catriona replied: “My belief as a Christian does not limit me from fighting for the rights of others. I love my God and love my fellow brothers and sisters. Religion is never an excuse to hate, put down or act indifferent to the suffering of others. I believe God is love, and I will treat everyone—no matter who they are, to the best of my ability, with love.”

The topic of religion always comes up when talking about the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. Devout followers would often quote the Bible to try and prove that homosexuality is a “sin”—yes, we see this even in our “gay-friendly” country.

READ MORE: The status of LGBTQ+ rights in the Philippines so far

As a Catholic, one of the most important things you’ll learn is to “love thy neighbor.” Ironically, the same people who preach the same tend to shun and ridicule the LGBTQ+ community. Many also tell them their right to marry and having a SOGIE Equality Bill go against God’s laws. You might have even seen the anti-LGBT protesters at our local Pride March. Certain people even go as far and say they abandoned homosexuality so they can find God.

There is so much hate coming from a religion that passionately preaches about love and acceptance of each other. We agree with Catriona—one’s religion should never be used to discriminate against others. In response to this continuing issue, LGBTQ+ advocates from independent digital agency Propel Manila began the “Love Verses Hate” campaign. Through this, they will spread words of love from the Bible to combat the discrimination against the community.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Preen.ph (@preen.ph)

We spoke with the team behind Love Verses Hate to find out what they do and how they’re doing their campaign this Pride Month.

Give us a background of the Love Verses Hate campaign.

Hayami Kudo (art director): The Love Verses Hate campaign launched on the eve of the first day of Pride Month in the Philippines. Releasing verses after verses, week after week, leading up to the Pride March on June 29. All the Love Verses Hate materials will be printed on shirts, tote bags and placards and will be made available during the actual march. 

Raymund Sison (creative chief): Pushing for equality is one of our core advocacies. Last year, we helped push the SOGIE Equality Bill in the Senate through #LoveIsAllWeNeed by asking Filipinos to send love letters to Senators and asking them to support the bill. That campaign was launched during the country’s biggest political gathering, the President’s State of the Nation Address. This year, we wanted to tackle head-on one of the biggest sources of the hate being thrown at the LGBTQ+ community: religion. Which I find so ironic because if you think about it, the core of every religion is love.

The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic/Christian country with conservative views. What does Love Verses Hate do to make citizens understand that homosexuality isn’t a sin?

JC Valenzuela (chief executive): It is a strong reminder to the devoted that religion (not just the Catholic faith) is actually founded on love.  We’ve seen how the Bible, for example, is taken conveniently out of context, and as interpretations progress—either officially from the Vatican or unofficially through people, the Bible is founded on love. Period. And that’s a bigger conversation worth having.

Aiko So (creative director): On top of approaching the conservatives and ultra-religious in a space of love, we should also understand that they will not change their point-of-view so quickly. Unlearning things, especially when it comes to religion, takes time and a lot of patience. They may not see it now but we can only hope that one of these days that they will.

READ MORE: Let’s continue to show that #LoveIsAllWeNeed for the SOGIE bill

How should people approach close-minded religious devotees who refuse to understand and accept homosexuality?

JC: Not to engage in a fight or brawl when we disagree, but instead, center and go back to the bigger narrative that religion and faith is rooted in unconditional love.

Raymund: That follower of Catriona Gray who called her out for supporting LGBTQ+ is a good example of this mindset. And Catriona’s reply is a good example of how to deal with it. With love. Love is the cure; love heals. We can’t fight hate with hate, let’s fight with love.

What do you want people to get out of the Love Verses Hate campaign/advocacy?

Hayami: Love Verses Hate promotes the message of love as the core of religion. And despite the differences in beliefs, the power of love will unite us all.

JC: Before sharing on social media, we want people to really understand what it means; and to help us reach more.

Aiko: We want people to realize that religion should never ever be used as a weapon that can divide us but a means that can actually unify everyone in love, equality, and acceptance.

Raymund: Religion should never ever promote hate. Because no matter how you worship, love rises above all religions.

 

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:
The status of LGBTQ+ rights in the Philippines so far
The harmful implications of “praying the gay away”
Let’s continue to show that #LoveIsAllWeNeed for the SOGIE bill
Why does religion assign so much guilt over sex?

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
Catriona GraydiscriminationLGBTReligion

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
Taylor Swift urges Senate to sign Equality Act in “You Need to Calm Down” MV
Next
The Lil’ Gay Shop and how it explores the definition of queer art
  • 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.