23/06/2025
[PASIDUNGOG #5: Like a stranger in my own village]
Written by: Rhoswen Shaine Santos
A month intended for unconditional acceptance and union to fight for one's rights.
A month celebrating and appreciating all types of love and identities the heteronormative society deem unnecessary and perhaps repulsing.
A month that stands as a reminder of all the q***r efforts it took to get to where the community is now.
June has been more widely recognized as Pride month in recent years, as opposed to the very years that led to its assignment due to the great strides the community has made in being accepted in society. June had been recognized as the “LGBT Pride Month” since 1999, further emphasized and redeclared in 2009 and 2021 by the United States President of the time. It was a way to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall riots in 1969 which were a series of gay liberation protests against the government-led persecution of sexual minorities.
All these events have led to rise in acceptance towards q***r individuals, allowing for many to be openly gay and flaunt the identity they’ve been taught and enforced to keep. Although we are still far from complete acceptance, we have made significant distance.
However, there’s been a noticeable decline in the respect towards specific gay individuals, and what’s worse is, the disrespect is coming from within the community itself. Each of the sexual identities in the community have their fair share of prejudice, however, the rampant biphobia within the community has gotten so concerning.
Biphobia has been so prominent this month as many famous artists recognized for their sexuality have been ostracized for being with the opposite gender. It is understood that bisexuality refers to the sexual attraction to the same and opposite gender; then, why is it that bisexual people are getting flack for doing such when it completely falls under the very definition of their identity?
It’s a common experience as a bisexual to be questioned why they simply didn’t lean on the extremes of their labels if they were going to choose a significant other, i.e. label yourself as straight when dating the opposite gender and le***an or gay if you’re dating the similar gender. The main point of bisexuality is the very person’s capability to love more than one gender, it is never about who they date but rather who they are—their sexual identity.
It’s quite unnerving how bisexuals have been regarded as invalid if they have only fallen in love with one gender all their lives, despite knowing themselves that they have the capacity to love more than one gender because our own community wants to be restrictive.
The main reason why pride month exists and why we embrace all identities is because we believe in the freedom to love who we want to love. How is the community that has fought tooth and nail to be able to do such be so vile because someone loves in a way they don’t find valid; it’s quite ironic. It hits even harder knowing this took a rise on the very month we should all be celebrating each other.
Labels became an integral part of the LGBTQ+ community because they play a part in making you feel like you belong, an answer to the feeling that opposes the heteronormative society we grew up in. However, that label doesn’t mean it should be limiting you. You are free to love who you want to love, of course with some respect given to the labels; you cannot be a le***an dating a man or a gay man in love with a woman for you would be negating its very definition.
Our community and our identities as a whole is a spectrum. Just like how nothing is simply black and white, attraction and ability to love isn’t a set in stone thing, it is a matter of exploring the capability of connecting with another and exploring what is truly you.
With pride month coming to an end, we as a community need to stand together now, more than ever, as we are the only ones who can stand up for ourselves. We, q***rs, are part of the community because we believe in the freedom of being your true self, we cannot let something so inane ruin what we’ve built upon these past few years with the same ideals that seek to restrain us.
Layout by: Juliana Erin Flores
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