07/06/2026
NEWS UPDATE | Lucban launches 1st grand LGBTQIA+ celeb
With unified synergy and love, the Lucban community and advocates observed its first-ever grand pride month event, ‘Laya at Bahaghari: Quezon, Tara na! (LAB Q'TA),’ Patio Rizal Park, Lucban, Quezon, June 6.
Through inspiring testimonials from various members and allies of LGBTQIA+, the Rotaract Club of Lucban spearheaded the event to educate Lucbanins about the SOGIE bill and to promote the importance of the Pride Month celebration.
“Mayroong nag-post sa isang group page na, ‘bakit inuuna n’yo pa ‘yung kabaklaan, bakit hindi na lang isports.’ So mas nakita namin [...] na kailangan lang talaga natin itong i-push (LAB Q’TA), kasi in the first place, isa rin sila sa target natin na mabigyan ng knowledge (LGBTIA+),” said Josue Dionco, president of Lucban Rotaract Club.
The organization, along with the participants, commits to sustaining efforts that foster acceptance and safe spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community, and calls for local government support to make the event an annual celebration.
“Us, the LGBTQIA+ community, should be given a chance to be celebrated, to be who they are freely, without judgment, without discrimination, and to live their lives as if they are as important and equal as others,” Gwyneth Maxine Anat, a participant, expressed.
// report by Andrea Nano, Liezly Francisco
// photo by Gelyn Inojosa
