01/07/2025
๐๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐: ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ โ๐ฎ๐ฑ โ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ฏ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐กโ: ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐๐, ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฆ๐ง, ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฆ๐
โ๐'๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ
'๐๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด
๐'๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ, ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐บ
๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐บ
๐๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต
๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต
๐'๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ, ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐บ
๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐บโฆโ
As Lady Gagaโs iconic anthem blasted through the speakers near Oblation Plaza, a flood of rainbow flags, parade floats, painted bodies and faces, posters, and placards transformed the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) into a vibrant display of pride and protest. In the breathless afternoon heat, the campus pulsed like a heart filled with so many stories became quietly powerful. This event wasnโt just a vibrant display of celebrationโit was a march, a rallying cry, a call to action, and a living movement.
In celebration of National Pride Month, last Saturday, June 28, 2025, thousands of members of the LGBTQIA+ community gathered at UPD for LOV3LABAN SA DILIMAN: PRIDE PH FESTIVAL 2025, the third annual Pride March and Festival organized by Pride PH in partnership with the Quezon City Government. More than a celebration, the event was a convergence of joy, rage, remembrance, and resistance, rooted in both festivity and unrest. It carried not only the colors of q***r love and identity, but also the weight of global solidarity, and the burning demand for freedom, safe spaces, acceptance and equality.
๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ก ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฆ๐ง ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ฌ
The academic oval began to stir near Oblation Plaza, where the LGBTQIA+ community gathered as the march's starting point. This yearโs theme, โLOV3LABAN SA DILIMAN,โ emphasizes collective solidarity. But the fight for q***r liberation and equality cannot ignore global crises such as the ongoing genocide in Palestine and the brutal repression in Iran. Signs in the crowd read โFree Palestine,โ โNo Gender Discrimination,โ and โImpeach Sara.โ These messages merged with chants of โMakibeki, Wag Mashokot!โ and bound local struggle with global grief. Each sign was a statement, each voice a defiance of silence. This declaration of rights echoed beyond the Academic Oval.
During this year's celebration, international LGBTQIA+ delegates from countries including Australia, Japan, and Canada marched alongside Filipino advocates. They carried their nationโs flags and signs calling for solidarity, but they all raised the same defiant fists that spoke the same language of resistance. More than a celebration of identity, this year's event became a meeting ground for a shared purpose, connecting q***r liberation with the broader need for equal rights and justice.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ช๐๐ฅ
Beneath the glittering makeup, extravagant dresses, and waving flag capes were calls to action: urging for the passage of the long-delayed S*xual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill, the legalization of same-s*x marriage, and support for the Divorce Bill. Despite consistent public support and decades of advocating, the SOGIE bill remains stalled in Congress. Meanwhile, discrimination, harassment, and violence against LGBTQIA+ Filipinos persist in schools, workplaces, churches, and even homes.
Against this stalemate, this year's pride march underscored the ongoing urgency for legislative action. These demands align q***r advocacy with womenโs rights and broader human rights. With an estimated 250,000 attendees, the overwhelming turnout demonstrated the strength, unity, and growing visibility of the LGBTQIA+ community. It was a collective reminder to lawmakers that q***r Filipinos are here, and they are not backing down.
These legislative struggles reflect a larger truth. In a deeply religious and conservative country like the Philippines, q***r love remains a radical act. Pride becomes more than a marchโit transforms into a form of survival and an act of resistance. Although local governments like Quezon City have made progress, a comprehensive national protection remains elusive. Yet, the energy at UP Diliman was not one of defeat; it was one of defiant hope. Marchers carried signs with layered demands: โNo to Gender Discrimination,โ โPride Is Protest.โ in which every footstep across the oval was traced with memory, momentum, and movement.
๐ช๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐, ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ก๐ง๐๐ก๐จ๐๐ฆ
Social media influencers, celebrities, artists and many more gathered to present their platforms through powerful drag performances, vocals and iconic looks. This is to remind everyone that Pride is not just fair for the q***r and LGBTQIA+ community, but open for all to express themselves without discrimination and judgement.
At a time when silence must be shattered, we must stand togetherโeven in the most remote areas where indigenous communities assert their strength and loyalty to their allies. Everyone should be included, not merely as an afterthought, but as an integral part of the movement. They are not marching blindly; they are claiming space and rights, illuminating the truth, and refusing to remain silent. Every single day is a fight for justice.
This year's pride became more than just a celebration, it became a platform for powerful voices and deeper truths. Beyond the color and music some LGBTQIA+ trailblazers took the stage not merely to speak but to stand as living testaments to the ongoing fight for rights, equality, safe spaces and acceptance. Their messages cut through the noise, calling for systemic change.
Representing the community, these speakers deliver a lasting message of solidarity to the audience, aiming to uplift, enlighten and highlight that this stage is a safe space where they can collectively voice and be heard their struggles and fight for their shared cause.
Speaking to the heart of the movement, Rocky Rinabor, A Pioneer Filipino Transgender Men Movement Inc. speaker, emphasized the interconnectedness of freedom, stating, "No one can be truly free until everyone is free."
This was further supported by Nadie Marie Fernandez, the reigning Quezon City Rainbow Queen for 2024, who said, "We are not asking for pity; we need a broader understanding."
In the same color, Pura Luca Vega, a representative from Rainbow Rights, reinforced the message of resilience, declaring, "Someone is listening to you; keep fighting for human rights."
With a rallying cry, Atty. Joey Lazarte, an Inters*x Philippines advocate, addressed the importance of inclusivity in all identity declarations during Pride. โIt's time to break the silence surrounding Pride and to utilize our voices, not just to proclaim who we are, but to fight for our identities. Love is love, and Pride represents a genuine loveโone that is free, respectful, and celebratory.โ
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ข๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฌ
The LOV3LABAN sa Diliman: Pride PH Festival 2025 made one thing clear: this event is far more than a celebration of color and culture. At its very core, it is a protest. A defiant cry against the forces that have long sought to silence, suppress, and erase the existence of q***r lives. It is joy, fierce and brilliant which shaped by years of enduring injustices and systemic inequalities. It is loveโunapologetic and unrelenting, hardened by decades of repression, stigma, and fear.
In a country where q***rness is still too often hidden in the shadows or misrepresented in mainstream narratives, where LGBTQIA+ rights remain contested and incompleteโto live visibly, to love truthfully, and to walk freely with one's head held high, is a revolutionary act in itself. This yearโs Pride March served as a revolution reflected in every banner raised, every chant that echoed through the trees, and every drop of sweat and tear shed across the grounds of UP Diliman. For many, Pride is the only time and space where they feel wholly seen, no need to shrink themselves, no need to edit their truth.
This year, UPD became more than just a venue: it became a sanctuary, a safe space, and a stage. A stage for storiesโboth whispered and screamed. A stage for remembrance, for resistance, for reclaiming space in a society that still marginalizes and misrepresents.
Even as the colors began to fade from the sky and the music quieted to a distant sound, the spirit of LOV3LABAN did not dissipate. It lingered in the laughter that echoed through the campus halls, in the glitter left on benches and skin, in the posters half-crumpled but never discarded. It stayed in the hearts of those who marched, those who witnessed, and those who dared to believe in a more inclusive tomorrow.
Because the truth remains, q***r Filipinos are still hereโmarching, rising, loving, refusing to be forgotten or erased, daring to exist in fullness and freedom. And that existenceโthat loud, beautiful, and relentless existenceโis revolutionary.
In a powerful address, speaker Roanne Carreon, founder and president of Queersafe Spaces, emphasized the importance of creating safe online spaces where individuals can authentically express themselves. Carreon highlighted that many people, particularly those in the LGBTQIA+ community, often struggle with acceptance and representation as they navigate their identities. She called for the passage of the legislation to ensure that everyone can feel safe and dignified in these spaces, advocating for inclusivity and equal rights.
๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ฅ, ๐ช๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ?
By the end of the pride march, the rainbow flags had been carefully folded and tucked away. The glitter that shimmered under the scorching sun had dulled, the chants had subdued, and the makeup once worn with fierce artistry had begun to smudge. But something powerful remained, something that could not be washed off or packed away. What lingered wasnโt just colorโit was the feeling of belonging. It was a collective breath, held tight for months or even yearsโnow finally released in the safety of the crowd. It was the weight lifted off the shoulders that had carried the silence for too long.
The message of the Pride March wasnโt just written on placards or shouted through megaphones: it was etched into the hearts of everyone who came, and that message was clear. Even after the music stopped and the streets emptied, the energy persisted; the fight did not end when the last step was taken around the UPD.
For many q***r Filipinos, this event is not something that begins and ends in June. It is lived every day, quietly and courageously. It continues in whispered โcoming outโ conversations over family dinners, and in the soft quiver of a voice saying, โThis is who I am.โ It lives in defiance, standing up to homophobic relatives, schoolmates, co-workers, and strangers. It lingers in every decision to show up again and again to protest, to love, to exist despite the threat of rejection, ridicule, or violence. It lives in the silent prayers of safety before stepping out the door wearing what feels authentic. It exists in the eye contact between strangers, who recognize one anotherโs quiet resilience. In the tears shed not just from pain, but from finally being seen completely.
Pride is not just about flags or festivals. It is about the lives behind the celebrationโhistory carried in the body, stories told in movement, survival coded into smiles. Joy as resistance. Love as protest. Existence as political act. So even as the colors fade from the streets, they remain vivid in the lives of those who marched. Pride persistsโin hearts, in homes, in every brave choice to live authentically in a world that still dares to question what's right. And that is what remains. Beyond the flags, beyond the color, beyond the dayโwhat matters is belonging.
Every gender deserves equal protection and equal opportunities. The fight is not over. LAVARN! ๐
(Story: Jash Baylon Tagubase, Keyshia Mae Galoso)
(Photos: Tintin Serajose, Aaron Nathan, Shyra Lovedorial)
