Some Things You Should Know About The LGBT Community In The Philippines

The Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender or LGBT has always been a sensitive topic in the Philippines. That is mainly because Filipinos have never been open-minded about the LGBT community’s ways and deeds. The LGBT community are not given the chance to open themselves in public. They always have this fear that if they do, they may not be accepted.

Today, there are issues that the LGBT community have been facing and are finding it hard to overcome because the environment in which they live is the one that is hindering them to fulfill their aspirations in life.

I want to discuss these issues that have been bothering the LGBT community. I want the people to open their minds to it and see if they can do something instead of just throwing harsh criticisms and judgment.

Firstly, the LGBT community is somehow being deprived of the right to freedom of expression.

By this, I mean their right to express themselves freely in public. Well, at this point, some people have begun to be accepting of them, but most people still seem to be close-minded about it. You see, if people will just be more receptive about it, the LGBTs won’t have to hide in the closet. They don’t have to endure the pain of not enjoying their lives as much as heterosexuals do. They don’t have to always be conscious of their actions and words.

It’s a hard thing to not be you. Pretending is temporary. You cannot be someone you are not forever. You will surely regret a lot of things; things which you didn’t do because you were deprived of doing it. If we will just put ourselves in their shoes, we will understand them better and we surely change the way we think about them.

Secondly, the right to get married.

Basically, most of us dream of being together with the ones we love forever, or at least while we’re still alive. We want to always be with them. Living together, eating together, sleeping together, shopping together, watching a movie together, etc. If we, heterosexuals, want that, of course, the LGBT community would want that too, because, like us, they are also humans. They feel what we feel. In fact they can even give more than what we can. If we can give a hundred percent, they can even double that. That’s how things are for them.

Getting married is that one thing that they’ve been craving for. Now that gay marriage is already legal in some countries, they also want it to be legalized here in the Philippines because not everyone can afford to migrate abroad just to get married. And also, the process of getting married itself would cost a lot. That’s what they’ve been trying to voice out to the government. They want to also be able to know how being married is like. They want to be open about their relationships. They want to prove to other people that such relationships can also last forever.

Lastly, the gay-hate crimes that are curtailing their right to life.

Like I said, not everyone is open-minded about the LGBT community. Most Filipinos oppose it because they think that being gay is inappropriate and undesirable. They never think of what the other party might feel. They always listen to their own opinions. They always want to be the ones who rule.

I say the right to life because many people who belong to the LGBT community are being harassed, and some are even mercilessly killed. Even the Catholic Church will agree with that. But still, it is an issue which remains unsettled. Most Filipinos have this notion that if you are part of the LGBT community, you do not belong, hence, you should perish.

I hope that I have given you ideas of what has been happening in the society. We should be the ones helping them, not the ones pulling them down because they’re just like us, this may not seem to be true but, we’re all the same. We should make the people realize that they are making the worst mistakes by abusing their rights. These rights are given to us to give respect and to be respected. We should not use it to our advantage. We should use it for the common good. We are supposed to be examples to these people. We should inspire them because they are more fragile than most people. We need guidance and acceptance. We need to make them feel that they belong, that they are not different. In that way, they will be able to live a joyous life without having the fear of what might happen to them. They will be braver and stronger because they know that we accept them and with that, they will also feel that God has accepted them.