Just weeks after Pride Month, friction between the LGBTQIA+ community and various institutions has escalated. 

The tension began with Awra Briguela’s detention for her involvement in a brawl in Makati with another group of club-goers. Both parties accused each other of harassment—supposedly why the fight started. As this conflict made headlines, Awra received a lot of support from the LGBTQIA+ community after a video of her being manhandled by the police surfaced.

And then, during a segment on Raffy Tufo’s show, a police officer spoke about the incident saying “E, alam mo naman si Awra is gay, gusto niyang makita `yung magandang katawan.” [“Well, you know that Awra is gay, which means she just wants to see men’s sexy bodies.”]

While Raffy Tulfo corrected the officer’s generalization, it’s saddening to see that those who are supposed to protect us have this kind of biased mindset toward the LGBTQIA+ community.

Another issue that went viral was Pura Luka Vega’s Jesus-themed drag performance, with an Ama Namin remix in the background. It’s important to note that people “cosplaying” as Jesus and the Ama Namin Remix already existed before this, but when a drag queen performed it this time, Catholics online got angry.

These controversies caused an uproar among the LGBTQIA+ community. While some netizens claimed that the police were only attacking them for bad behavior, their homophobic comments say otherwise. 

Two bishops spoke out, but against those who critiqued Pura Luka. Both addressed the fact that there are more things that the public should be angered about, but chose to turn a blind eye to. The past administration committed a lot of offenses such as extrajudicial killings, abductions, and derogatory remarks toward God and Pope Francis, yet these issues did not provoke the same anger that Pura Luka is receiving. 

People make mistakes and we’re definitely not blaming Awra and Pura Luka, but the anger toward them makes you question how selective prejudice is here in our country. This just shows that the LGBTQIA+ community is only just tolerated, and has a long way to go to be accepted fully.

With input by Snow Schnabel