Pinoys urged to #LetLoveIn at LGBTQIA+ Metro Manila Pride March

Love is celebrated openly in the Philippines, but for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other sexual orientations and gender identities (LGBTQIA+) community, the choice to love freely and without fear remain a dream.

In an effort to help the LGBTQIA+ live authentically, the Metro Manila Pride March on Saturday hopes to #LetLoveIn Filipino communities and families at the day-long event at Luneta Park.

Aaron Bonette, Bahaghari Sec. Gen., said on News To Go on Friday that they expect a greater turnout on the 22nd year of the march in light of the shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Bonette said, "Mas inaasahan natin na yung LGBT community ay magma-march as united talaga na movement para isulong yung karapatan... yung pagpapahalaga sa buhay ng LGBT community at solidarity na nga rin po para sa iba pang biktima ng hate crime hindi lang sa Pilipinas kundi sa ibang bansa."

The community will also march for recognition from the government to pass anti-discrimination bills and other laws which protect the LGBT community from hate crimes.

"Kilalanin, magkaroon ng batas na magpoprotekta sa amin katulad ng anti-discrimination bill na isusulong talaga namin yun sa pamamagitan ng pride march as an avenue para iparating namin yung aming mga panawagan," Bonette said.

The diverse colors of the LGBTQIA+ rainbow

Part of accepting the LGBTQIA+ community is understanding the sexual and gender identities of persons who are not "straight."

In the case of Jennifer Laude, the media and the people were split on how to identify the slain transperson.

Bonette, a reporter for LGBTQIA+ company OutReach Media, said the confusion was understandable due to the difficult circumstances of the case.

Using gender neutral pronouns such as "they" or "them" would have been the best recourse in referring to Laude pending investigation on how "they" were identified.

"Through investigation, una, pero dahil nga hindi natin agad-agad din malalaman, na siguro mas maganda na gamitin natin yung parang gender neutral na pronoun sa pag-address sa victims," he said.

Laude's case was made complicated by the family's insistence that they were male despite them identifying as a trans woman on social media and to friends.

Making the nuances of gender and sexual identity known to Filipinos will help lessen these tragedies and make the country a more inclusive and safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community..

"Hindi rin naging malinaw sa ating bansa yung ganitong konsepto kaya mas nakaka... ang nakakaalam ng ganito ang kapwa na LGBT na alam kung ano ba talaga yung identidad na malinaw sa kanila, kung ano ba talaga yung kanilang kasama," Bonette said.

The United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) provides a glossary of LGBTQIA+ terms in a presentation for preventing gender-based violence in schools. —Rie Takumi/KG, GMA News