Pride March 2009...

If I didn't have the streetkids commitment last Saturday, I would have gone to the Pride March.

I've never attended one, and with the recent Comelec decision, the "tibak" (ask a UP student what that means) spirit which I knew is somewhere inside of me was somewhat activated. (Still on that subject, I'm still outraged at how these idiots at Comelec used "morality" as a basis for disqualifying Ang Ladlad.)

Anyway, I didn't get to attend the entire parade, but I saw the tail end of the march as it passed by Pedro Gil. Fellow volunteer Jay and I were on our way to Robinson's when we saw the parade as we stepped out of the College of Medicine gates.

The colorful banners, huge rainbow flags, placards that called for equality and tolerance, elaborate costumes were not the only ones I saw. At the corner of Orosa and Pedro Gil was a small group of about 7-10 anti-gay religious group members.

They wore shirts that said Fear God, Jesus Hates Sin, and so on. The placards they carried had the same messages. I didn't see any placards that bashed homosexuality, but they did shout it out loud. "Walang bakla sa langit." "Turn or burn."

As the parade participants passed by, the group yelled out their messages calling for repentance and a change of life. The parade participants meanwhile answered back with their own messages. "Karapatang Bakla. Karapatan ng Tao." (Some of them were also playful and yelled out "Oral Sex" repeatedly instead, to drown out the chants of the anti-gay groups. Haha!)

There was a point where I thought that a fist fight would erupt, but I'm really glad that didn't happen.

Seeing the parade did me a lot of good. I've never felt prouder. It may not have been as grand as the ones in the West, but it's a good start. And it's really great to see that the local community is doing something to deliver the message, "We're queer. We're here. Get used to it." (Or as one poster I saw says it, "Some people are born gay. Get over it." Astig, man! Hehe!)

But at the same time, it's kinda saddening seeing upfront how prejudice and differences in beliefs really breed division among people. If we would just simplify things, wouldn't it all lead to just one plain fact - that we are humans who are capable of loving? Why can't we just concentrate on that simple reality? Our ability to love. Disregard gender. Look past the color of skin. Drop the ethnicity. Forget the religious beliefs. Focus on one thing - the ability to love. Hay. But it's not that simple. Otherwise, "It's complicated" would've never been included as an option in the relationship status section of social networking sites.

The few minutes I spent watching the parade go by was more than enough to make me want to celebrate that night and greet people "Happy Pride!"

So around past midnight, Winston and I were in Malate to join the celebration. We hung out most of the time at Bed. It was great seeing familiar faces - Jayce, his friend Norman, then Dom, and then I also saw JM and Melo, too. And it was just great to have spent the night dancing and celebrating to the superb music of Brian and Toy.

Speaking of music, my fave dance track that night was Cheryl Cole's Fight for this Love. Check out the cool Moto Club and Cahill remixes from Mediafire. Hehe! The song is just so appropriate for that night.

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Anything that's worth having
Is sure enough worth fighting for
Quitting's out of the question
When it gets tough gotta fight some more

We gotta fight, fight, fight, fight, fight for this love
We gotta fight, fight, fight, fight, fight for this love
We gotta fight, fight, fight, fight, fight for this love
If it's worth having it's worth fighting for

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Happy Pride, Ladies, Gentlemen and Undecided!