#PrideMonth in the Philippines gets stronger each year, with more advocates supporting the LGBTQ community. A bunch of members came out of the shell one after another—all thanks to social media—various posts instantly became an inspiration to all. Rainbow filters, #LoveWins hashtags, and other touching letters from personalities meant a lot to the community.
The accepting acts and messages from all over the world just proved that there’s still light in the middle of the chaos (political, aherm). Pride March is happening at the Marikina Sports Center tomorrow, too. And boy, has it grown from a relatively small group to thousands of members embracing the community.
June may be ending, but the support should be fought beyond Pride Month. And for those of you who are still feeling discriminated or stereotyped, here are some tracks for you to listen:
Fuck You – Lily Allen
So you say
It’s not okay to be gay
Well, I think you’re just evil
You’re just some racist who can’t tie my laces
Your point of view is medieval
This song is for not giving a fuck about whoever goes against you—(Nadine Lustre’s voice) come on guys, it’s 2018. Say goodbye to medieval POVs. Equality should be a thing.
Heaven – Troye Sivan
Without losing a piece of me
How do I get to heaven?
Without changing a part of me
How do I get to heaven?
Heaven sings for everyone in the LGBTQ community having struggles about coming out. Let the video speak for itself.
No Tears Left to Cry – Ariana Grande
They point out the colors in you, I see ’em too
And, boy, I like ’em, I like ’em, I like ’em
We’re way too fly to partake in all this hate
We out here vibin’, we vibin’, we vibin’
Grande is open about her support to the community, and that’s one of the reasons the Arianators are growing each year. In an open letter, Ariana said: “Love is like music. It knows no boundaries and isn’t exclusive to any one gender, sexuality, race, religion, age or creed. It’s a freedom and a delicious luxury that all people should be able to sink into and enjoy every moment of.”
Crayons – Cupcakke
Boy on boy, girl on girl
Like who the fuck you like
Fuck the world
With explicitly written lyrics, Crayons couldn’t have explained it all better. It’s an honest song about gender and sexuality, and how everyone should just accept that it IS happening.
Set Me Free – Herizen Guardiola
Whoever says he’s in the light
And hates his brother still in darkness
Still in darkness through the night
Above all, we gotta love each other deeply
Let me end the tracklist with this song from The Get Down movie. It’s the same song we used in our AfterHours celebration last June 21, as a tribute to the LGBTQ community.
The message here is to just embrace everyone with love, not just the gender, but also different races, culture—spread the rainbows and unicorns, no matter who we are.
