Why I Could Not Celebrate Being Straight

Killings of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT) like the transgender Jennifer Laude and the toleration of this violence are the reasons why I could not celebrate being straight.

It is I, the straight who set myself as the "norm", the standard for being morally right and socially acceptable; those who differ from me are scorned, banished from society and constantly pushed to the margins where they remain vulnerable and susceptible to violence from my kind.

In the freedoms I afforded for being straight, I have limited their rights to equal identity and their right to love themselves and fall in love with whoever they please. They have to struggle and even forced to "come out" just to make me understand who they are. I don't have to cower, to bend my knees, to ask for mercy from anyone for I am the powerful and I am always on the right side of things.

If I am the privileged and just, how can I be capable of hate? How can I even think of discriminating against let alone kill anyone just because he or she has been wronged by the standards of society? 

Yes, I am straight because society taught me to be straight and with this, I grew up with a closed mind and tolerated the violence against those who are not. Isn't that sickening? 

This is the reality of being straight and I have lived my life breaking the norms, asking pertinent questions and challenging the hypocrisy of it all. I have done the best I can as a human being, a rational person to create changes in this society.

And yet, the discrimination and hate still exist, the killings continue. The rigidity of the divide between genders and among peoples still dominates relationships. 

As a woman, being straight has not afforded me equal footing with men and I still continue to struggle against subjectivity. This is the reason why I stand up with the millions of LGBT people around the world in fighting for their equal rights as humans. This is the just thing to do. 

Stop the hate! Stop the persecutions! Stop the oppression! 

Straight up society! 

Keeping the Weaving Tradition in Maguindanao

The beautiful colors and the bright smiles of the women weavers greeted me when I first visited the Al-Jamelah Weaving Center in Tamontaka, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao on March 2011. 

The sound of wood banging against wood as the weavers work on the threads at their looms and the rainbow colors of the cloth were familiar to my senses as I stepped foot in it again today. 

With only four women weavers in sight, I couldn't imagine how they were able to complete 73 pieces of the woven cloth they called inaul which the Department of Trade and Industry in Manila ordered for days. They still have to deliver 27 more in 3 days. This only showed that business is indeed doing good and the future of the Maguindanao weaving tradition remains promising.

Miriam Sumlay, one of the weavers had been keeping the tradition for years and I still remembered her and her peers on my first visit. 

It was however, surprising to see an 18-year old woman weaving among them. Realyn learned the craft from her mother and had been weaving inaul since she was 13 years old. 

She had come a long way now as she expertly put the threads in place to create a beautiful piece of inaul which will soon be worn by Maguindanaons in cultural events such as weddings and other celebrations.



Al-Jamelah is Arabic for beautiful woman and indeed, those women whose hands continue the weaving tradition are beautiful beyond words and I hope that with younger women participating, the tradition will be sustained through the years. 

If you are planning to visit, please take note of its location:

From the Awang Airport, take the right turn to the street before the Tamontaka Bridge. It is the first bridge from the airport so it is very easy to locate.

If you are commuting from the airport, just tell the jeepney driver to drop you off before Tamontaka Bridge.

Happy hunting! :)