THE VIDEO featuring the performance of drag artist Pura Luka Vega has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. Dressed as Jesus Christ and dancing to a remixed version of Ama Namin amidst the boisterous cheers of the audience in a local bar, Vega’s self-confessed way of “actually praising God” and to “challenge our notions of how we worship and we sing our praise” has sparked a heated debate among members of the LGBTQIA+ community and devout Catholics. Joining the fray are some Filipino lawmakers who are now looking into Vega’s possible violation of Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code.
While I grew up understanding, supporting and defending freedom of expression I also believe that such freedom is not absolute. At the same time, I don’t think that the main purpose of art is to make people uncomfortable for the sake of making them uncomfortable. People may disagree on the merits and technicalities of any artistic creation or performance but they should never feel offended or insulted by it.
Looking at the onslaught of reactions and arguments posted on various social media platforms, one can’t help but realize how divided the Filipinos are on the issue and how we have the propensity to be swayed by emotions and forget the real issues at hand.
Compare the howls of protests from the Catholic faithful who found the drag act blasphemous for disrespecting their faith and mocking their God, to the deafening silence exhibited by the same flock when a former president called their God stupid for the concept of original sin in the Bible creation story and even cursed Pope Francis for the traffic congestion during his visit to the country. If this is not a clear case of double standards, then I don’t know what is.
As if on cue, some of our esteemed lawmakers and government leaders are quick to slam the drag act, calling it insensitive and inappropriate. Sadly, these are the same people who have been surprisingly silent in lending their voices to take a solid stand on graft and corruption issues that deprive many marginalized Filipinos of basic social services. To think that the number of Filipinos directly affected by corruption far outweighs the netizens who have actually watched the viral video.
Bataan representative Geraldine Roman, the country’s first transgender woman lawmaker, cautioned Vega not to raise and use the gender card. In one of her tweets, Vega asked if the hate and negative reaction is simply fueled by the fact that she happens to be a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, and went on to opine that probably there wouldn’t be too much of a stir if the act were done by a straight male or female artist.
Probably, it was never Vega’s intention to offend anyone with her performance. But for her to say that she did not expect the backlash is simply unacceptable. Well, you live in a predominantly Catholic country, then post your drag performance along with your ostia food review vlog and you expect the Catholic viewers to take things in stride?
As for the people who were quick to make a sweeping condemnation of the entire LGBBTQIA+ community and went further to launch counter-attacks on the passage of the SOGIE Bill, someone should tell them that one or two erring members do not undermine the valiant and genuine efforts of many LGBTQIA+ members and allies in their fight for acceptance and equality.
Many have already joined the ruckus, like a mob ready to cast the stone on one who has sinned. Vega has already expressed concern for her safety as some netizens sent her threatening posts and messages. If the God whom we passionately defend against any form of insult is the God of love and understanding, shouldn’t we offer a hand of compassion instead of throwing a stone of condemnation? Let us all learn from this incident and move towards self-reflection. There might have been one or two lost sheep among the flock; let us take the higher moral ground by leading that lost sheep back to the arms of the Shepherd.
