By ILOILO CITY – More than a hundred painted the streets of Arevalo District in rainbow as the annual Pride March in Iloilo City commenced on June 28.
Led by the Iloilo Pride Team (IPT), the march took off at Joe III Garden, where participants rallied for equal rights, the passage of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Bill, and the scrapping of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States of America. Many progressive groups link the VFA to the 2014 murder of trans woman Jennifer Laude by U.S. Marine Joseph Pemberton.
According to Kabataan Party-list Panay, Pride is “first and foremost, a protest,” citing the iconic Stonewall Riots, considered the first Pride celebration in history. In 1969, a series of demonstrations erupted in response to police action against The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, New York City—events that transformed how LGBTQIA+ individuals are viewed in society. Since then, the term “Stonewall” has become almost synonymous with the struggle for gay rights.
“The very first Pride celebration in the history of the world was a riot, a protest—and it still is,” said Thea Dayata, Kabataan Party-list Panay Chairperson.
League of Filipino Students Panay spokesperson Sol Ariaga echoed Dayata’s statement, adding that Pride must also be intersectional.
“As one community, we are not just tied to fighting for identity, but we should rally behind the call for increased wages for our workers, genuine agrarian reform for our farmers, students’ rights and welfare inside our schools that protect student expression, the liberation of our 15-km waters from commercial fishing vessels, and the defense of our national sovereignty,” Ariaga said.
“We are not ‘just’ gays, lesbians, or queers—we have the capacity to build a society that upholds our rights,” they added.
Meanwhile, Miles Estimar of La Villa Pride and the Iloilo Pride Team asserted that the SOGIE Bill needs to be passed, as discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community remains rampant and apparent.
“We are here to call not just for tolerance, but for absolute acceptance,” Estimar stated.
Every year, Pride Month is commemorated in June in recognition of the LGBTQ community’s ongoing struggle. In the streets, voices are raised, chants are heard, displaying strength and unity—not just of one community, but of the broad masses, carrying hope that in the midst of hardship, true freedom for all will be achieved./PT
