In response to the 16-year-old girl who is against marriage equality

Alla Majal Camacho

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I am left wondering if the people who discriminate LGBTQs have met their victims?

When I read the Philippine Daily Inquirer article on marriage equality written by a 16-year old girl, sadness took over me.

I’ve always believed that freedom of speech, although it has some pitfalls, is a beautiful thing. I respect the opinion of this young writer, but I am asking everyone else to stop sending hateful comments and name-calling as these things would not contribute anything good. 

Before you type away snide remarks and hide behind the freedom of speech cloak, pause and think if what you would say is going to make things better. Instead, help enlighten the young minds.

Spread message of equality

The fact that we read such an article from a young mind means that we have to do more and work even harder in spreading the message of equality.

Here we have Angela, a 16-year old who strongly holds an opinion that sadly promotes inequality, exclusion, and discrimination. She is probably unaware that her opinion has such an impact. I wonder if she aware of fellow 16-year-old Israeli teenager, Shira Banki, whose life was violently stolen from her for peacefully rallying for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ).

I wonder if Angela personally knows someone who is a member of the LGBTQ community. A sibling, a relative, a classmate, schoolmate, or maybe a neighbor. Or if it even crossed her mind that someone dear to her may be closeted.

Did she ever think how painful her words might be?

Maybe if she did, she would have reassessed her opinions. She would have done further research or talked with LGBTQs to get an understanding of who we are, what we are actively rallying for, and why we are doing so.

Why paint us in an evil light?

It baffles me as to how people easily jump into likening the love shared by two men, two women, or the love shared by anyone identifying as LGBTQ to bestiality. 

I do not understand it. Just because we are LGBTQ, some Filipinos would automatically downgrade us to second class citizens, while also denying our rights.

We, the LGBTQs, have been and are continuously being painted in such an evil light. And we’ve been blamed and are still being blamed for almost everything that’s bad in this world from the spread of HIV and AIDS, the collapse of families, rise of immorality, up to the extinction of life itself. 

Even at this age of information, many do not bother to check facts before opening their mouths or typing away their misinformed thoughts.

I am at loss as to how a huge number of people have the audacity to say that we the LGBTQs are not deserving of the same human  rights they are freely enjoying.

For many we are a running joke, something to laugh about, poke fun of, and insult. But all the while it seems to me that people have forgotten one important thing: LGBTQs are also human beings.

Meet your victims

DISCRIMINATION. Join the campaign to end discrimination against LGBT. Photo from the 'Love is Love' gallery.

I am left wondering if the people who discriminate LGBTQs have met their victims? 

Do they even consider how they affect their victims whenever they justify discrimination?

We are your fellow Filipinos, fellow human beings. And for many years, we have been struggling to be simply treated as that. We are your brothers, sisters, moms, dads, uncles, aunts, neighbors, classmates, police officers, firemen, lawmakers, doctors, nurses, artists, teachers, lawyers, nieces, nephews, office workers, business owners, fishermen, farmers, grandmoms, grandfathers, soldiers, bus drivers, cab drivers, store attendants, cooks, house helps, your friends, and even those strangers whose names you don’t mind not knowing. 

We are here. We are just like you.

Don’t deny us our rights just because of single aspect of our character. — Rappler.com

Help pread the message. If you identify as an LGBTQ, tweet a photo with the hashtag #YourFellowHumanBeing and we’ll add your photo to the gallery. Let’s show our faces and maybe it would make it harder for people to deny our humanity or at the very least our human rights.

Alla Majal Camacho is a writer, a dog lover, and a sometime poet. Together with her partner Michee Santos, they founded Love is Love, a small business/advocacy sharing the message of love, equality, and acceptance.

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