As the first gay politician to have ever been elected into office, Harvey Milk served his term for 11 months, an achievement for gays caught in suppressed politics. But on November 27, 1978, he was shot four times, with a final bullet to the head, execution-style.
From politics to religious matters, the third sex has always received a fair share of discrimination from conservatives. However, in the closer community, there exists a place where people of every gender is accepted, where discriminations are left at the door, and, yes, where one is allowed to run for office without getting a bullet through the skull.
Welcome to the Dollhouse.
Her majesty, the Queen Mother
The eventful afternoon of August 7 found the Dollhousers gathered around the Dollhouse arena as the crown of Queen Mother was bequeathed to none other than Patch Buenaventura.
Patch’s own journey in the Dollhouse began years earlier, hailing back to his high school days. “I joined the Dollhouse the very first day of freshman year. My friends and I were invited by our friends from the upper class,” he says.
The batch ahead in Dollhouse encourages the lower batches to become part of the group once in college. It’s like a rekindling of their life in high school—only in a different setting. With a considerable population hailing from his alma mater, it did not take long for Patch to feel right at home.
“[Because of] the bench culture… if you’re a newbie here, you wouldn’t know where to sit down during breaks,” adds Patch. “Here, may instant house kami agad kaya mas naging (we have an instant house so we immediately became) confident to be a college student.”
The royal family
By having their own official tambayan—the row of benches behind the Rizal Mini Theater—the Dollhouse is technically just another barkada amidst all the other groups and cliques in campus. What sets them apart is their undeniable and in-your-face personalities.
“Some of [the Dollhousers] are as outspoken as me, as bakla (gay). Some are more subtle,” says Patch. “But we share the same sentiments—we want to expose [Ateneans] to new experiences. Like, ‘Hey, there’s a group of gays dancing in front of you.’”
The mix-and-match personalities stem from the fact that they are accepting of people—gay or straight, it does not matter, as long as you have what it takes to be a Dollhouser. To date, Patch says there are even two straight guys who are part of the Dollhouse.
Saab Magalona is a straight Dollhouser who found her home in the dollies back in her sophomore year. During a tremulous period in her life, she was able to find comfort in the Barbie-hailing sanctuary.
“I got close to my gay friends and found comfort in the Dollhouse,” she says. “I didn’t find myself sad whenever I spend time with them.”
What happens in the lives of Dollhousers is a mystery to the public. But a typical day in the Dollhouse can be defined as a roller coaster of emotions—from endless laughs, to sudden emotional periods, and sometimes (as Saab has experienced) to a certain crankiness of the Dolls.
This, fueled by an unconventional method of discourse—a.k.a. their daily doses of laitan (criticism) and their infamous catfights—make their atmosphere more of a family than anything else. According to the Queen Mother, this trains them to be the strong (wo)men they are yet to become.
View from outside the kingdom
While the Dollhouse has benefited its members, the group has also become an essential part in shaping the totality of the Ateneo at present.
Like Patch’s view of their community, Jauro Castro, Sanggunian vice president, sees the Dollhouse as the start-off point of Ateneans towards becoming more adaptive to the homosexual culture.
“They [Dollhouse] represent our being accepting to the realities in life,” he says. “We have been increasingly adaptive towards this more liberal culture.”
If homosexuality is still treated with an innate discrimination outside the university, Jauro says the Dollhouse has grown to be more than a ‘marginalized’ group. “The Dollhouse is a minority in number, but [not] in culture,” adds Jauro. “Many Dollhousers are very active in the school. May tatlo kaming Dollhousers dito sa Sanggu (We have three Dollhousers here in the Sanggu).”
Moreover, the progression from a mere clique to an official community complete with an electoral body and process has given the Dollhousers more grounding in terms of its members’ status within the group.
“They have become more organized. They created more positions for the people there,” says Jauro. “There was more involvement and interaction between the members of the group. For me, that’s a sign of growth.”
Sociology Professor Czarina Medina agrees, saying that in terms of culture, rights and representation, the Dollhouse is actually all over the university. “[The Dollhouse], in the Ateneo context, are not marginalized at all,” she says. “Their dynamics differ because they aren’t stepped on in any way.”
Dollies on parade
Whether it be hosting events, manning major school projects, or giving an occasional scene in their little haven, the Dolls retain their mark in every nook and cranny of the university. Even beyond the school walls, there does not seem to be an end in sight for their legacy.
“[The Dollhouse] brings awareness to the Ateneo community, and it’s here to stay forever,” says Josh Lao, a freshman Dollhouser.
Borrowing from their icon Lady Gaga—whose craziness may be shocking but whose sphere of influence overpowers most singers as of late—even Patch can only see the Dollhouse’s future as unpredictable.
In the words of the Queen, “They must know how to deal with us because in the real world, they would face people like our kind. It opens them to a lifestyle which they could actually enjoy or detest—it’s up to them.”
