IN CONTINUED support of the LGBTQ+ community, this year’s One Big Pride (OBP) celebrated unity and equality in the Ateneo from October 13 to 27. The event featured various initiatives such as Talakayang Alay sa Bayan (TALAB) talks, Gender Sensitivity publication materials, and free HIV/STI testing—in partnership with the University Gender and Development Office (UGDO), the University Gender Hub (UGH), and the Sanggunian Commission on Gender Equality (CGE).
For the first time in OBP’s history, outsiders were welcome to join the Pride March and the concert program at Bellarmine Field held last October 13. The event showcased performances from popular drag queens such as Drag Den PH’s Naia Black and Lady Morgana, along with other Atenean performers.
Marching with pride
For Sanggunian CGE Commissioners Alliah Custodio and Karl Borromeo, opening the march to outsiders was their way to “usher in change” and to make it as inclusive as possible.
“I think that’s why Pride in [the] Ateneo means so much because we’re a Catholic institution, yet here we are. If we can, why can’t others?” Custodio remarked.
In line with this, Custodio and Borromeo were “very ambitious” in their planning for this year’s OBP. “We wanted outsiders, we wanted concessionaires, we wanted sponsors and we’re doing [all of that] for the first time,” Custodio said.
Reclaiming power
This year’s One Big Pride events revolved around the theme of reclaiming the power taken from the LGBTQIA+ community. With openness in mind, Borromeo further emphasized that the activities for this year’s OBP serves as a “showcase of the Ateneo’s understanding of power” in society.
“Our pride and our power doesn’t necessarily have to be at the expense of another person, so this time around, at least what I want to put more focus on, is that power can just mean being yourself,” Borromeo asserted.
Apart from the opening march and concert, OBP also organized related TALAB talks centered around experiences of queer and transgender individuals in the workplace and the importance of action in responding to national LGBTQ+ issues. Moreover, they also produced the One Big Pridecast and a short comic series about the coming-out stories of Ateneans to underscore their narratives against stigmatization.
Powerful together
Collaboratively launching with this year’s OBP, the Society of Persons Allied for Community and Equality (SPACE) also played an integral part in OBP’s festivities by responding to the call for an inclusive organization for Atenean queers.
Expounding on SPACE, co-founder Angelo Dizon recalled how he felt that there was a niche that needed to be filled. “Honestly, there’s a lot of individual queer Ateneans who feel this need, but maybe they don’t know who to talk about it with,” Dizon said.
For the first semester, Dizon shared that SPACE would be focusing on having kumustahans and social events. Dizon also cited the possibility of a clothes swap activity, especially for transgender students, who may not have the clothes they need. He hopes that in the future, the organization will be able to host its own events, such as a drag show.As OBP came to a close last October 27, Custodio and Borromeo shared their wishes and hopes for a community that allows LGBTQ+ members the opportunity to be themselves without any fear of scrutiny.
