Queer Filipino journalists are active in almost every journalistic beat, relaying stories from their daily coverage to the wider public. From ‘soft’ beats such as entertainment and lifestyle to ‘hard’ beats such as politics or defence matters, there is at least one queer person asking questions and holding people in power to account. But again, the stories shine, not the queer journalists who are telling them.
But what about our stories? Shall we forever relegate our identities to obscurity because the journalism profession has dictated that we must not be the centre of attention?
There is merit to being a stickler for journalistic tradition. When we do our daily work, we should lend the space that we are privileged to guard to those whose voices typically go unheard. In those instances, we must recede into the background and put these people front and centre.
Nevertheless, I would argue that there is also a need for our stories as queer journalists to be told, seen and heard. I am not necessarily saying that we must begin producing features about ourselves to be published in the media outlets that we work for, although it can be an option in the future just to show to queer kids that they can be a journalist too. What I am advocating is for us to unapologetically share our stories among our colleagues in the newsrooms and beats we work in so that we can take part in reshaping the journalistic narratives about our sector.
It is necessary for these interactions to take place so that our colleagues can cover us with a depth and breadth of knowledge that enables them to go beyond the standard coverage of us as just being a colourful community. We are a sector that faces issues that are unique to us as queer people, but at the same time we face problems that are related to our ethnicity, our class, our beliefs and everything else that intersects with and makes up our identity as individuals.Journalists must be able to capture these nuances and understand our plight as queer Filipinos, especially at a time when legislation to protect people against discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) continues to languish in Congress.
It is also high time for queer Filipino journalists to get organised so that we can advocate LGBTQ+ rights, serve as a watchdog of coverage of queer issues and, of course, fight for press freedom and the labour rights of media workers, regardless of their SOGIESC.
When all is said and done, queer journalists are queer people, and queer people are humans deserving of all human rights.
Xave Gregorio is a Filipino journalist, who worked for Philstar.com and CNN Philippines. He is a member of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP). This piece belongs to a series of articles commissioned by the IFJ to mark Pride Month and amplify the voices of the LGBTI+ journalists and trade unionists from different regions across the world, which too often go unheard. LGBTI+ rights are a union issue.