Filipino Catholics object to drag act based on Lord’s Prayer
Catholics in the Philippines are outraged by a drag performance based on the Lord’s Prayer at a recent event held by an LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning) group at a bar in the national capital Manila.
A video of the July 12 performance posted on Facebook shows Filipino drag queen, Pura Luka Vega, dressed as the Black Nazarene, an image of Christ genuflecting while carrying the cross, dancing and singing with others to the Lord’s Prayer in Tagalog, a widely-spoken and understood language in the Southeast Asian nation.
Many Catholics, including from the LGBTQ community, condemned the event as “blasphemous” and “offensive” to their religious beliefs.
“This is shocking to [our] conscience and morality because we were taught to honor the Lord’s name,” Martin Torres, chairman of the Youth for Christ Manila chapter told UCA News.
“They have gone too far and crossed the bridge of religious sensitivity,” he added.
Vega said her right to freedom of expression was protected by law and that nobody should “tell me how I should practice my faith or how I do my drag [act].”
“That performance was not for you to begin with. It is my experience and my expression, of having been denied my rights,” Vega told a press conference on July 13.
A participant at the drag event supported Vega while claiming that the video was shown without “proper” context.
“The clip was lifted without portraying the proper story. We were dancing artistically. We did not mean to offend anyone as many of us there were Catholics,” Jules Jolaan told UCA News on July 14.
Torres said every Filipino should be bothered after watching the video.
“As a child, I was taught that using the name of the Lord in vain is breaking one of the Ten Commandments. One who violates it commits a mortal sin,” he added.
Vega’s act has been frowned upon by members of the gay community in other parts of the country.
“Even as a member of the LGBTQ community in the Philippines, we do not approve of it,” Froilan Nagruso, a Catholic and LGBTQ member from Cebu told UCA News.
Nagruso said that decency demands that religion should be respected.
“We believe that being gay is not contrary to being pious. ‘Ama Namin’ [Our Father] is not meant to be part of a dance event where people bang their heads or jump like Lady Gaga. The Lord’s Prayer demands respect from every Christian,” Nagruso added.
The country’s first transgender lawmaker, Geraldine Roman, also expressed dismay at the event.
“As a Catholic, I feel offended too. Do we need this kind of provocation? What is this event’s contribution to our fight for LGBT rights?” Roman told ABS-CBN News.
Roman, however, begged Catholics to desist from generalizing that all members of the LGBTQ community were like this.
“To all the Catholics that were offended, I feel for you. I am with you because I, too, was hurt. But please don’t think that we are all like this. There are many members of the LGBTQ community who love and serve God and the Catholic Church,” the lawmaker added.
Human rights lawyer, Jovert Laceda, however, said that no crime was committed and the country’s constitution guaranteed the right to free speech and expression.
“Was there a crime violated? There is none. The act wasn’t held inside a place of worship, neither was there a religious ceremony going on,” the rights lawyer told UCA News.
Laceda said that morality and legality were separate issues and must not be confused.
“The act may be immoral and offensive to the Catholic Church but certainly it is legal for no law is violated,” he added.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines cautioned against the use of religious elements at secular events to avoid any negative impact on men and women of faith.
“People should be extremely prudent in their actions, especially with regard to using elements of religion for secular purposes … dancing to the tune of a scared and biblical prayer, with matching sacred costume to boot, is completely disrespectful not only of people and institution practicing such faith but of God himself,” Father Jerome Seciliano, executive secretary of the bishops’ Commission on Public Affairs said in a statement on July 13.
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