"To be or not to be – that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And, by opposing, end them."
---William Shakespeare, (Hamlet)
When my friend Jethro invited me to be part of the "I Am Not Immoral" campaign, I said yes. Not because I was particularly upset about the decision of the Commission on Elections to disqualify the gay party-list group “Ang Ladlad” from participating in this year's election, but because he is my friend and I wanted to support him.
He wanted to create a short video showing gay men and women protesting the decision of the Comelec and the branding of all gay people as immoral. The participants gave their names, said something about themselves, and the line "I am not immoral."
It appears gone are the days of marching in the streets and shouting "Off With Her Head!" Instead, people don on costumes, pose in front of the camera, and scatter the videos all over the Internet. The person who was interviewed before me wore a black-and-white Lady GaGa-inspired outfit, posed, and said "Hi. I'm a gym instructor by day and Lady GaGa by night."
So I was a little disconcerted when Jetty suddenly started asking me questions about the issue. I was flustered and told him "Wait, Jet. Bakit may Q&A? Akala ko ba simple lang ito."
I realized I was flustered because 1) I had to sound smart and intelligent!, and 2) I haven't really thought about the issue, not deeply, at least.
Fundamentally, I had to ask myself what does it mean, to be moral? Who defined it? The protest implied two things: to be immoral is not something desirable, and that gay people are immoral.
But, what if some of us are? What if, I am not moral after all? Should being moral be a requirement for a person to run for public office?
The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said, "There is no moral phenomenon at all, only a moral interpretation of a phenomenon." He argued it is people, individuals and societies who define morality and that these definitions change depending on who is on power.
But then I realized to explain all these things on camera requires too huge a task given I only had a few seconds of fame. Sometimes you have to know what to say and when to say it (so I'm saying it here).
And oh, the best part of it all? You get a free photo shoot. And ladies, here's my best shot.
29 comments:
balqui: He argued it is people, individuals and societies who define morality and that these definitions change depending on who is on power.
balqui: same with what is good and bad, right and wrong... hindi ba?
K: at least thats what ive heard
so what did you say in your Q&A?
moral or not, your pic looks hot! =D
OMG! No u didn't --african-american accent with finger snaps
well malaki na sila.. ang importante is, ANG GANDA MO DITO DEAR K.. pwede ka ng iboto ng masa..
oh, kane! i'm so proud of you. you're a star. tyra says, your pic will be displayed in the antm house as digital art. love it! :)
Morality is relative... but I think the society we are in is founded on a common interpretation of morality.
I think it is not a requirement, to be moral i mean. it's more of a guideline. because if you're moral you should do what a moral person would do...but then again it depends on how you interpret morality...and i don't think it should based on sexual preferences or gender, it's dedicating yourself to do good.
morality is relative, kane. who's to say we are not?
inggit lang sila.
of all the comment, ito pinaka gusto ko: moral or not, your pic looks hot! =D
love the pic!!!
Ah, there you are, Kane.
I saw a couple of those videos on McVie's blog and, aside from John Lapuz, yours was the only familiar face.
As to the fluidity of "morality," I'm afraid I'm too addled at the moment to contribute something coherent. So I'll just sit and look at you for a while as I ponder.
I AM NOT AFRAID na and next!
it seems like a good cause. glad someone's doing something about it.
ang butch ng pic!
@Balqui: You should watch the video na lang. =)
@Engel: Uhm, well. Haha. I guess I should say thank you. Now you know how I look.
@E: Oh yes I did! It's your turn, next.
@Edward Kenneth: Iba ka rin no? Iboto talaga, parang contest lang. =) Hehehe.
@Aris: (Blushes) Thank you Aris. Tyra said, "Look at his eyes, they connect with the camera." Hahaha. My friends say I had the best photo, eh trained ka ba naman sa ANTM.
@Lucas: So, if we don't agree with our society's definition of morality, what do we do?
@John Stanley: Huy! I read your "taken" post.
@Wandering Commuter: Hahaha. Iba rin sumagot si Engel no, hindi na diniscuss ang issue.
@Rudeboy: So, why am I familiar? Have we met? And you not being able to say anything is quite surprising. How unlike the Rudeboy I know =)
@Brutaljet: Gooo!!! Who's afraid, anyway?
@Citybuoy: Well, if it's a really good cause, you might want to support the next ones =)
@Lance: Hahaha. Maldita ka talaga. Mas butch naman ang photo mo, right? =)
pautograph naman lol
And for that you're still in the running to become Philippines Next Top Model.
:)
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I would have wanted to "claim" that I "convinced" you to show yourself, but really, you decided way before you asked me about it.
Love the photo, K.
You should have just said on the video: "I am moral because I walk, walk, fashion, baby, work it, move that bitch, crazy!" Let's see how Jethro would edit THAT answer of yours, ahahaha!
i'm not immoral because i am amoral? pwede ba yun?
Self-proclaiming that he’s not immoral is as bad as saying to someone he’s immoral. If once in your life nagging immoral ka ganun na din yun.that means you really have a tendency to be immoral. Therefore, you should say sometimes I’m immoral.The point is masama talaga to label “all” gays are immoral. Eh papano nga anamn yung mga sisters natin na pari?
I agree. Lady gaga talaga?parng nagin comedy bigla. Tapos meron pang isa dun sa video na sobrang preposterous tlaga.nagtanggal pa ng shades. It was sooo fuckin hilarious. parang he implied, “hello!look oh anlaki ng mata ko wala pa akong tulog from last night’s in house party.im not immoral! Grabe makapag sabi na hindi immoral eh kung makapag droga kala mo wala ng bukas. Hello?!
So it was arequirement for all of you to sound smart? What if kung yung founder isn’t that smart? Bakit kailangan may iproject na matalino dapat. Ang mga bakla tao din naman. Kahit bobo ka pa hindi ka pedeng label-an na immoral. Kung ako sana,”tangina bakla ako so?! Ikaw nga jan pulitiko ka andami mong babae so ibig sabihin santo ka?! Bakit kelangan pang mag pretend? The more honest the more effective! Nakakaloka yung mga baklang nagboboses lalake ah. Anung meron? Aminin iba dun kakilala ko. Nakakaloka. Wait anu ba pala plataporma ng “Ladlad”? At bakit naman sa dinami-dami ng pedeng ipangalan “Ladlad” pa ang napili? Bakit din a lang “Buyangyang”? nakakloka! Feeling ko ilaladlad neto lahat ng bakla na pamin eh. AYAW!!! Kaya siguro John Lapuz was there kasi he’s really famous sa pagbubuking ng mga artistang bading. Get a life. Kakaloka ka wag mong tanggalan ng chance etong mga bakla na to na sumikat and to earn a living palibhasa kasi wala ka ng maitatago pa. papano ba ini-screen yung speakers ditto? OA talaga.
I think this project lacks foundation talaga? Anu ba ang tunay na layunin neto? Bakit? Pinapatay ba ang mga bakla ditto sa pilipinas. Joz ko.mas ok nga ditto compare sa pagtrato sa mga bakla sa korea, china etc etc. hindi naman neglected ang mga bakla ditto eh.meron ngang nagging senator na baklita eh.at now meron senator na tibo.so anung problema? Kasi! Hindi talaga pepedwedeng mag pink na uniporme at mini skirt ang mga baklang pulis at wag naitong ipilit pa.dahil hindi tlaga pede! Ok! Girl, not even eye shadow. Kahit earth tones pa ito. Hindi pwede!
Hindi talaga mshadong napag-isipan ito.pakiramdam ko bigla na lang nakaisip ng ganto inexag yung pag label na immoral ang mga bakla. Yan tinakot tuloy ang mga bading naglabas tuloy na andaming baklang hiv positive! Oh edi lumabas lang na immoral tlg mga bakla.
I don’t get ladlad and this Im not immoral thing. Hindi enough na maging birds of the same feather para iboto kita. Dapat kung merong ka talagang sapat na kakayahan. Ibig sabihin ba nito exclusive lang para sa mga bakla ang party list na ito? Baka naman puros pag gawa lang ng issues sa gay revolution ang gawin neto. Andami kayang bakla galit sa kapwa bakla.my god. Wag na gamitin ang kabadingan para sariling interest nyo hoy!
Anonymous, if you cannot even stand by your own words by being anonymuous in this thread, hindi bat mas obviuos na ikaw ang walang foundation? Bilhan kita kasama pa concealer... reveal yourself and I will spend time on the points that you have raised...
My name is Ray ,Ms.Jethro. Now that I revealed my name would you make time to retaliate and contradict my opinions about this blog. do you know what blogs and its comments are for? what about "an opinion"? Do you know what it stands for? Go make time. prove to me that your gut can be tolerated and then I will ask for your opinion about my logical opinions.
by the way,i am anonymous here because i dont blog. its not like im hiding. is that what you were trying to say? that i was hiding from you? I am not into blogging because i think i am not a good writer. i can speak well but im not a writer. i think its about time for you to take a keen look about your writings as well.
your response to my comment was as hideous as "some" ok some of your allies in your lacking foundation advocacy. i knew it! all you will do is to put on make up when you got voted. what the fuck! grow up little missy jetro. learn that these kinds of comments really happen. it is "normal". so hold on to your hat. there will be more.
Oh Ray as if there isn't an option to put your full name or identity when you write your comment. Ray what? Ray Langit? Kaya ka siguro ganyan kasi sobrang taas mo na, di ka na mareach.
O cge nga Ray grant that walang foundation ang ginawa namin. Ikaw anu ba nanagawa mo? Or are you just a pure whiner?
I don't want this argument to snow ball into something really useless in nature. The campaign has already served its purpose and true enough comments like yours should be expected. I don't need to explain to you anything that would only ignite hatred between us due to difference of opinion. But if you really care enough I am willing to meet up with you and settle this in person. I may not be able to convince you, but I am hoping that it will prove to me that you are also a concerned individual about the welfare of our community. And maybe if you can acknowledge that from me we can begin to respect each other....
im glad that youve learned to acknowledge that people have different points of view regarding things. i honestly believe that my first comment in this blog was really meant to educate.i jus wished that you couldv been more open minded about it as how you'd want the society to be open minded about gay rights.by the way there are no gay rights.there are only human rights!and i believe that these rights are also being applied to gays.why are you being so discriminative about it.why do you have to stipulate gay rights when you always say that you dont believe in labels? then dont label. dont label "us" as gay. we are also people. Human!
anong nakakatawa sa panagalang ray langit?are you always l;ike this? shallow and percieve things literaly? dig a little deeper please for fuck sake. i couldnt believe that you admitted that your advocacy lacks a stable foundation.its really funny.it seems like you accepted what i was talking about half-heartedly.breathe everything in. if you cant you wont fit in politics. maybe you just got carried away with the govt saying that gays are immoral.
"Self-proclaiming that he’s not immoral is as bad as saying to someone he’s immoral. "
oh! what do you mean by this:
MJ: "Ikaw anu ba nanagawa mo? Or are you just a pure whiner? "
my name is ray and even if i tell you what my precious last name you still wouldnt recognize me. why? because we dont know each other.as simple as that! you wont know all the gay people in this world you,okay? and again people got opinions.i came across at this blog and i responded with my opinion.that simple.simple and you couldnt understand.bakit? ano sa tingin mo ang nagawa mo by doing this? nakatulong ba tingin mo? gumanda ba ang imahe ng mga bakla at tomboy sa mundo?! or nag palala lang? one thing im sure of.IKAW! gumanda ka! ang tingin ng mga tangang tao na bakla antalino mo kasi nakikialam ka and now u admit na it lacks foundation. dig a little deeperbefore you act and ditch the diva attitude. it realy wont matter!
oh if your going to reply again please lay all the options ah.kasi diko alam options eh.jeeeez.so lame.
why do you have to convince me personally? does that also means that your vlogs arent good enough to convince gay people?if that couldnt convince all gays what more sa mga straight?
sana pinili ang mga speakers hindi basta kaibigan or kilala lang na bakla.john lapuz?seriously?snorties?seriously?they arent immoral?seriously?your serious about being serious about this? and now it has served its purpose?seriously? seriously i am asking.
you have so much to learn,ms diva!
Well I am happy to inform you Ray, despite your unwillingness to fully reveal yourself, that there is already The Yogyakarta Principles, an extension to the UDHR(Universal Declaration of Human Rights) which specifically caters to LGBTI rights. It has been launched last 2006, maybe you can look into it.
I could never even start and try to change your worldview "Ray". It would be impossible apparently. If what your pointing out was the ability to respect other peoples opinion, you could have started it yourself. I never admitted that it lacks foundation, I merely posed a more favorable scenario for you to be able to also look upon yourself first and not the others. After all change begins in each and everyone of us. So what have you done really Ray as an individual? I am genuinely interested.
anyway, clap clap clap tp kane. this entry is enlightening. i wont blame u for saying these things and im proud to knwo that being gay is not enough to fully support another gay. and ya! golly! bakit may pa-smart efeect and all. gravacious tlg.i saw some of your other blogs and u write really well. i just hope ms diva really got it. siguro kaya ganun lang ang first reply nya kasi hindi nya na gets. but anyway again clap clap clap. no one is still in the running kasi youre the americas next top mowdel na tlg ikaw na ikaw na yan!
well i am not genuinely surprised about your recent one. you took it "again" literally! holy fucks sake. ok maybe youre kidding! I am slightly aware of that right. are you kidding?! i said dont be descriminative about it! all rights must be applied to entire human race! do you get it! just yes or no! do you or dont you?
tell your helpful friend there to read my entire comment again and.............
anyway i will not respont this again because clearly you lack in understanding.
say what u want to say. people arent stupid.well id like to believe that most people arent stupid.people of all sexes and preference and...whatever!
one pc of advice GET REAL!!!
about the name?! golly goliathly gamolly wowowie! LAAAAAAAAAME!
Oh Ray! Let's meet in person. I am very very curious about you. Maybe we can help each other. Share to me some of your ideas. Peace be with you Ray :)
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