By JIAN ZHARESE JOEIS SANZ
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Progressive artists infused color and culture into the first-ever grassroots-led pride event, Stonewall Philippines, held June 26, Thursday, in Mendiola, Manila.

The Bahaghari-led protest, which mobilized civil society groups, allies, and LGBTQIA+ community members, featured the mural “Ang Liwanag ng Bahaghari” (The Light of the Rainbow) as the vibrant backdrop for the event stage. 
The event takes inspiration from the United States’ 1969 Stonewall Uprising, a six-day protest wherein members of the LGBTQIA+ community upheld their rights. During this period, it became a driving force for LGBT political activism, resulting in the establishment of various gay rights organizations, including the Gay Liberation Front.

The event takes inspiration from the United States’ 1969 Stonewall Uprising, a six-day protest wherein members of the LGBTQIA+ community upheld their rights. During this period, it became a driving force for LGBT political activism, resulting in the establishment of various gay rights organizations, including the Gay Liberation Front.

WATCH: This Week in People’s History: Stonewall Riots

In her speech, Bahaghari Chairperson and Stonewall Philippines founder Reyna Valmores Salinas stressed that pride is a people’s protest not just for the rights of the LGBTQIA community but for other pro-people reforms like the removal of the digital VAT and for oil price rollback. 

Valmores described pride as a protest against exploitative transnational companies, terrorist states, and imperialist states like the U.S.  “Pride means that transnational corporations that exploit workers with unfair wages should not be thriving. Pride means the imperialist United States, which murdered Jennifer Laude, should not be thriving. And just recently, they dropped bombs on Iran simply because it stands in solidarity against the Genocide in Palestine.”

Salinas vowed to make Stonewall Philippines an annual pride event as long as unjust culture and systems exist. 

Progressive organizations like Sinagbayan and Panday Sining also delivered powerful performances during the protest. While performing artists like AJ Navarro and Drag Queens Gabriela She Lang and Maria Christina empowered the audiences through music. 

The pride march coincided with the 31st anniversary of ‘Stonewall Manila’. (RTS, AMU)

Photos by Viggo Sarmago