My friend William Lucero from Germany emailed this to me this morning. It's a Manila Bulletin article on SANTACRUZAN and GAY PARTICIPATION of it. As always, wa na sad magkisibaot hehehe. What do y'all think?Get set, go...
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Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Bishops roll eyes on men in gowns
The road walked on by gay men taking part in Santacruzans is paved with their good intentions, but the local Roman Catholic Church would rather that they, well, pull over.
Having homosexuals dressed up as women during the religious procession (Santacruzan) is “horrendous†and “defeats the real purpose†of the march, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales on Tuesday said in a report released by the news website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
Santacruzan is derived from “Santa†(Spanish feminine for Holy) and “Cruz†(Cross). The Filipino suffix “an†apparently was added who knows when to “Cruz†to make it “Cruzan.†“Santa†also apparently was combined with “Cruzan,†later “cruzan,†ending up as “Santacruzan,†to mean an event highlighted by the search for the Holy Cross by an eminent person.
According to ancient religious history, that eminent person was Queen Helena of Constantinopole (now modern Turkey), who, along with his son Constantine The Great, looked near and far for the Holy Cross, supposedly the very one Jesus Christ died on in Calvary.
Filipinos, evidently, made a spectacle of that mission of Helena and Constantine. At first, reenactment of that search – during the merry month of May in the Philippines when flowers are supposedly abloom – was led by the “Emperatriz†(Empress, to refer to Queen Helena). Then came gay men playing the role of the Empress, with “woman†saints in tow who had been added to the entourage of the “Emperatriz,†apparently without regard for religious rhyme or reason.
That disregard, Cardinal Rosales said, does not make him “angry at gay men.†What does, he added, is “what they’re actually doing [during Santacruzans]. We should keep sacred what is sacred.â€
Santacruzans of recent years featured gay men in designer gowns and, not surprisingly, were lapped up by those who watched them. They still do at present and apparently are seen as an exercise in democracy especially where representation of so-called marginalized sectors is concerned. Anyway, Queen Helena is supposed to be the Virgin Mary searching for the Holy Cross and to Jesus Christ’s mother are offered the flowers of May.
Not against gays
The bishops’ media director Msgr. Pedro Quitorio 3rd allowed that he was not against gay men taking part in Santacruzans as long as they showed “respect†to the centuries-old tradition of the search for the Holy Cross.
Showing respect, he said, was to uphold the fact that Queen Helena or the Virgin Mary is a woman and neither can be represented by men, gay or straight.
Better still, Quitorio added, for the gay community to call whatever procession they are holding by any other name, not Santacruzan, so as not to “confuse people.â€
Danton Remoto, however, defended the gay men’s use of gowns during Santacruzans.
Ang Ladlad views
Remoto, the national chairman of Ang Ladlad, said that the gay men participating in Santacruzans are “transgenders [who] feel that they are women, and so in order for them to show their femininity, they wear women’s attire.â€
Ang Ladlad espouses the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders.
Remoto also argued that the Santacruzans are sponsored by barangay (villages), and therefore they fall under the jurisdiction of the state, not the church.
He suggested that the local Roman Catholic Church focus more on the population explosion and the economic crisis rather than “sweat the small stuff.â€
“As long as we are not doing anything illegal, we should not be censored,†Remoto said.
-- Bernice Camille V. Bauzon
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