Gaybash @ the Santa Cruzan

Bihira akong magblog during office hours, pero natigilan ako ng nabsa ko ang headline na ito sa Yahoo News:

Church officials blast gays participating in Santa Cruzan

Haay... heto na naman po kami...

For everyone's benefit, I'm posting the entire article here:

MANILA, Philippines – Two Church officials have expressed distraught
over reports of an increasing number of gays who participate in Santa Cruzan
parades.

According to Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales,
homosexuals should give proper respect to the traditional religious
parade.

In an interview with the Church-run Radio Veritas, Rosales said
members of the third sex should avoid practicing "runaway devotion," in which
they show the pageantry and grandeur instead of the religious aspect of the
event.

"Hindi mo na mailulong sa ispiritwalidad yung malalim na hiwaga,
malalim na kabanalan ng birheng Maria, kung minsan nanaig ang karangyaan, yung
pagapakitang tao, pagpapasikat, ito ang dapat na matulungan ng simbahan para
yung ispiritwalidad, yung tunay na diwa ng debosyon sa Mahal na Birhen," he
said.

For his part, Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, Catholic Bishops'
Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs head, said
gays should be barred from joining the traditional Santa Cruzan to preserve the
sanctity of the practice.

"Bilang isang religious activity, ang ating pananaw ngayon ay hindi po
dapat lalahukan ng mga bakla sa pagkat ang mga bakla ay parang isang bagay na
abnormal sa ating sitwasyon at karaniwan pag merong mga paglahok nila ay ang
pagtingin ng mga karamihan sa atin ay parang nababastos na gawin," he
said.

The bishop also said organizers and sponsors of Santa Cruzan should
refrain from using tradition to raise fund.

"That’s not right. Ito ay isang paggamit ng isang bagay na sagrado para
sa ating mga hindi sagradong layunin," Iniguez noted. - By Dennis Carcamo
(Philstar News Service, http://www.philstar.com/)

I feel that, given the Church's attitude towards homosexuality, it's just ridiculous to expect anything other than condemnation from this sector. Though like a fool, I still can't help butget fired up when I see stuff like this.

To be fair to the article, I feel that initially (or at least at the very core of their message) they make quite valid arguments about the way Santa Cruzan is being conducted today. As a catholic, I quite agree with this statement:

"Hindi mo na mailulong sa ispiritwalidad yung malalim na hiwaga, malalim na kabanalan ng birheng Maria, kung minsan nanaig ang karangyaan, yung pagapakitang tao, pagpapasikat, ito ang dapat na matulungan ng simbahan para yung ispiritwalidad, yung tunay na diwa ng debosyon sa Mahal na Birhen,"

I won't claim to be an expert on Catholic rituals though I'm pretty sure that the Santa Cruzan should have a deeper, more spiritual meaning to it, like most religious rituals. I'm not sure what this meaning should be, and frankly, I'm not inclined to care, but I'm pretty sure it goes way beyond sashaying down the street in fantabulous gowns in the summer heat.

One thing is for sure: like most Catholic rituals, the Santa Cruzan has lost its meaning. The people, much like myself, has forgotten what it's for. Like most rituals, they have been converted to superficial traditions: carried on year after year because that's the only thing the people know: that sometime in May, we should pick girls, dress them up nicely and go on a mini-procession.

As the years pass, the rituals meaning has been worn off like a threadbare shirt and all that remained was a the tradition of parading.

And since the people has forgotten the meaning, the ritual has been turned to entertainment. How else will they get people to watch the procession?

In short, yes, I agree: this pageantry in the Santa Cruzan DOES dilute the sanctity of what would have been a meaningful procession

BUT why just condemn the gays?

If we're just talking about the bastardization of religious rituals, aren't our hetero counterparts just as guilty as well?

Throughout the years there have been all sorts of variations on the Santa Cruzan: older women, kids, and all sorts of girls in between those age. Incidentally, our transgender friends also came into the picture (after all, some of them look more womanly, divah?)

In any case, most of these variants (if we may call them so) has reduced the Santa Cruzan to pageantry (which they were condemning in the first place)

"Bilang isang religious activity, ang ating pananaw ngayon ay hindi po dapat lalahukan ng mga bakla sa pagkat ang mga bakla ay parang isang bagay na abnormal sa ating sitwasyon at karaniwan pag merong mga paglahok nila ay ang pagtingin ng mga karamihan sa atin ay parang nababastos na gawin,"

I'm just reeling from the all the stinky hatred, ignorance, and bigotry in this statement, so I'll just react to it, the best way that I can muster:

Ang bakla po ay hindi "parang bagay" ang mga bakla po ay mga TAO: living, sentient, human beings

Ang mga bakla po ay di abnormal... arguments can go on forever about this, but I will stand by scientific knowledge and proof that it is NOT an abnormality and with the belief that we are all created EQUAL in the eyes of God and that we are ALL created in the image of God. So there!

Ang pagkabastos po ng isang gawain ay di sanhi ng involvement ng mga bakla. Like what I discussed earlier, this can also be true for heteros. Kung wala namang gagawing nakakabastos ang isang bakla sa isang okasyon, paanong mbabastos ang sinabing kaganapan? Ang pagkababoy nito ay sanhi lamang ng (and most likely, nagaganap lamang sa loob ng) maruruming isip ng mga taong hindi tumatanggap sa mga bakla.

I'll leave it at that.

What say you, dear reader?