- Hierarchy of Pride - January 4, 2025
- Source of Educational Fund: Mother and Taxpayers - January 2, 2025
- Sa gitna ako nagsimula - December 31, 2024
“Pass sa halata.”
This is a phrase often thrown out in the streets, social media platforms, and dating apps directed against feminine-presenting queers.
A phrase used to express disgust and dislike over gays who show their gender expression by having their faces dolled up with makeup, their bottoms covered with skirts, and their feet tiptoed by three-inch heels.
Unfortunately, this remark comes from people who also identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community. While this type of microaggression is not an unfamiliar battleground for effeminate gays, individuals who are part of a community that is supposed to serve as a safe space should not be perpetuating this.
Femmephobia, or the devaluation of femininity and seeing it as a “less than” of masculinity, is a problem femme-presenting queers face in the gay community, particularly in the dating scene. It can take many different forms, ranging from uttering statements like “masc for masc only” and “no to Barbies” to blatantly criticizing feminine behaviors like wearing makeup and sporting clothes typically classified as “for women.”
In the case of the Philippines, one form of this microaggression manifests through the remark “pass sa halata,” which expresses distaste for individuals who are obviously gay because of a public display of femininity. It is also displayed by associating “malambot” and “malamya” with negative connotations such as weak and unattractive.
Journal of Asian Pacific Communication’s study about othering within the gay community backs this as the findings show being effeminate is construed as being weak in the Filipino context. Additionally, presenting a feminine identity is seen as inferior and undesirable compared to the straight-acting and masculine gay man. This leads to femme-presenting gays to curate their identities by packaging themselves as masculine and discreet gays.
Internalized femmephobia among gay men also leads to perpetuating patriarchal norms that limit inclusivity within LGBTQIA+ spaces leading to effeminate queers feeling excluded. When this happens, femme-presenting gays are pushed to conform to societal norms and suppress their feminine traits.
A study by Sex Roles Journal supports this idea as it states that internalized discrimination within the LGBTQIA+ community results in effeminate gays rejecting their femininity as a survival strategy to avoid discrimination.
Individuals part of the LGBTQIA+ community who dislike femme-presenting queers, however, state it is not a display of femmephobia but just an imposition of their preference. Yet, this microaggression should not be looked at as a preference for it is rooted in patriarchal beliefs perpetuating discrimination.
Someone part of the gay community who devalues the traits and existence of the same individuals who are part of the supposed safe space they are in just because they are effeminate should locate where their dislike of femininity is rooted. While it is not wrong for people to have a preference; this same preference should not mean excluding others and causing them to limit the way they express their identity.
After all, there is already a lot of discrimination against the gay community from society at large—gay people themselves adding to this is the last thing the LGBTQIA+ community needs. Psalm Gerard Jay Maquidato