Martin Manalansan IV’s article “In the Shadows of Stonewall: Examining Gay Transnational Politics and the Diasporic Dilemma” discusses Stonewall, a movement that occurred in the 1990s which promoted LGBTQIA rights and how “the globalization of the gay movement has proven to be problematic” with a focus on the Philippines. Every country views queer identified people differently and there is a hierarchy not only due to sexuality and gender but also racial identity when confronting peoples of different backgrounds. This is relevant today here at UC Davis because as part of the Fil-Am, I see there is a movement happening attempting to change “Pilipina@” (Pilipino or Pilipina) to Pilipinx. In this sense, the x would address not only those who are male or female, but including those folks who may be trans or choose not to identify with a specific gender. It x ultimately makes the name of the communities or organizations more exclusive. However, there are still student leaders who are against the name change because they believe it would be undermining our own Pilipinx history, culture and ancestry. This just proves to show that even within communities, there is still struggle and close mindedness pertaining to specifically queer identified individuals; in this case, a minority within a minority. This makes me wonder: are other ethnic groups attempting to make their communities more welcoming to the queer community? If so, how do they plan on making everyone in the community agree with the changes?
Martin F. Manalansan IV. “In the Shadows of Stonewall Examining Gay Transnational Politics and the Diasporic Dilemma.” GLQ: A Journal of lesbian and Gay Studies. Vol. 2 (1995): pp.425-428
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