ANG PRIDE AY PROTESTA. PRIDE IS A PROTEST. ANG PRIDE AY ANG HINDI NATATAPOS NA PAGTAWAG NG PAGKAKAPANTAY-PANTAY AT PAGSASAMA. PRIDE IS AN UNCEASING CALL FOR EQUALITY AND INCLUSION. ANG PRIDE AY PAG-ANGKIN NG UPUAN SA MESA. PRIDE IS A DEMAND FOR A SEAT AT THE TABLE. As our friends from the US feel terror over the overturn of Roe v. Wade, a landmark ruling fifty years ago that gave women the right to an abortion, it becomes clear more than ever how politics impacts our daily lives. This overturn can have chilling repercussions on the rights won for marriage equality and same-sex intimacy in the US—LGBT+ rights that were won in the US because of the precedent set by Roe v. Wade. In the Philippines, the absence of laws to protect LGBT+ people from discrimination, despite how many cities have put up their own anti-discrimination ordinances (some more lip service without teeth than anything), shows us how our politicians ensure that LGBT+ lives are virtually invisible to our government. LGBT+ lives (and deaths, in the case of Jennifer Laude) are merely used as political chips so people in power can perpetuate their rule. Dino-dogshow ang mga LGBT+ ng mga politiko: pinapaasa ng mga pangako tuwing eleksyon pero kinakalimutan kapag nahalal na. Kunwari parte ng komunidad, pero siyang unang tatraydor kapag nasa pwesto na. At kapag nagreklamo kami, ang sasabihin: tumabi ka muna. Komunista ka ba? Bakit ka nagproprotesta? Kung walang hustisya, walang pagkakaisa. Kung walang hustisya, walang kapayapaan. Unity without justice is just the powerless being forced to bow down to those who have power to begin with. Happy Pride, everyone! The fight continues. #PrideMonth