Why can't we have a gay president? | Boy Abunda | TEDxADMU

I am NOT an LGBT activist. I don't qualify or identify as an advocate because I fear I won't be able to live up to the label's expectations. I am a proud gay man and I am. with my community in our fight against oppression, intolerance, discrimination and for equality, yes, my name is Boy Abunda and I was born and raised in a small town called Barranca in the summer of the east. Now it is a small city. Still beautiful. I had a happy childhood, not perfect, but. a wonderful childhood when I was a child they told me many things they told me to be a good boy and they also told me to love Lana and they told me to love my country Philippines they also told me to love and honor God above all you know a kapu yang I did all that when I was a kid I was also told to play basketball I tried I tried with every bone in my body but I just didn't

have

the rhythm I didn't

have

the Synchronizing the quickness of basketball players I was a failure when I was a kid.

I was also told to like a normal young girl because normal young boys played basketball and I liked normal young girls again with courage and a lot of prayers. I tried to please a normal young woman. girl again I was a failure there was a street in my town called calle real from where I lived you had to go through this street to be able to go to the church to the town square to the public market there was another way but it was a longer route and there was more stray dogs and it was darker so we had to go through Royal Street it was horrible it's terrifying walking down Royal Street because the normal young people bullied us they were mean they were miserable they were nasty they called us names we would fight back, I would fight back from time to time but they would always outmaneuver us in numbers, they would insult us, they would yell at us, byah, byah, byah, that's where I say turn back and Royal Street broke me in a way that I became so defensive about my stance.

I became very defensive about my sexuality. In my youth, Royal Street was equivalent to hell when I was young. I started asking so many questions, some I have answered others. I'm still trying to figure them out. Another question: why can't we have a gay

president

? Why can't we have a gay

president

? I wanted to test this question, so I talked to some friends, acquaintances, strangers, teachers, students, because I wanted to see how people react to a provocative question like why. Can't we have a gay president? Someone called me boy. I respect you a lot. I love gays.

You are so funny. I can't imagine a world without gays. You are the best comedians in the world and you stand out. in creative endeavors you are the best stylist or the best eyebrows, I list... you are the best fashion designer, I said, excuse me, there can be many of us and we can do anything. I told him the story of Alan Turing, the father of the computer. science he was the main scientist who cracked the German enigma that paved the way for Britain's victory in the second world war against Germany Alan Turing was a computer scientist we are computer scientists we are biologists we are physicists we are basketball players we are pool dancers we are many , we can do anything and then someone else told me, but aren't gays supposed to be cowards?

The fight is supposed to be gay. I said no, we are not cowards. Recker ages were brave like the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York, trans women, queer youth, drag queens, LGBT people who fought bravely and fearlessly against the cruel, brutal and violent NYPD. We're brave, we're brave, we're not cowards and then someone said, but boy, I guess we're supposed to be half men and half women and you're supposed to be trapped in someone else's body. I said no, we are not half half, we are complete. and we're not stuck on someone else's island so you know it has to be me but since you can't let me tell you we're not half we're whole and then someone said after I asked why can't we have a gay president no? homosexuality is supposed to be a disease a disease I said no dibban Aravena Cunha 10 o and Salma karin-sama Sahaba by Han democratic McGinn back laka you are enough more penis Arab Lanigan baklava Louie some time ago a father sprinkled boiling water on his sleeping son in exasperation because they can't couldn't cure their sleeping son's homosexuality some parents even allow young lesbian daughters to be raped because they believe that rape can cure lesbianism in 1973 homosexuality has been eliminated from diagnoses and statistics Manual of Mental Disorders we are not an ailment, we are not a disease, so I called another friend and said why can't we have a gay president and my friend said because gays are supposed to be promiscuous, they salivate at the sight of meat.

Predators take advantage of young children, I said, excuse me, some gays are skewers, some women are promiscuous, some men are promiscuous, promiscuity is not a gay monopoly and then even beauty queens drink and then someone said, but what? Isn't homosexuality a curse? I said no. We are a blessing to my mother, before Nana was weakened by mild dementia, she used to tell me a narc, you are a blessing to me, uh, and if the naughty one was strong enough, he should be here today, standing next to me , and she will tell you. my son is a blessing he is not a curse if only LGBT mothers and fathers could be here today they would stand up for us and say we are a blessing and we are not a curse and then someone said it is not homosexuality. a sin don't commit a sin when you express your homosexual lava I said I'm sorry as far as I know I'm not a sin I'm a child of God and I was also created in the image of God why can't we have a gay president because in 2010 the Commission and the elections ruled that homosexuals promote immorality, abnormality and threats of error to young people?

That same year, the Supreme Court overturned this decision, this barbaric and homophobic decision, why can't we have a gay president? President, why can't we have a gay president? Let me borrow some words from the great Martin Luther King because unfortunately we are still paralyzed by the handcuffs of homophobia, transphobia, discrimination, bigotry, why can't we have a gay president because some people believe and some people preach that We are creatures inferior to animals, let me tell you that we are not creatures inferior to animals, we are human beings, so today at TEDx I ask you why we can't have a gay president, why we can't have a gay president when the Constitution says so. allows the Constitution of the Philippines allows it a registered Filipino voter from birth can read and write forty years of age ten years of residence does not say that you have to be a heterosexual man or woman to be president of this country in my opinion, we are living in the new age of enlightenment, this is the best time for exploration, this is the best time for discovery, observation and provocation, this is also the best time to challenge common, discriminatory and harmful cultural beliefs, this too is the best time to correct the wrongdoings of colonialism this is also the best time to ask why we can't have a gay president Belgium had a gay prime minister alludes to Aruba Iceland had a lesbian prime minister but here you want a cigarette my argument is Yes Iceland and Belgium We had homosexual prime ministers.

I asked you why we can't have a gay president. Let's go to the black slave movement. Yes, there was a certain part of our history as human beings where black people were treated like beasts. They were animals. They were invisible for being black. It was going to be a sin, they were commercialized, they were sold in city squares and markets, they were exchanged, they were given away, but the black slavery movement, the civil rights movement, persevered and persisted in 1963 in Washington DC, the great March occurred. where dr. Martin Luther King gave his I Have a Dream, That Dream Came True speech in 2008. 44 years later, in 2008, the United States of America elected its first black president in Barack Obama.

My argument is that if black people were treated like beasts, like animals in the past and today. The president of the most powerful country in the world is black, why can't we have a gay president? the anti-black slavery movement inspired the women's liberation movement the women's rights movement the women's suffrage movement there was a time in our history as human beings when women were nothing there were second-class citizens there were third class citizens they were invisible they had no voice they could not participate in public debates they could not even walk alongside their men in some cultures because women were shadows and extensions of their men and others Today's fathers, the women's movement against The violence continues, but women have become presidents and prime ministers.

You have Merkel from Germany. Thatcher tae-hwan just elected his first female president. She tries it when she is partying. Hey, he's now president of South Korea. This country has had two presidents. President Corazon Aquino and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo my argument is whether women who were shadows if women who were extensions of their men and fathers have become presidents and prime ministers. I ask him why we can't have a gay president. I wanted to understand what makes a great president. I researched and found the most insightful speech written by Karl Rove, political advisor to George W. Bush, and in that speech he listed some traits of what makes a great president what makes a great president clarity of vision coherence of purpose emotional intelligence healthy respect for public opinion a great team nowhere in that speech will you find that you have to be a straight or LGBT man or woman to be a great president you just have to be a human being to be a great president ladies and gentlemen, indulge me Here we are going to have some fun, imagine what a gay president of the Philippines would do.

I would probably name someone like the great Hong Duterte, ambassador of the Vatican. He would have a lot of fun with Pope Francis. A gay president wouldn't be afraid to convince Archbishop Cruz to come out of retirement and get ahead of the Bureau of Customs. He will clean up that agency in less than 24 hours. Archbishop Cruz loves problems. He loves to get into the fray. A gay president would probably create an anti-corruption department headed by impervious people. the incorruptible women of the ICJ, a gay president would probably appoint someone like Senator Little Lapidus, permanent representative to the United Nations so that people know that as a people we are quiet and do not talk. a gay president who would probably appoint someone as Miss Universe 2015 Pia wurtzbach ambassador to Colombia so that people know that we do not hold grudges and remember the table and the P DAF are natural enemies of the badeff seriously now a gay president will nurture and strengthen the Filipino family a gay president be a servant leader a gay president will subscribe to the concept that politics is the art of the impossible and not the possible vaclav havel especially if the impossible is for the good of all a gay president will prioritize FOI the freedom of information bill the anti-discrimination bill a gay president will not be afraid to be a great president ladies and gentlemen we have some of the most passionate some of the most motivated some of the brightest intelligent some of the most qualified and some of the most inspiring some of the most transformative leaders in the LGBT community one of them is simply waiting in the wings waiting for his turn to be the next president of this country one of them in conclusion let me rephrase my question of why can't we have a gay president? we have a gay president we can have a gay president yes we can we we have a gay president yes we can because like every woman like every man in this theater in this country in this world the presidency is our destiny it is our birthright can we? have a gay president yes we can yes we will yes we must and why do I say this with unassailable clarity ladies and gentlemen towards history and common sense thank you