Charles Teves
Drag performer Pura Luka Vega has refused to apologize for dressing up as Jesus while performing a punk rock version of the religious song ‘Ama Namin’ in a club.
The video performance tweeted by Vega on July 9 easily went viral and sparked a heated debate among netizens. The performance features a punk rock rendition of ‘Ama Namin’ accompanied by a crowd of enthusiastic people singing along and enjoying themselves while holding up their phones to capture the moment.
Vega expressed gratitude to the audience and referred to the event as ‘church.’
The video caused a contentious debate, with some condemning the drag performance and the crowd as disrespectful to the Catholic Church, while others defended the drag community’s artistic expressions.
Despite the backlash, Vega did not give in to pressure and rationalized his controversial performance.
On Twitter space, Vega said he was praising God with that performance and challenging “notions of how we worship and we sing our praise.”
— Pura Luka Vega 🙃 (@puralukavega) July 11, 2023
“My intention was never really to mock per se. In my mind, queerness has always been there, I feel like it’s my way of actually praising God. I don’t know, I mean, I was very careful when I did that because I don’t want it to come across as something that’s very offensive, but then again it’s still taken as something that’s very offensive. Was it offensive because I am a queer individual or was it [due to] other factors?”
Vega clarified to ABS-CBN that he had no intentions of triggering people.
After some lawmakers criticized her ‘Ama Namin’ drag performance, Pura Luka Vega (@ama_survivah) stressed that it is a “drag art interpretation of worship.” | via @josiahvantonio pic.twitter.com/kjdmhfUNLr
— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) July 12, 2023
“I’d like to stress that my drag performance as Jesus was not meant to disrespect anyone. On the contrary, it is a drag art interpretation of worship. I was very intentional of using a specific song and the symbolism to relate the queer crowd with the intersection of queerness and religion.”
He also made it clear that the public won’t be getting an apology from him anytime soon.
Pura Luka Vega addresses backlash over viral bar performance where she was accused of cultural insensitivity while singing along to ‘Ama Namin’ remix:
“It’s really just a yassified worship/lipsync of the Lord’s Prayer.” pic.twitter.com/gj3OJXUO5c
— Philippine Drag Updates (@DragUpdate) July 12, 2023
“I won’t delete it nor will apologize for doing it. To begin with, our mere existence as queer individuals already offends people. Drag is also queer and when I think about it, to me, it’s really just a yassified worship/lipsync of the Lord’s Prayer. There’s a part of me that feels weird to explain my art when I don’t owe anyone an explanation of things. People are free to make interpretations of it. The way I see it, our reactions and perceptions reveal our values which we need to reflect on,” he told Philippine Drag Updates in a statement.
During an interview with L!fe, Atty. Kenneth Manuel emphasized the subjective nature of determining whether a performance is blasphemous or artistic.
On the other hand, Atty. Raymond Dominic Doctor mentioned that the Philippines has a law, Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code, which criminalizes the act of offending religious sentiments.
However, this law only applies if the offensive act takes place in a religious place of worship or during a religious ceremony, and if it is deemed to be notoriously offensive to the faithful.
