• Ashley Rivera attended the Metro Manila Pride and had a great time
• Reveals she does not like the idea of gay marriage
• Gets bashed by netizens

A good amount of celebrities attended the Metro Manila Pride, one of them was Ashley Rivera.

Rivera went on Instagram to share what she felt like during the parade. It looked like she had a great time, showing off like the divas there. Then she said something in her final post that had the community up in rage.

Rivera said that she must have been a sassy drag queen in her past life because of the way she positively connects with the LGBTQ+ community.

“Most of my friends are gay because I choose to be w/ people who are full of life, people that I effortlessly vibe with, people w/ the biggest hearts. I have my own beliefs & I don’t necessarily agree w/ everything they fight for but I do respect them as long as they respect me too.”

Netizens posted screenshots of the now deleted post on Twitter and highlighted the part when Rivera said she does not agree with everything that the community is fighting for.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bze2e5eHgqs/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The screenshot then showed an Instagram user replying to Rivera’s post saying, “That’s pretty shady. Tell me exactly what u do not agree with. Maybe I can be enlightened.”

Rivera replied with, “I’m not being shady. I don’t agree with same sex marriage but it doesn’t mean I’m gonna hate on them all. That’s all.”

Netizens then reacted negatively.

so apparently for her pride, the fight for equal rights, and the lgbtqia+ community is a marketing platform? tangina CANCELLED

— Just Gelo (@justgeloisfine) July 4, 2019

https://twitter.com/EliAdecer/status/1146777512183136256?s=20

If she thinks LGBTQIA+ deserves less right than hers then that makes her a Bigot not an Ally! Ewww ka Petra

— chel lang tayo| tuloy ang laban (@111_yep) July 4, 2019

Canceled si Ashley Rivera/Petra Mahalimuyak jusko. Hindi po accessories ang struggle ng LGBTQIA, and you can't adorn your personality with positive things you associate with gays and then deny their rights in the same breath

— it me, dr (@malanDR69) July 4, 2019

Who is Ashley Rivera though Hahahaha. #hypocrisy strikes. lol supporting but with reservation? Mas malala is if you’re a homosexual and you disagree with granting equality to your LGBTQ community.

— pam (@impamsamoy) July 4, 2019

You can be a Christian & still respect the LGBT community. You don’t have to agree with their views but disrespecting & judging them bc you see things differently is mean & disgusting. Y’all cant even realize a sin when you do one but claim you don’t agree for “religious beliefs”

— Ashley Rivera (@asap__ash) July 1, 2019

I used to like Ashley Rivera a lot. But sorry girl, you’re cancelledt. You went to the pride march for all the wrong reasons and I hope your “friends” realize that their causes are not entirely supported by you. Tsk tsk.

— MARKKE ◑ (@boompaulo) July 4, 2019

Ashley Rivera also doesn't support same-sex marriage.

If you don't think queer folks deserve all the rights that straight folks have, YOU ARE NOT WELCOME AT PRIDE. GANUN KA-SIMPLE. https://t.co/TFRbdR7Ork

— ya friendly neighborhood tita (@yourtitakate) July 4, 2019

Ashley Rivera/Petra Mahalimuyak, #Pride is not just about having a good time. It is a protest for equal rights, including our right to marry – which you are against of.

Learning to "embrace each other's differences" includes learning not to deny others their rights. https://t.co/9F8kKNIXRN pic.twitter.com/4LvJaTvZle

— Gem (not from UP Admissions) (@ronaldgem) July 3, 2019

Travel blogger Angel Dei Peralta also criticized the celebrity saying that Rivera shouldn’t label herself as an ally of the community if she doesn’t that they deserve the same rights as her.

Please don’t call yourself an ally or don’t declare that you support and respect the LGBT community if you don’t believe that they deserve the same rights that you’re enjoying. https://t.co/OwfVjBq4fA

— Angel Dei (@_angeldei) July 4, 2019

https://twitter.com/rvcrz/status/1146650252541251584?s=21

• Villanueva supports freedom of religion
• Joel Villanueva will not approve SOGIE at the expense of freedom of religion
• Has been attacked by LGBT community in the past

The Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) bill is still on hold at the Senate and this is all thanks to Senator Joel Villanueva.

Ganda Filipinas Executive Director Naomi Fontanos said that Joel Villanueva is the only reason why the bill isn’t advancing.

Ironically, Villanueva is one of the bill’s co-authors.

Villanueva’s father, Eddie Villanueva, the founder of Jesus is Lord ministry, showed his support for the LGBT community back in 2015 but emphasized that marriage should always only be limited to a man and a woman, nothing more, nothing less.

According to Fontanos, the bill has been scheduled for interpellation for a total of 25 times.

The bill was delayed by more than 200 session days at the Senate even after the House of Representatives passed it already by a vote of 198-0, according to Fontanos.

Villanueva, influenced by Jesus Is Lord ministry, said that he will see to it that the bill does not get approved if it goes against the freedom of religion.

“Definitely… [I] will make sure it won’t pass at the expense of freedom of religion,” he said.

it's really frustrating when lawmakers, like sen. joel villanueva @TeamTrabaho hinders the passage of sogie based on freedom of religion, when religion should not interfere with state and that the constitution provides for equal rights pic.twitter.com/bVqrnntUaU

— Navigator (@thenavigator8) June 2, 2019

i dont even have words for this.

MANNY PACQUIAO, JOEL VILLANUEVA, TITO SOTTO, I HAVE ONE QUESTION FOR YOU. WHY?

Is passing a law prohibiting sogie-based discrimination against your faith? pic.twitter.com/Dv9IPyCrnP

— christian agano (@invrtedalphabet) June 4, 2019

https://twitter.com/junzaragoza/status/1138048003510456320

Just like Senator Imee Marcos, Villanueva wants a bill that protects the rights of individuals of different races, social status, religion, and many other factors, not just the LGBT community.

“When it reached the plenary, ako yung tinuturo na laging nagba-block at nagdedebate, kasi every debate namin hindi nila masagot yung mga tanong namin.”

The reason why he stepped up as a co-author for the bill because he is against discrimination.

Some members of the LGBT community have shown hostile behavior towards Villanueva and his family, specifically his children. They would burn his and his children’s pictures. They have attacked him at LGBT events, including the recent Metro Manila Pride March with over 70,000 in attendance.

“Pati mga pictures ng mga anak ko, inaano nila,” he said.

• The Metro Manila Pride had people who were fighting for other causes
• LGBT supporter then criticized this by bashing it
• Another LGBT supporter made it clear than other issues are just as important as the fight for equal rights

The Metro Manila Pride march last June 29 had approximately 77,000 attendees. Supporters were fighting for equal rights as seen on the signs they were holding up.

It is expected that a big event like this would be associated with other rights concerning other groups.

@rrdelosangeles went to twitter and had a complaint.

He said that the pride event should have been entirely focused on fighting for equal rights because there were some placards that were irrelevant in his perception, placards that said, “Sahod itaas, presyo ibaba.”

He sees these actions as an exploitation of the community’s event.

But one of his co-supporters made it clear that things like this are completely understandable.

@abducens_ said that the LGBT equal rights battle is just as important as any other issue in the country. He also stated that many LGBT members are struggling financially.

https://twitter.com/_abducens_/status/1144877226082439169

He agreed with the “Sahod itaas, presyo ibaba” slogan since there are LGBT members out there who need to work more than 8 hours just to get by.

https://twitter.com/_abducens_/status/1144878691513589760

He also shared that once upon a time, Magnolia would make their employees go on a 24-hour shift, and would suspend them if they did otherwise.

https://twitter.com/_abducens_/status/1144879537722810369

The user also wants people to boycott Pepmaco. Pepmaco employees had a big protest in Laguna but were neutralized by its owner, Simeon Tiu.

The user also emphasized that the government has spent more on the military than health services, which is directly associated with the gay community.

https://twitter.com/_abducens_/status/1145020619123130368

With such a big event, the promotion and selling of products were inevitable. Big companies tried to exploit this, but the user made it clear that the event achieved a lot by putting attention to issues that matter the most.

https://twitter.com/_abducens_/status/1145231459197710336

Tengene seryoso ba to??? Hirap ng walang class analysis haist

— Leonard Javier ✊ #HealthForAll ⌬ (@STPbasileo) June 29, 2019

he changed his username lol, coward piece of shit

— saudade (@hnnhdnz) June 29, 2019

https://twitter.com/darreldotnet/status/1145032166218145792

Things are more complex than they seem. Don’t forget that Geraldine Roman, a transwoman, is a sitting congressperson, now on her second term. Look her up to see what she has done for the LGBT.

— alanmB612 (@alanmB612) June 30, 2019

Sa true lang siz! Pero dinelete niya na yung tweet.

— Kat #ResistTogether (@katbascon) June 29, 2019

• Survey show that more than half of LGBT people in the UK are still afraid to hold hands in the public due to fear of negative reactions.
• The survey proves that the LGBT community still has a long way to go to attain full and real equality.

A landmark government survey in the United Kingdom has found that the LGBT community in their country has a significantly worse life satisfaction compared to the general public.

Last June 3, the government published the results that were answered by LGBT people across the UK,

More than a hundred thousand people responded, which made it the largest national survey of LGBT people in the whole world to date.

Results found that there’s a huge gap between the LGBT community and the general public. This underlines the level of work still required on LGBT rights. The respondents were said to be significantly “less satisfied with their lives” than the rest of the UK population. It scores 6.5 out of 10 on average – compared with 7.7 for the general UK population.

“Everyone in this country should feel safe and happy to be who they are, and to love who they love, without judgement or fear.

I am incredibly proud of the UK’s global leadership on LGBT equality and the fact that this is the largest survey of its kind, but many of the results are very disturbing.

It’s unacceptable that people feel they cannot hold hands with their partner in public, and that they are unable to walk down the street without fear of abuse. It is also deeply worrying that LGBT people experience difficulty accessing public services such as healthcare, and that so many are being offered the abhorrent practise of conversion therapy.

This Government has done much to promote a diverse, tolerant society and supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people – but it is clear we have more to do.”

• Project Headshot Clinic teamed up with Strokes for 2018 FREELOVE campaign
• FREELOVE Philippines was created to support Metro Manila Pride month

It is indeed the most colorful time of the year as the LGBTQIA+ Community celebrates Pride Month this June. Flagging the rainbow, our brothers and sisters from the community continue the tough fight against discrimination and unequal rights.

We all know that Philippines, despite its huge progress on homosexuality tolerance, remains mum on LGBT+ rights. Quite frankly, we seem to be stuck in the medieval ages–not allowing same sex civil union and anti-discrimination laws.

Headshot Campaign

Voicing advocacies are challenging nowadays, so Niccolo Cosme and the rest of Project Headshot Clinic (HSC) came up with their most creative campaign to date. Started as a passion project, Free Love bloomed over the years. The organization was able to get the most influential people in different sectors to participate in this historical feat.

To celebrate #Pride this year, HSC partnered with beauty studio Strokes by Momoi Supe. Bannered with colorful tropics, people from different spectrum were gathered to promote this beautiful campaign.

Every shoot, held during the weekends of June, an HIV Screening Booth from The Red Whistle were also set up to test willing participants. They also gave free consultation about HIV, AIDS, and safe sex practices (plus tons of condoms and lubricants *winks*).

Meanwhile, in an interview with Rappler, founder Niccolo Cosme hinted future projects for HSC–a global series by the end of the year, collaborations with photographers from Europe, Middle East, Australia and US, and the longevity of the campaign.

Ending this is the impactful message of this year’s theme.

“To live freely is to love freely. Straight or LGBT, we are all fighting for diversity, inclusion, respect, and the right to love – in all its forms and shapes. Because to stand up for love, is to stand up for freedom.”

Project Headshot Clinic or HSC is a digital platform created by photographer Niccolo Cosme in 2006. It combines stylized and conceptualized profile photos used online and socially relevant advocacies. One of them is FREELOVE, which aims to support the annual Metro Manila Pride Festival happening every June. For more information please visit https://www.facebook.com/metromanilapride.

Let’s share this using the hashtags #FreeLovePH, #ThisIsMyBeauty, and #RiseUpTogether and keep the revolution burning.

• Anna’s Online Store posts may not be funny after all
• LGBT community is not too happy with the social media posts of Anna’s Online Store
• Netizens call out the owner’s “social media misbehavior”

A week ago, Anna’s Online Store became a big hit on social media. With more than 250,000 Facebook likes to date, netizens are still going crazy about the shop. It catches the netizens’ attention not because of the products that the shop sells but because of the funny screen shots of the owner’s transactions with the customers.

Netizens can’t help but laugh at the frank and uber honest replies of the seller to the customers. If there is what we call “customer feedback,” well,  this shop has its own “seller’s feedback” because of the owner’s totally honest and quite funny response to the customers.

Anna surely is a one of a kind seller!

Well, at least, no one will get disappointed once they receive the products they ordered because Anna already tells them the truth about the item’s quality. As what she always say, “honest seller, happy shopper!”

These kinds of customer transactions are just among the many funny posts of Anna’s online shop. The page quickly gained a lot of followers and even became a trending topic on twitter. One netizen even coined the shop as the “best meme page of 2018 so far.”

Admit it, you also got curious and scrolled through the page’s posts. In fact, if you are following the shop’s FB page, surely you already know that the word “bes” is already out because “cyst” is in! Yes, “cyst,” as in sister or “sis” in short. This is how Anna addresses anyone who would like to order  products from the shop.

Anna Tolentino, the online shop’s owner really do know how to market her own products. Her funny and witty replies to her customers’ feedback has been the shop’s trademark. The motto, “the customer is always right” does not seem to apply to Anna because “it’s her business, so back off!”

Although some posts are really funny and will make you laugh ’til your stomach aches, there are some posts that netizens pointed out to be below the belt.

The shop’s “Tomboy na Mataba” posts angered some netizens because of the disrespectful and offensive jokes about lesbians. The posts show “starter packs” of items for a “stereotyped” lesbian here in the Philippines.

It includes items like silver necklaces, Islander slippers, Fubu shirts, and Bench & Bath towels among others. Although some may find this funny, the post also attracted angry netizens for making lesbians a laughing stock.

Looking closely at the posts, it looks very insensitive and way out of line. It seems like Anna jokes about the “typical” lesbian appearance and behavior. Something that should not be joked about.

One netizen bravely calls out Anna Tolentino for posting these offensive “Tomboy items” and asks her for a public apology. According to the netizen, the owner blocked her from the page when she keeps on commenting how insulting she finds the “tomboy” posts.

Reportedly, there are also some netizens who reported Anna’s “social media misbehavior” to the student council and psychology society of San Beda College, Anna’s school.

“Sumikat ka dahil ginawa mo kaming katatawanan. Kahit binura mo na mga posts mo, hindi mo pa din matatanggal yung epekto nun sa ibang tao. Kahit ikaw, ano mararamdaman mo na naglalakad ka lang may random group na bigla ka pagtatawanan dahil lang naalala yung mga posts mo. Pano kung dahil sa epekto nun may isang tomboy na mataba ang magpakamatay dahil sa depression? You owe them an apology.”

As a matter of fact, Anna’s “tomboy na mataba” posts are really disrespectful and quite alarming because many people are joining in. The posts influence a lot of netizens and the worst part is, many are actually insensitive enough to share and laugh at them.

Although the posts are intended to be funny, we should not forget the fact that it can actually harm someone’s self-esteem and even affect a person’s psychological well-being. These kinds of posts are “cancerous” to the society and in social media. We should be more aware of the posts that we like and share on social media because we’ll never know, someone may really get hurt and be affected by them.

There is no need to shame or put other people down or even make them a laughing subject just to gain fame and a lot of followers. Being famous will last for a while but the insensitive words that you throw at people will last for a very long time and may even leave a scar. Let’s be more wary of what we post. After all, our psychological well being is not something we should take lightly.

Until up to this date, Anna’s online store still didn’t take down the posts and even continues to post about it.

(Photos grabbed from Anna’s Online Store FB page)

What do you think about this? Share your thoughts!

• Netizen shared how his dad accepted him for who he is
• This twitter thread might just make you appreciate your parents more!

Valentine’s day is just around the corner and people are already posting on social media the gifts that they received or planning to give to their lover. Whatever kind of gift it may be, we’re sure that it’s pretty something.

However, we also know for sure that receiving a special gift from your family is the best feeling ever! Just like how this Twitter netizen felt so happy after receiving an early Valentine’s gift coming from his dad!

This netizen shared on Twitter his conversation with his dad regarding his coming out. “Sobrang naiyak ako. I love you, Pa!” as said on the post.  See their convo below:

This is the most heartfelt part.

Based on screenshots of their conversation, the twitter netizen opened up about his sexuality and was accepted by his father wholeheartedly.

His dad also shared how proud he is of him and that he accepts him no matter what or who he is.

His dad told him that he was never once ashamed of him and that his only wish is for him to finish his studies, which would make him even happier. In the end, his father even invited him and his special someone to a dinner together with his sibling.

*Awww, we’re not crying, you are!*

If you don’t have a special someone to celebrate Valentine’s day, don’t forget that you can always celebrate it with your friends and of course, your family! After all, the gift of family is just may be the best gift we could ever receive.

Spread love and positivity this Valentine’s! (Credits to Twitter netizen: @_ivannnnn)