Nikko Ibanez 2010-36945 Loving Your Same Kind

Sept.26, 2013 AH1

Nakulong lang ako sa katawang to... (I was only imprisoned in this body) was the most peculiar statement I have ever heard many years ago when I got the chance to watch an episode of Korina Sanchezs show Rated K which featured the issue concerning same sex relationships. I forgot the title of that certain episode unfortunately. I also remembered my friends and me talking about girl-girl and guy-guy relationships and facts and opinions like there are some traits that are attractive that girls and guys see on their own kind rather than on their opposite sex and the likes. These events then coexist with how my parents react when gays or lesbians are featured on the news for a number of awards they achieve like Kevin Balot, who won the title Miss International Queen 2012 in Thailand, and Charice Pempengco, who amidst her confession of being a lesbian still stands up proud until now and who was even given more breaks than when she was still that pretty, little girl growling her way up to Madisons Garden. These two personalities which love stories I have heard and watched on Gandang Gabi Vice, Vice Gandas show, were clear to me, a firm hold on their own sexuality. Kevin Balot, born a male, undergone operations transforming him into a beautiful lady, while Charice Pempengco, although had not undergone operations, has fully admitted herself preferring girls instead of boys. I have not been updated about the formers love life. As what I know the latter, rumors tell she has been engaged to her girlfriend Alyssa Quijano. When Aiza Seguerra, who was also a lesbian, had her concert, Charice and she had the chance to jam together thus created impressions on the people about their duo. Others jested about them singing Aizas song Anonng Nangyari sa Ating Dalawa on their next concerts because of the fact that these once two ladies already grew up to be gentlemen.

People had set two sides about this. Some agree and some disagree. This thus all boiled down to one mind, which was mine, and which often made me ponder on what side to take on; would it be the traditional (moral) side, which do not favor people loving their same kind or the liberal (immoral) side, which favors same sex relationships? What is same sex relationship? Wikipedia defines this as a relationship between two persons of the same sexfrom romantic and sexual, to non-romantic close relationships. For this article, I will be laying my opinion based on the ordinary romantic relationship (boyfriend-boyfriend, girlfriend-girlfriend) relationships. Really--why do people disagree about same sex relationships? The Holy Spirit Interactive (HSI) Youth, an online blog, believe that a man and a woman possess differences that only each other can fulfill. I would want to relate this to the quote which has the thought that each of has our own wings that when we finally meet our pair, we would already be complete, thus we can already have a pair of wings through our lifetime partner. It points out that if men pair with men and women with women, the differences would not be fulfilled as both men and both women have the same differences. Engaging in these kinds of relationships, according to them, is one of the most unlikeable situations a person can be in. He or she can be put to shame and humiliation thus can cause him or her instability, might make him a worrier, anxious and conscious. The HSI Youth think these people would have no cure, no future and no hope. This for them is also only a lack of emotional maturity...a lack of an adult role modeland also because of self-centeredness common at the stage of adolescence. In the Holy Bible, Leviticus 20:13 stated that "If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them". This might be one of those passages which people refer to upon dealing with arguments about same sex relationships, especially those which are not in favor of it.

On the other hand, there are people who do not stop this kind of love from being shared or from being engaged in. Other use the Bible passage from the Gospel of John 13: 34-35: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another". This gives the other side a hint that truly God promotes love for all even those who have the same sexes. By that also, this passage and the faith that God loves us all no matter who we are, what we are and what we become reassures that He would never leave us, even those who alter their sexes and genders. The Bible also promotes the sayings Do not judge or you too will be judged.. (Matthew 7:1) and Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you.. which therefore strays all the judgments of the straight people away. This thus does not encourage verdicts upon the men and women who want to prefer to pair themselves with the same sex. As for me, I am not against these people. They have their minds of their own and we would not get anything if we stop them from feeling and keeping the kind of love not usual to us. We might be pleased with how we will see if they act accordingly but still this would not fully satisfy us. Why would we bother stop them when at the first place, we have no right to? They do not do anything to make us feel were different from them so we should do things that would discriminate them. I know a lot of women who paired themselves with men and then just broke up. I mean, break ups are normal, however, I have thought that these love stories may have lesser chances of ending if only the couple would be compatible with each other, and that puts us to the reality that maybe other men do belong to other men and women to other women. Abuses, pains or hurts may also be lessened if same sex relationship would then be proven effective and acceptable despite judgments from those who abhor it.

Back to the statement being imprisoned in ones body, I now have already pondered, that it was a metaphor of ones soul yearning for freedom in defining his or her gender irrelevant of his or her sex. It sounded freaky because I once thought that the body and the soul never had separated each other, which now I feel is already vague. A lot of people I see and few people I know seemed so disconnected with themselves. They seemed like incomplete and messed up, especially those who are not yet ready or have not yet admitted their real sexuality. I feel, as I have thought of this myself, that people not recognizing what their real genders are can be more prone to any complications like maybe committing crimes or whatsoever. Bottom line is that, we know ourselves, that feelings that are hid can burst out for some time and burst here I mean is that which can result to a bigger explosion, something that could not be stopped. If put into Visayan terms, relating it to the lyrics of a rap song Ang gugma ko kanimo, gauros-uros. Kakala-kala di kona maantos... Both ones sexuality and love for the same sex can be relevant to this. One, in order to satisfy him or her, to be relieved, needs to do everything to express and execute it. Besides, same sex relationship may help the Philippines develop as the number of children per year may be lessened because of this or so I thought. However, seriously, people engaged in these relationships do not blabber about us nor do they do us harm. Conservative people may worry about our future generation upon viewing these couples as their only future role models but those kinds of choices, upon following them are the future generations decisions. Kada Cabeza es un Mundo or in English, Each mind has its own world. We have different, unique. We should care about our own businesses and them, theirs. For me, setting standards of a good relationship does not reflect on how perfect the couple and their situations are. Moreover, everybody is imperfect. We are only entitled to our own opinions, yet not entitled upon controlling others lives.

References HSI Youth. May the Spirit be with You. Same Sex Love: Right or Wrong. (2004) Holy Spirit Interactive Youth: Fifty Questions on Love and Life [Internet] Available at

http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/youth/loveandlife/08.asp

Yahoo! Answers. Society and Culture. Undecided Question. (2013) [Internet] Available at http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130424133808AAh1GFx

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