[EXCLUSIVE] LGBTQIA+ couple calls out hate over 'Lupang Hinirang' video appearance

In an exclusive interview with DAILY TRIBUNE Life, lesbian couple Ida Ramos and Sandy Aloba shared their thoughts on the hate and vitriol directed at the LGBTQIA+ community following their two-second appearance in the Lupang Hinirang video produced by the Department of Education.

"First of all, it's kind of laughable that this video has been played all over for 2 years, and only now is the expected bigoted hatred being amplified for clicks and hits," the couple said. "It honestly doesn't surprise us that so-called mainstream media have now picked up on a few YouTube comments to rage bait an entire nation. We're not saying that seeing our faces plastered all over doesn't affect us. Of course it does. But it's nothing new. We've been together 30years and we've heard it all, it's all been said to us."

Addressing the public's fear and outcry over their appearance in the Lupang Hinirang video, the couple said: "The video was obviously well thought out, and they tried their best for marginalized communities to be represented --IPs, athletes, women, etc. But 2 seconds out of a 2 minute plus video showing LGBTQ plus representation has devolved into the very backward, ignorant, and untrue(!) notion that homosexuality is contagious. That somehow children seeing a Pride flag will automatically turn them gay. That 2 seconds of our faces on screen is somehow now an agenda to turn everyone gay."

Ramos and Aldoba added: "We all know that's not the way it works. If seeing a Pride flag will make your kid queer, then maybe that kid is already queer to begin with. So you should step up and be a good parent, and accept and love that child for who they are. Because a straight child is a straight child even if you feed them rainbows."

The couple further stressed: "The agenda is acceptance, inclusivity, and diversity. The agenda is that gay people exist and we deserve basic respect and dignity like every other human being. Won't we think of the children most comments say. We are. Because somehow, somewhere, off in a far-flung tiny rural school, a little gay boy will see this and maybe think it's okay to be who he is. And that he deserves respect because of it."