This year's Manila Pride March is set for December 8, 2012. The theme for this year is SARI-SALI: Pride in Action, which is focused on try community involvement in the fight for LGBT rights. And when I say community, I'm not just referring to those individuals who identify as LGBT, but also all those who support the community and consider themselves friends for LGBTs.
More than any other event in the yearly LGBT calendar, the annual Pride March is one that I will always consider to be more important than all others. Sure, all those color-themed parties are fun in their own right, but there are those years when I just don't feel like going. But the Pride March is different - and ever since I started marching in 2009, I've always felt like the march is a mandatory activity that I absolutely need to go to.
The Pride March is one of the greatest political statements we as a community can make to remind our government and everyone else in this country that we exist and that we deserve fair and equal treatment in the eyes of the law, I don't care how the march may not seem "fashionable" to you or how "uncool" it may seem. It's the one time of the year when it's more important for you to get involved. Without the full and visible support of the community, we'll never make any true headway with our government. And we're not even talking about the big ticket items like gay marriage. Even just the more basic items of non-discrimination and proper rights due when a partner is hospitalized and such.
If you're still in the closet, then you can still march while wearing a mask. If you don't want to appear on TV, you may be exaggerating things - it's not like every person in the march gets dedicated screen time. The news crews just take a few wide shots of the march as part of it goes by and splices a few clips as background material for the news round-up for the day.
So March with us on December 8. Help remind everyone of the importance and validity of gay rights.
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