Speaking before the Filipino community in Tokyo last night, President Rodrigo Duterte said that he was able to “cure” himself of being gay, a few days before June’s Pride Month.
Duterte made the controversial statement while speaking at the Japanese capital’s Palace Hotel, where he also asked the audience if they think Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, one of his most vocal critics, is gay.
Duterte asked those in the crowd to raise their hands if they were gay, to which some did. He then said: “I was gay before. Live on, gays of the Philippines!”
He added, “Those who are gay are able to tell [if a person is also gay]. So you, gays, I ask you: what is Trillanes?”
The crowd answered in chorus: “Gay!”
Duterte also told a story about a time when a person sat beside him and told him that Trillanes is gay. He, however, did not say when or where he met said person.
The president went on to say that this individual told him to ask any gay person to watch Trillanes’ movements so that the president could know if Trillanes was gay, claiming that any gay person could tell if a person is gay or not.
Duterte said, “No wonder. Trillanes and I are the same, except I was able to cure myself.”
The crowd laughed, and the president followed that up by saying he became somewhat straight when he married Elizabeth Zimmerman. Their marriage was annulled in 2000.
“But when I saw mutya, I said, this is it. Son of a bitch. I became a man again,” he said, referring to his long-time partner Honeylet Avanceña, a runner-up in the 1988 Mutya ng Dabaw beauty pageant.
“For me, I only [want] beautiful [women] now, I don’t want handsome [men] anymore. Beautiful [women] only,” he added.
Duterte’s remark comes after Trillanes said on Monday that Duterte was the “worst” president in the country’s history. He also denied on that same day that he worked with Peter Advincula, the self-proclaimed star of the controversial Ang Totoong Narco List (The Real Narco List) videos. Advincula claimed that the videos were produced by Trillanes and other opposition lawmakers to oust Duterte from the presidency.
The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies being gay, not as a mental illness or sickness, but as a sexual orientation. However, netizens didn’t need to cite the international health institution to denounce Duterte’s statement on Twitter.
“Mr President, being gay is not a disorder to be cured. You know what needs curing instead? Your antisocial narcissistic personality disorder,” said @jcpunongbayan.
Mr President, being gay is not a disorder to be cured. You know what needs curing instead? Your antisocial narcissistic personality disorder. 🙄https://t.co/p2z7r3RhMm
— JC Punongbayan, PhD (@jcpunongbayan) May 31, 2019
Actor Juan Miguel Severo told Duterte to “shut up.”
Another netizen using the handle @alecwatanabe sarcastically wrote: “SO BEING GAY IS A DISEASE THANK YOU DUTERTE FOR BEING SUCH AN INSPIRATION TO ALL OF US”
https://twitter.com/alecwatanabe/status/1134102139553308672
Happy Pride🌈Month starting tomorrow, Philippines🇵🇭! Your president💩 is a fungal infection. https://t.co/g3WmKGH7Hy
— 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐊𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐲 (@krizzy_kalerqui) May 31, 2019
Former Quezon provincial congressman and opposition senatorial candidate Erin Tañada said: “Mr. President, if you are gay, it doesn’t mean you are sick. You are like any other person that have choices in life. We should respect each other’s choices and not condemn people whose choices do not conform with yours. We should embrace them.”
Mr. President, if you are gay, it doesn’t mean you are sick. You are are like any other person that have choices in life. We should respect each other’s choices and not condemn people whose choices do not conform with yours. We should embrace them https://t.co/USbfT8jvoN
— Erin Tañada (@erintanada) May 31, 2019
@poljeffrey_ also took time to explain to a netizen what was wrong with Duterte’s statement. “(1) He used the term ‘gay’ to ridicule Trillanes; (2) By saying ‘cured’, he was stating that being gay is a disease/illness.You may be a supporter of Duterte, but when he’s wrong on something, you can call him out.”
What's wrong?
(1) He used the term "gay" to ridicule Trillanes
(2) By saying "nagamot", he was stating that being gay is a disease/illness.You may be a supporter of Duterte, pero pag may mali naman yang presidente nyo, pwede naman icall-out.
— PoL (@poljeffrey_) May 31, 2019
This isn’t the first time Duterte has referred to a political enemy as gay, which he seems to consider an insult or a slur. He called former presidential candidate Mar Roxas “gay” in April 2016 when the latter questioned Duterte’s anti-illegal drug campaign where he promised ridding the country of crime and drugs in just six months.
In April, Duterte attacked former solicitor general Florin “Pilo” Hilbay by calling him “gay” and alleged that “he assigned so many gay men to his office” back when he was solicitor general. Hilbay has denied the president’s accusations but said there was nothing wrong with being gay.
“Unlike the president, I don’t see being a member of the LGBTQIA community as a mistake or a source of shame,” Hilbay said in a tweet he posted in April. “His display of bigotry is the reason why people choose to hide in the shadows, living in fear, instead of accepting their personal truth.”
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