Bulatlat’s pride stories lend color to space claimed in literature, faith, and policy

CHEERS TO Bulatlat for its reports that uphold pride, offering a refreshing, radical, and deeply human take on LGBTQIA+ lives and struggles. At a time when much of mainstream coverage still leans on event-based narratives, Bulatlat delivered stories about literature, religion, and local governance, demonstrating what inclusive, community-grounded journalism can look like during Pride Month and beyond.

These were stories that did not just cover Pride, but carried it.

Other media outlets did report on updates to the SOGIESC Equality Bill and tracked local and national events celebrating Pride throughout the month of June. But Bulatlat’s reports stood apart for their thematic focus and narrative depth, featuring intimate, textured accounts of how queerness is lived and experienced daily, intersecting with the ordinary everyday life. 

On July 1, Dominic Gutoman of Bulatlat featured children’s book author Trist’n Buenaflor, whose work blends radical imagination with grounded political struggle. Writing from the vantage point of the urban poor, rural communities, and activist frontlines, Buenaflor sees children not as passive audiences but as citizens with the right to engage in social issues. His stories—such as Koronang Santan and Ang Asul na Kumot—deal not only with queer identity but with collective action, climate justice, emotional literacy, and activism, always rooted in a deep intersectional and class-conscious framework.

The piece traced Buenaflor’s activism back to his college years at UP Baguio, shaped by protests against extrajudicial killings and solidarity with Lumad students. He connects his queerness with Christian faith, drawing on theology to affirm that diversity beyond binaries is also divine. 

Meanwhile, a June 30 piece tackled the complex and often fraught intersection of queerness and faith. Through intimate profiles of LGBTQIA+ advocates working within religious spaces, Bulatlat gave the foreground to voices that are often sidelined. The report did not shy away from contradiction, it embraced the tension between belief and institutional exclusion, showing how queer faithful continue to push for affirmation and reform.

Donavie Gud of Bulatlat cited Rev. Jessa Rebenito, a trans man and priest, and Aster (real name withheld), a woman priest, both in the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, whose ministries are built on both spiritual service and gender advocacy.

Taking on a more policy-focused angle, the alternative news site on June 28, also mapped out initiatives from various local government units, such as Quezon City’s Right to Care card and local anti-discrimination ordinances in Cebu, Davao, and other areas. More than a routine roundup, the piece served as both documentation and advocacy, highlighting and encouraging exploration of possibilities for local leaders and communities to work together toward inclusion.

Marjuice Destinado and Ruth Nacional highlighted Quezon City’s pioneering Right to Care card, then tracked similar developments in San Juan and Pasig, which have passed similar ordinances. Cebu City’s Kadangpan Project delivers legal and psychosocial support, while Mandaue collaborates with civil society and international groups to develop inclusive implementation guidelines.

These reports stood out for their narrative richness and contextual depth. Rather than simply celebrating Pride Month as a one-off event, Bulatlat approached it as a lived reality—situating stories in broader social, cultural, and political frames. They centered LGBTQIA+ individuals not as issues or headlines, but as protagonists in their own stories.

Together, these stories reflect an evolving media landscape, one that is increasingly aware of the need to represent queer lives not just during Pride Month, but every month all year round.