‘Bading,’ Homosexual: Incorrect, Irrelevant

Screengrab from GMA News and Public Affairs official YouTube account.

JEERS TO GMA-7’s 24 Oras and Sun.Star Cebu for erroneously and unnecessarily tagging their news subjects as “bading” and “homosexual.”

24 Oras  misidentified in a report the transgender woman who was killed, stuffed in a suitcase and dumped along the Cavite Expressway, Coastal Road,  Pasay City (“Bangkay ng bading isinisiksik sa maleta at itinapon sa Cavitex,” June 4, 2016). The report used “bading” in referring to the victim. “Bading” in Philippine usage is a pejorative term used to describe male homosexuals. In life, however, the victim, Ashley Ann Reilly, referred to herself as a transgender. Transgenders, according to the US group Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), are “people who were assigned male at birth but (who) identify and live as a woman.”

On June 1, Sun.Star Cebu reported that the body of a man had been found stuffed in a garbage bag in San Fernando town in Cebu. A note which said “Tulisan ko (I’m a robber), DU30″ was pinned on the body. (“Dead man in trash bag identified,” June 1, 2016). Sun.Star Cebu identified the victim as “single and homosexual.” The use of the word homosexual to describe the subject was unnecessary and tended to suggest that the victim had been killed for his sexual preference.

While there is acceptance of the LGBT community in the Philippines, gender stereotyping still persists, especially in the press, and sometimes leads to hate speech and violence.