Gay Language
Abstract
Gay language which is sometimes called as “gay lingo” has achieved a high degree of acceptance in these recent years in the Philippines. Both gays and non-gays can be heard uttering gay expressions. It’s also spreading widely in our country. The propagation of this language and form of communication is unstoppable. But the question is “What is the main reason for using this kind of language?” This study will try to know about the origin, variables, theories and the effect of this gay lingo in Filipinos. We will interrogate people who use gay language and know from them the sense of dealing with it.
Introduction
Bakla and Binabae are familiar words in Filipino street-talk. But what about baklush, badaf, baklers? These are just some of confusing words for the average of Filipino speakers. These are terms heard “only in the Philippines”.
Gays have proven themselves in our society and they have exceled in several professions. Though, there are still widespread cases of discrimination. Looking back, gays are always facing unfair treatment of other people. They have become victims of condemnation—in school, office, churches and everywhere and these have been their daily battlegrounds. Because of this discrimination, it paved way to the creation of a code of communication which only gays could use; but because of its daily usage on parlors, comedy bars, sidewalks and other places where gays proliferate, people’s curiosity arose on what these words meant, eventually using it, thus the expansion of gay language. Some examples are “tara lafang”, “Tom Jones na ako”. Lafang means eat and Tom Jones means “gu-TOM” (hungry).
The gay language is now in the mainstream of Filipino consciousness and communication. As every day, a new term is added, the vocabulary expands and may one day grow into a language on its own.
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