Gay language could come and go — KWF

MANILA, Philippines — Gay language in the Philippines, or “beki speak” as some call it, has helped promote empowerment and inclusiveness among members of the LGBT community.

But like other slang languages, it may just come and go.

Gay language has promoted a sense of belongingness for the so-called third gender, said anthropologist and University of the Philippines-Diliman chancellor Michael Tan.

“Unlike before that being called ‘bakla’ (gay in Filipino) is an insult, today being called ‘bakla’ gives someone that sense of pride,” Tan said.

He also emphasized that it is not the language that gives gays a sense of power, but it is their being called “cultural brokers” or those that make breakthroughs in culture.

However, Tan said that being a slang language, gay lingo could not also be integrated and formalized in the national language.

“The problem with slang languange is they constantly change… You cannot write a textbook out of it,” he told The STAR.

Tan hoped that language institutions, like the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), could document words from gay language and somehow, include these in the Filipino language.

KWF commissioner Purificacion de Lima agreed with Tan, saying that gay language could be included “accidentally or incidentally, but not formally.”

Students, for example, could use gay language in discussion and even in writing, but it is still the formal language that would be used in schools, she pointed out.

“The realm of being of these words is not yet clear, they are not even included in the dictionary yet,” De Lima said.

The use of gay language would not be restricted, De Lima pointed out, but added that it could just fade away and be replaced.

Tan, being this year’s speaker of the KWF’s fourth Norberto Romualdez Lecture, discussed gay language and its effects on sexuality and society.

He hoped that discussions on gay language could be held in the academe, the media and even on social media.