EDITORIAL - A joke in bad taste

Presidential candidate Isko Domagoso seems to have rubbed a certain demographic the wrong way.

During a recent rally in Butuan City, Domagoso seemed to imply that he was making his son available to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

"Sa ating mga LGBT, mamaya, ireregalo ko sa inyo si Joaquin. Libre ang booking pero tingin lang, walang kakainin," he said as a joke.

But it seems those whom he sought to entertain are not laughing.

Of course, we know it was said as a joke and that he didn’t mean it. However, it was still a tasteless joke that should not have been made in the first place.

For one reason, it makes him look like he was desperate enough to pimp out his son just to get some votes.

For another, he seems to be implying the LGBT community is after nothing but sex.

Always telling of his rags-to-riches history and his time growing up in the streets, Domagoso was quick to label his joke as a version of street slang, something that “arrogant” people would not understand. 

"We know ourselves. We know when and where to offend and alam nila na it’s joke time, it’s fun time and I’m speaking their language," he later told reporters.

While we are sure tasteless jokes do have their place in the street, Domagoso must not forget that he has left the streets behind and is running for the highest office of the land. As regards to speaking a particular “language” to certain people, Domagoso seems to forget the issues hounding the LGBT community.

Jokes that tend to demean or stereotype a certain group of people are best not mentioned and will not help him in his campaign.

The fact that he has defended this joke instead of apologizing for it shows that Domagoso doesn’t just realize where he went wrong, he may not fully understand what the LGBT community represents after all.