LGBTQIA+ candidate pasok sa Mister and Miss Chinatown pageant

Vince Aseron/ARMIN P. ADINA

PARA sa maraming Pilipino, konserbatibo ang Filipino-Chinese community. Ngunit nais itong pasinungalingan ng Mister and Miss Chinatown pageant, ayon kay ChinoyTV President Alvin Tan, producer ng taunang patimpalak.

“We want to show to the public that the ‘Chinoy’ community now [is] starting to be open,” sinabi niya sa ilang kawani ng midya sa press presentation ng 20 kalahok ngayong taon sa Red Carpet ng Shangri-la Plaza sa Mandaluyong noong Okt. 16.

Ibinahagi din niyang kasali ngayong taon ang unang kandidato mula sa LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and others) community, si Vince Aseron mula sa Parañaque City.

Sinabi niya sa Inquirer sa isang online interview na isa siyang “androgynous-femme presenting non-binary” ngunit balewala sa kanya kung gagamitan ng mga panghalip na “he/him.”

“It has been an ultimate dream of mine to join pageants to be seen on stage and to be defined as ‘beautiful,’” ani Aseron. Ngunit napagtanto umano niyang “joining a pageant could be unimaginable” dahil sa heteronormative standards sa mga natirang patimpalak.

Sampung dilag ang magtatagisan para sa korona ng Miss Chinatown./ARMIN P. ADINA

Nalaman ni Aseron na may Mister and Miss Chinatown pageant noong 2014, sa gulang na 15 taon. At habang pinanonood ang patimpalak sa TV, nangarap din siyang maging kalahok sa contest para sa mga Chinoy na katulad niya balang araw. “However, I knew that there was a quintessential standard of masculinity in male pageantry,” aniya.

Nagkaraoon siya ng lakas ng loob nang malaman niya makaraan ang patimpalak noong 2020 na nagsimula nang maghanap ang organisasyon ng “Chinoy who could ‘break barriers’” sa Instagram ng pagant. “In the next year, I auditioned. [But] the edition was cancelled and it left me a year hanging if I was accepted or not. With the power of dreams and believing that nothing is impossible, my application was accepted for the 2022 edition making me the first openly LGBTQIA+ candidate for [Mister and Miss] Chinatown Philippines,” Aseron shared.

Sinabi ni Tan, na siya ring namumuno sa patimpalak, na naghahanap ang pageant ng “representation of the modern Chinoy, basically someone who’s not just your typical Chinoy who’s into business in the corporate world, but rather a Chinoy who is very open to the modern times, a Chinoy who is creative, a Chinoy who’s already diverse.”

Nakasalang sa entablado ang 10 Mister Chinatown candidates./ARMIN P. ADINA

Para kay Aseron, hindi lamang para sa sarili ang ginawa niyang pagsali. “I want to champion for others. I advocate for a safe space for LGBTQ+ Chinoys in the Filipino-Chinese community because I know what it means to be LGBTQ+ in our community. In this pageant, I was given the chance to share my story on how my family and friends practiced their Chinoy values by respecting all kinds of people without excluding the LGBTQ+ community and how I can promote love, respect, and inclusivity in a Chinoy set-up,” inilahad niya.

Umaasa siyang mahihikayat ang mga kapwa niyang Chinoy na LGBTQIA+ na maglingkod kahit pa pakiramdam nila ay “they were never the standard.”

Batid niyang may bumabatikos sa pagtanggap sa kanya sa patimpalak, na kesyo hindi siya nararapat sa “Mister” man o “Miss” na kategorya.

“The pageant does not exclude an LGBTQ+ aspirants. The organization has eliminated the antiquated requirements because [Mister and Miss Chinatown] is redefining what it means to be purposeful. As an LGBTQ+ Chinoy, I am here because of my purpose—a purpose to promote mutual respect and inclusivity in the face of modernity. With that, I hope that my detractors would reassess what it means to join a pageant and what a specific pageant is standing for,” hinayag ni Aseron.

ChinoyTV President Alvin Tan (kaliwa) at Emmy award-winning director Mark Carandang/ARMIN P. ADINA

Makakalaban niya ang siyam na iba pa sa dibisyong panlalaki, habang 10 naman ang kandidata sa dibisyong pambabae. Lahat sila ipinakilala sa unang dalawang episodes ng four-part docuseries na “Chinese by Blood, Filipino by Heart” sa CNN Philippines, na nagsimula noong Okt. 16.

Direktor ng docuseries si Emmy award-winning Filipino-American director Mark Carandang, na nagsabing itatampok ang coronation night sa ikaapat na episode, nakapaloob sa documentary format. Itatanghal ang final competition sa The Theatre at Solaire ng Solaire Resort and Casino sa Parañaque City sa Okt. 31, at mapapanood sa ChinoyTV sa CNN Philippines sa Nob. 13, alas-8 ng gabi.