S1E25: Poor, elderly drag queens in conservative Philippines get a lifeline

Oct 5, 2023

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Many are ostracised by families and live in slums, but a younger generation is coming to their aid.

Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times chats with ST’s correspondents in the Asia-Pacific, the US and Europe, about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises.

In this 25th episode, ST’s new foreign editor Li Xueying takes over the hosting duties from our previous show presenter Bhagyashree Garekar, who will be the incoming US bureau chief for ST in Washington.

Xueying chats with ST’s Philippines correspondent Mara Cepeda about the country’s ‘Golden Gays’.

They are a community of elderly people of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other sexualities (LGBTQ+) in their 60s to 80s, who have been living together and doing pageant shows to help make ends meet. They also belong to the non-profit organisation, The Home for the Golden Gays, established in 2002 by the late Aids activist and politician Justo Justo to provide permanent shelter for ageing LGBTQ+ members.

But when Mr Justo died in 2012, his family evicted the Golden Gays, who affectionately call themselves ‘lolas’ or grandmothers. Nine of them ended up living in a cramped, two-bedroom apartment in the slums of Pasay City, also near Manila, while the rest rented rooms with the same squalid living conditions.

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:55 What it was like to visit the Golden Gays’ rented house in the slums of Pasay City, Philippines

4:55 The unique challenges that they face (as opposed to other needy elderly Filipinos?); social safety net for such demographics

7:45 Shifts in attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community; how pop culture is driving the change

12:13 Concerns that this new heightened profile of the drag queens could lead to a backlash from more conservative elements in society?