Vicente Sotto recently criticized a Department of Education memo that asked schools to possibly observe Pride Month each June by comparing the month to the deadly sin of pride, according to Pink News.
In addition to his misinterpretation of what Pride means, he also said that schools recognizing Pride Month would confuse children and that Pride is the “head of Satan.” Sotto expressed worries that Pride Month will be “lumped together” with Women’s Month, Human Rights Month, and other events that are designed to end violence against minorities, all events that the Board of Education also proposed. He believes that the other events are a “good undertaking” but, he said, “if something like that got in, suddenly there’s a Pride month… as far as I know, Pride is one of the seven deadly sins.” He hopes that the Board of Education will avoid a controversy such as this.
Gay Pride is so often mistaken as meaning that people are proud of being gay, but Pride is, as we know, about overcoming the tremendous obstacles that LGBT people have had to tackle to feel accepted in society. Sotto doesn’t understand this and took a biblical approach which is why he believes that schools recognizing Pride Month would be controversial instead of a way to show students that LGBT people deserve equal treatment.
The Board of Education stressed the fact that school participation in Pride Month is completely optional and that nobody should feel obligated to participate in it. While I think it would be nice for schools to show their acceptance of LGBT people, if people think that it would do more harm than good, then they shouldn’t participate. Hopefully attitudes will change in the Philippines because Pride, in my opinion, is a wonderful thing that helps spread acceptance. Sotto didn’t ban Pride participation, so I’m hoping that some schools do participate. After all, the Philippines has been listed as one of the most gay-friendly countries in Southeast Asia.
Source: Pink News
What a dumbass