Babaylans were pre-colonial Filipino spiritual leaders, many of them queer individuals called Asogs and Bayogins. Spanish colonizers killed them to impose Catholic rule and erase indigenous queer spiritual traditions from Filipino culture.
And I'm talking about the Babaylans.
Correct, exactly. Yeah, exactly. When the Spaniards came and there was the Catholic agenda and there was the binary agenda, yeah, they introduced, yeah, to use to basically, um, uphold the imperialism in the imperial country, which is Spain.
So what's your opinion on that? Because according to history, yeah, the Babaylans were singled out and were killed.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm talking also Babaylans is the occupation, are the shamans. Yeah. And part of the Babaylans were the Asogs and the Bayugins, who were the queer identities that existed before the Spanish came.
So I think they needed, uh, something to vilify for, for their, um, uh, motive to, you know, so they can get what they want. Of course, when they would introduce, um, Catholicism or Christianity, then they would have to say probably that, oh, that's, that's evil. This is how it is. Again, the belief system of the Babaylans have already worked and already acknowledges that it's queer. So this is where I think when religion has been used to gain political power. But I would argue kase na supposedly that whatever Spain did, which for me personally, I already forgave them. But some would even argue that that was the gift that they gave it Christianity. Uh, yeah, look at Cebu. Um, perhaps, but I think I would— I also kind of— it would be better to acknowledge that Spain was instrumental of deleting a lot of our culture, you know, like they, they wiped out, as you've said, killed a lot of babaylans, you know, um, because they needed a common— we can't fix that, but at least we can learn from, from what has happened before.
I think what I've learned is that, you know, the fact that the Asoks and the Bayogins, some of them became shamans, that we had spirituality. Ah, as LGBTQIA+ people, it wasn't a question about whether or not they converted to Catholicism, but in the beginning they already had a belief system. Correct. And we were part of that. I mean, I mean, the queer— our queer ancestors were already part of a religious practice. And so for me, it wasn't— it isn't a question about spirituality, but it's a fact that during— when imperialism happens, you know, um, LGBTQIA+ people are marginalized, especially in a religious context.
