Jan 30, 2008

[Pinoy Gay Blogs] What Makes a Gay Blogger?

Note to Readers - I notice that this post still gets a lot of traffic from the web even though it was first published in 2008. Unfortunately, Pinoy Gay Blogs no longer exists as a site and so an actual list of local LGBT blogs is not readily available. Nishiboy maintains a PLU Blog List that serves a similar purpose. There are probably a few other lists out there, but none of them appear to be active, at least for now. Hope this helps!

Flickr: BůřpSÉäN™ - Rainbow flags
Rainbow flags
by BůřpSÉäN™.


With a new year tends to come a lot of involuntary introspection and thinking, if there is such a thing. I guess it's just human nature to reflect on everything that had happened before as one plans ahead.

With the coming of 2008, I found myself unable to immediately jump back into my Pinoy Gay Blogs reviews without first addressing a question that's been mildly nagging me - What makes someone a Pinoy Gay Blogger? As much as the question seems easy enough to understand, especially when you start going over the various blogs listed on the Pinoy Gay Blogs List thus far, I thought it would be interesting to define this first in lieu of a blog review this month.

We can go about this process in many ways, but of course the geek in me has me going by definitions and terms initially.

First comes the term Pinoy, which seems easy enough. As long as you're Filipino in terms of nationality / citizenship and such, you're pretty much good to go. I could go into the technical side of defining what makes you "Filipino" as based on our constitution, which is pretty liberal compared to most countries. You remember your old Araling Panlipunan classes, right? As long as (1) you were born on Philippine soil or (2) have at least one Filipino parent, you are pretty much entitled to claiming citizenship. It's not just about residency, which supports our many out-of-country Pinoy Gay Bloggers out there.

Then comes the term Gay, which does seem to be the most important one. There are so many types and levels to homosexuality, that a precise definition isn't quite possible. It might be best to say that this is for people who simply, well, aren't straight / heterosexual. As long as you like guys and whether or not that includes wanting to be a girl, you're pretty much gay in my book. Let's not get started on the confusion over the terms "gay" and "bisexual" right now and just focus on the whole non-straightness of all this.

Lastly comes the term Blogger,which means someone who maintains a weblog or online journal. The term blog is pretty widely used today and has grown to include sites that before would just be considered to be personal websites but are now just lumped together with all other blogs. As long as you are actively updating a site about your life, whether or not you are using a free service or hosting your own domain, you fit the bill.

Based on this definition, the focus is more on the person behind the blog and not so much the blog itself. I get this feeling that people are worried that in order to be on the Pinoy Gay Blogs list, you need to have a blog that focuses or features only overtly gay content. This blog, The Geeky Guide to Nearly Everything fits the above definition but when most people first visit it, it may not seem like a stereotypically "gay" blog since I don't have too many rainbows nor do I write solely about gay-related issues and events. There's nothing wrong with doing that - it's just that there's more to it than just content.

I hope this helps encourage more people to sign up for the list and allow themselves to be counted as proud Pinoy Gay Bloggers in this virtual community. As in all things, it's the people that are far more important than just the things we produce or the facades we put on.

Be Proud fellow Gay Bloggers!

4 comments:

  1. Mr. Geek,

    I am writing an article on Pinoy Gay Blogs. Is it ok to refer to your article?

    Would greatly appreciate it. :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Feel free to do so, just make sure to give full credit to the site.

    ReplyDelete
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