“Girl, Bi, Bakla, Tomboy: The Intersectionality of Sexuality, Gender, and Class in

Urban Poor Contexts”

           Worldwide, discrimination against lesbian and homosexual men—also known as
heterosexism or sexual prejudice—remains a concern. In Ceperiano et al. (2016) article “Girl,
Bi, Bakla, Tomboy: The Intersectionality of Sexuality, Gender, and Class in Urban Poor
Contexts”, he conducted research into the lives of four different individuals with different
sexual orientations. Ceperiano et al. (2016) used four case narratives and examined the
experiences of a bisexual (masculine gay man), bakla (feminine gay man), tomboy
(masculine lesbian), and girl (feminine lesbian) in urban poor contexts. This article opens the
reality to its reader because the authors used real-life examples and all information leads
directly to the purpose of the study.
            The research explores how sexual orientation, gender, and class relate to shape the
particular forms of prejudice that lesbian and gay men in urban impoverished Filipino
communities have. Unique themes include: how lesbian and gay identities and relationships
are invisibilized; how non-normative gender expressions cause overt discrimination; how the
bakla and tomboy identities intersect and fuse to create a distinct form of social inequality
that constructs these identities as forms of moral degradation; and how providing for the
family can facilitate acceptance given the strong adherence to heteronormative gender norms.
The authors conducted in-depth interviews with the four participants, along with utilizing
intersectionality as a theoretical framework to argue that people's multiple and intersecting
social identities need to be taken into consideration to understand how individuals experience
prejudice. According to the authors, discrimination against the bakla and tomboy identities
have a different meaning and experience than prejudice against lesbian and gay identities
since these social identities combine gender, sexuality, and class because the terms "tomboy"
and "bakla" are unique to the cultural environment of the Philippines since they do not denote
a single social identity. The bakla is a low-income homosexual male, while the tomboy is a
low-income lesbian who is masculine. It becomes a strategy for masculine gay men or
bisexuals to escape discrimination in the community by being manly. Being able to make
money and thus provide becomes a means of gaining family acceptability. Being in a
relationship with a tomboy lowers the status of the feminine lesbian or girl since it is
perceived that she is lowering herself even further.
            Comparatively speaking to other research, bakla is labeled to them because of their
everyday gender performance and not because they are low-income homosexual males,
though this may change and another explanation may emerge with further research. The
complex experience of prejudice among Filipino LGB, however, is not fully reflected or
represented by this research, which solely focuses on four individuals who reside in urban
poor areas. They may involve more people, which could help provide a fuller picture of each
designated intersection. Their socioeconomic status shapes their experience and ability to
face various forms of prejudice, and they may also incorporate additional characteristics like
religion and geography. Overall, the authors did a great job because they answer the problem
“How do the intersections of sexuality, gender, and class shape the experiences of
discrimination of urban poor Filipino lesbian and gay men?”.  We can see in the study how
sexuality, gender, and class shape their experiences of discrimination.
Therefore, this research has had a significant influence on me since it enabled me to
realize that people in the LGBT community who come from low-income families must face
harsher and ruder prejudice from others. I plan on recommending this study to my fellow
students and everyone so that they are all aware of the difficulties and effects of the prejudice
that some of us continually exhibit towards members of the LGBT community.