Was Rizal Gay?

J. Neil C. Garcia
Uni versi ty of th e Ph i l i ppi nes
Di l i man, QuezonCi ty

Th ere i s someth i ng mal i ci ous about th i s questi onæasked as i t h as been on vari ous occasi ons by
both sch olars and wags, wh ose i nterest i n th e subject ranges from th e bl atantl y pol i ti cal to th e
faceti ousl y absurd. Indeed, of al l Fi l i pi no i cons, Ri zal proves to be th e fai rest game as far as
th i s as wel l as si mi lar l i nes of i nquiry are concerned: wh i l e I was attendi ng an i nternati onal
poetry festival i n Tai pei l ate l ast yea r, a ki nd and i nquisi ti ve poet from Kual a Lumpur asked
me i f i t was true th at Jose Ri zal wa s th e fath er of Adol f Hi tl er ! Apparentl y, a Fi l i pi no
academi c h ad del i vered a paper at a conference i n Mal aysi a a decade or two ago, and before an
audi ence of Ri zali sts from th e regi on, h ad bravel y proposed such a quai nt and unth inkabl e
th i ng !

But far from bei ng quai nt or unth inkabl e, th e i dea th at Ri zal coul d h ave been a h omosexual
meri ts, I th i nk, a braver and sl i ghtl y more seri ous examinati on, th ough we must admi t i t i s one
wh i ch necessari l y proceeds, even under th e best of ci rcumstances, out of a ki nd of sch olarl y
mal i ceæa mal i ce th at i s i nescapabl e, for i t i s th e mal i ce of presumi ng th at such a questi on coul d
h ave been i ntell i gi bl e or rel evant to Ri zal at al l . In th i s sh ort presentati on, I wi l l h umor th e
questi on " Was Ri zal gay ?" i f onl y to open up to di scussi on th e vari ous conditi ons under wh i ch
th i s questi on coul d be sensibl y asked, as wel l as th e vari ous conditi ons under wh i ch th i s questi on
coul d be sensibl y answered. In oth er words, I wi sh us to examine just wh at we must consider wh en
we i nquire i nto gender and sexual i ty, duri ng Ri zal's " l i fe and ti mes" as wel l asæi t may be
di fficul t to accept th i s at th e outsetæour own.

Someti me duri ng th e Centenni al of Ri zal 's martyrdom, Isagani R. Cruz, l ocal pop-cul ture
provocateur and professor of l i terature and Ph i l ippi ne studies at th e De La Sal l e Uni versi ty,
wrote a col umn for th e now-defunct Fi l mag: Fi l i pi no Ma ga zi n, sh ocki ngl y ti tl ed " Ba k l a ba si
Ri zal ?" 1

Th e answer to th i s questi on, i f Cruz i s to be bel i eved, i s a resoundi ng and categori cal " Yes ! " And
h e offers wh at h e cal l s " bi ograph i cal evi dence" i n order to arri ve at th i s questi on's confidentl y
affi rmati ve answer.

Fi rst, Ri zal was a ba k l a because h e was afraid of committi ng h i msel f to th e revoluti onary
cause. Second, Ri zal's k a ba kl a a n ma de i tself apparent i n h i s peri odi c " fai li ngs" i n h i s
rel ati onsh i ps wi th th e women to wh om h e was supposed to h ave been romanti cal l y l i nked.
Th i rd, Ri zal, unl i ke h i s compatri ots, di d not go " wench i ng" i n th e brothel s of Barcel ona and
Madrid (at l east, not very often). Fourth , Ri zal mi gh t not h ave even been th e fath er of
Joseph i ne's beni gh ted baby boy, si nceæparaph rasi ng noted Ri zali st h i stori an Ambeth
Ocampo's feel ings on th e matter of Ri zal's " di sputabl e paterni ty" æJoseph i ne woul d seem to
h ave beenroutinel y sexual l y abused and consequentl y i mpregnated by h er stepfath er.

Of course, th ese four " conjectures" h ardly qual ify as proof. Th ey are more l i kely th e end-resul ts
of wh at I can onl y descri be as a l a rgel y catty evi denti al procedure th at begs now to be
ch al lenged, i f onl y for i ts underl yi ng assumpti ons concerni ng wh at bei ng a ba k l a means: one, a
ba k l a cannot ever be a revoluti onary because h e i s essenti al l y spi nel ess and a coward; two,
fai l ing i n your rel ati onsh i ps wi th women makes you a ba k l a; th ree, a ba k l a cannot possibl y
h ave sex wi th women, not evenwh enth ey are wenches; and four, to be a ba k l a i s to be i mpotent
or at l east i ncapabl e of getting a woma npregnant.

Th e dubi ousnessæand utter stupidi tyæof th ese assumpti ons h ardly needs to be emph asi zed:
accordi ng to th em, basi cal l y, k a ba kl a a n i s th e negati on of everyth i ng good and desi rabl e i n
mascul i ni ty and i s h ence devoid of i ts own i nner substance and worth. Indeed, even i f I were to

Pilipinas #41 September 2003

2 Pilipinas #41 September 2003

ch ampi on th e cause of th e ba k l a and woul d l i ke to wi n someone as " bi g" and popular as Ri zal
over to my si de, I woul d noneth el ess bal k at Cruz's way of goi ng about such a task. Hi s
" bi ograph i cal evi dence" demonstrates noth ing oth er th an th e unfl atteri ng and sadl y nai ve
opi nion h e h ol ds of wh o (or wh at) a ba k l a i s.

In sayi ng th at I do not fi nd Cruz's meth od credibl e i n th e very l east, I am of course al so sayi ng

th at th ere i s a be tter way of maki ng th e project of ascertai ni ng Ri zal's " gender and sexual i ty"
work. And th i s meth od i nvolves, fi rst and foremost, aski ng i f th e questi on i tself i s sensibl e,
gi venth e h i stori cal peri od i n wh i ch I woul d wi sh i t to make sense.

Examini ng th e categori es one i s usi ng i n one's study of such sl i ppery " reali ti es" as sexual i ty and
gender i s th e necessary fi rst step, th en. Th i s i s because th e categori es we use are al ways cul ture-
bound and h i stori cal l y specifi c, and as such are never qui te neutral and " sci enti fi c" , l et al one
uni versal l y rel i abl e and i nsi gh tful . To ask i f Ri zal was a ba k l a, one h as, fi rst and foremost, to
be cl ear about wh at th e concept ba k l a meant at th e ti me and i n th e pl ace th at Ri zal l i ved. In
oth er words, th e way we understand ba k l a today most probabl y was not th e way people i n
th ese i sl ands a century ago understood i t. Th i s al one makes one's project more di fficul t th an i t
mi gh t h ave ori ginal l y appeared, for i t requires one to undertake a compreh ensi ve study of th e
" sex/gender system" of mi d-ni neteenth -century Ph i l ippi nesæi n particul ar, th e sexual and
gender categori es th at operated i n th e l i ves of th e Tagalog i l ustra dos, wh om Ri zal most
certai nl y was. Needless to say, such study i nvolves l ooking i nto a mi scel l any of Ri zal's own
wri tingsæl etters, arti cl es, novels, even an i ncompl ete autobi ograph yæand maki ng th ese
answer to a " h i stori ci st" cri tique. Among oth er th i ngs, an assi duous re-readi ng of th em wi th in a
conceptual h i story of gender and sexual i ty wi l l l end further credence to th e argument th at, as a
nati onal fi gure or " text" , Ri zal i s far fromsel f-evi dent, despite th e monoli th i c di scourses wh i ch
h ave come to subsume h i m over th e l ast century of Fi l i pi no nati onal i sm. Of th ese vari ous but
complementary di scourses, i t i s th ose th at make " presenti st" assumpti ons about Ri zal's
unprobl emati c mascul i ni ty a nd h eterosexual i ty th at cal l for th e most avi d unpacki ng h ere.

My own tentati ve fi ndings about th e " social semanti cs" of ba k l aæi n oth er words, th e career
th i s concept h as enjoyed i n Ph i l ippi ne soci al h i storyæwoul d seem to i ndi cate th at, unti l
recentl y, i t di d not evenconnote an i denti ty th at i s di stingui sh ed by i ts sexual i ty, but merely a
qual ity of emotional waveri ng, i ndeci si on or uncertai ntyæsometh i ng th at anyone unl ucky
enough can suffer fromat any poi nt i n h i s or h e r l i fe. Unti l earl y i n th i s century, i n fact, ba k l a
was not so much a noun as a verb: one was nababa k l a i f h e or sh e was not sure of h i s or h er
ch oi ces, or i f one was suddenl y afraid or confounded by th e unexpected turn of events. 2 In
contrast, nowadays, a ba k l a i s an effemi nate mal e wh o wi sh es to h ave sex wi th " real men" or
tuna y na l a l a ke . Th us, th e ba k l a i n our mi dst i s a vari ety of mal e h omosexual wh o can easi ly be
recogni zed because of h i s swi shy ways, and wh ose sexual desi re defi nes h i s i nnermost and most
auth enti c sense of sel f.

Obvi ousl y, duri ng Ri zal's ti me, th ere was no ba k l a or effemi nate h omosexual : th ere may h ave
beeneffemi nate men (cal led, among oth ers, bi na ba e / yi , ba yogui n, a sog and bi do), but th ey were
not defi ned as such by vi rtue of th e desi re th ey possessed, but onl y by th ei r ch oi ce of occupati ons
(femini ne ones, l i ke weaving, pottery-maki ng, and th e l i ke), and th ei r womanl i ke appearance
and beh avi or. In fact, th e i dea th at people were di fferent on account of th e gender of th e object
of th ei r sexual desi re (i n oth er words, th at people were e i th er h eterosexual or h omosexual ) was
al i en to our turn-of-th e-ni neteenth -century ancestors, wh o most probabl y desi red and h ad sex
wi th wh omever th ey wanted at wh atever poi nt i n th ei r l i ves, wi th out th i nki ng of wh at such
desi res or acts h ad to say about th ei r i denti ti es, th ei r concepti ons of wh o th ey essenti al l y were.

If we must be accurate about th i ngs, eveni n Europe i tself, h omosexual i ty was not a real ity unti l
i t was offi ci al l y " i nvented" i n 1869æi n Germany, to be exact, by sexologi st Karl Mari a
Kertbeny. 3 Th us, even wh en Ri zal h ad l i ved th ere at around th e same th at th e di scourse of
h omosexual i ty was steadi l y bei ng " normal i zed" and propagated, i t i s qui te doubtful th at h e
was i nfl uenced at al l by th e l atest sexologi cal revoluti ons th at were bei ng waged i nsi de th e
psychi atri c cl i nics i n Europe's more tech nol ogi cal l y advanced countri es, (Spain most certai nl y

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 Pilipinas #41 September 2003 3

not bei ng one of th em.) A passage i n El Fi l i buste ri smo, from th e ch apter ti tl ed " Manil a
Ch aracters" , i l l ustrates h ow, to Ri zal, th e th ough tæth e bl atant i mageæof two men h avi ng an
i nti mate rel ati onsh i p was not a particul arl y upsetti ng th i ng:

Th at respectabl e gentleman wh o i s so el egantl y atti red i s not a ph ysici an but a

h omeopath i st on h i s own, sui ge ne ri s: h e bel i eves totall y i n th e si mi li a si mi li bus,
th e attracti on of l i kes. Th at young Cavalry captai n wi th h i m i s h i s favori te
di scipl e. 4

Th e ch apter fromwh i ch th i s passage comes treats th e Fi l i 's reader to a menageri e of Mani la's
" queer" resi dents. Th i s passage not onl y confirms th e exi stence of same-sex-l ovi ng men i n
Hi spani c Ph i l ippi nes, but th e very casual ness of i ts tone tel l s us th at Ri zal was not ph obical l y
affected by wh at i t represented. In fact, th e al most-funny " pun" h e must h ave i ntended to make
wh en h e ch ose to denomi nate th i s doctor a " h omeopath i st" ,5 reveal s h e found th e subject
sl i ghtl y amusing, or at l east amusing enough th at h e ch ose not to abominate i t, wh i ch h e coul d
very wel l h ave done, as abominati on was someth i ng h e often di d i n h i s wri tings, i ncl udi ng th i s
ch apter i tself. Th i s woul d h ave arguabl y been th e case h ad h e been suffici entl y
" Europeani zed" i n th e sexologi cal senseæwh i ch i s to say, h ad Ri zal been suffici entl y rai sed
and trai ned i n th e newl y i nducted h omoph obi c regi me th at h ad begun to take h ol d of th e
European i maginati on i n th e l atter part of th e ni neteenth century. As th e constructi oni st
h i stori an Arnold Davi dson puts i t, th i s regi me of " sexual i ty" was made possibl e by th e
emergence, i n Europe, of a new, psychi atri c styl e of reasoni ng, 6 a manner of argui ng about sexual
personal i ti es, ori entati ons, " paraph i l i as" and oth er such " categori es of bei ng" , wh i ch arose
al ongsi de th e vari ous di sordersæneuroses, psychoses, h ysteri as, and th e l i keæth at were bei ng
di scursi vel y produced by th e di fferent " bi omedi cal " di spensati ons of th e ti me.

Th us, Ri zal coul d not h ave been a ba k l a (th e way we currentl y know th i s concept), nor a
gay/homosexual , si mply because th ese were categori es of bei ng th at were not avai labl e duri ng
h i s ti me. To cal l h i m gay or ba k l a woul d be to commit a grave anachroni sti c mi stake, si mi lar
perh aps to cal l ing h i m a " yuppi e" or evenæpundits i n UP woul d h ate me for sayi ng th i sæa
" Fi l ipi no" . 7 Obvi ousl y, i t woul d h ave beeni mpossi bl e for someone comi ng from th at era to sel f-
i denti fy wi th th e nuances and complexi ti es of th e many di zzyi ngl y new-fangl ed nomencl atures
of our own ti me.

Al l th i s does not mean, most certai nl y, th at th ere were no men wh o h ad sex wi th each oth er
previous to h omosexual i ty's unfeli ci tous debut i nto th e worl d. (One wonders just h ow accurate i s
th i s El Fi l i passage, comi ng as i t does from th e ch apter th at purports to present and i ntroduce
th e typi cal " ch aracters" of Ri zal's Mani la). We can onl y i magine h ow, from th e earl iest ti mes,
al l over th e pl anet, th e mal e and female of th e species h ad mani fested both h eterosexual and
h omosexual beh avi ors. But to repeat th at oft-repeated mantra of soci al constructi oni sm,
e nga gi ng i n h omose xua l se x i s one th i ng, be i ng a h omose xua l i s a nothe r. 8 Previous to th e
sexologi cal " producti on" of th e h omosexual as a " speci es" æi n Mi ch el Foucaul t's
formul ati onæof personal i ty, th ere were men wh o l oved oth er men, and women wh o l oved oth er
women, but th ey were not much di fferent fromeverybody el se (i n fact, most probabl y, th ey were
everybody el se).

Th e same th i ng must h ave beentrue i n th e Ph i l ippi nes at th e turn of th e ni neteenth century. If

th e confessi on manual s from th e earl y Spanish peri od were to be bel i eved, i t woul d seem th at
th e newl y converted nati ves of th e i sl ands were not much l oath to th e acti vi ty of mutual l y
arousi ng one anotheræmen wi th men, women wi th women, men wi th women, etc.æwi th in such
" h arml ess" contexts and occasi ons as e l burl arse , or " ch i ldi sh pl ay". 9 We mi gh t wi sh to recall ,
i n th i s regard, just h ow scandal i zed th e proper f ra yle s were, wh en th ey fi rst saw rowdy men i n
th e Vi sayas sporti ng al l sorts of peni le i mpl ants (penis pi ns and th e l i ke), wh i ch th ey gamely
used i n order to make th ei r sexual encounters both bl oodi er andæth ey th emsel ves gamely
admi tted, uponbei ng askedæconsiderabl y more pl easurabl e. 10

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Needless to say, pri or to th e arri val of th e Spaniards, th e precol oni al i nh abi tants of th e
Ph i l ippi nes enjoyed a ki nd of sexual " i nnocence" (or at l east unse lf consci ousne ss) th at onl y l ater
on became corrupted wh en th e col oni al Ch urch i ntroduced th e di scourse of sodomy, wh i ch for
th ree centuri es i t propagated i n th e Ph i l ippi nes th rough th e confessi onal . Th e di scourse of
sodomy, h owever, was not th e same as th at of h omosexual i ty, for i t referred to a number of non-
procreati ve, extra-conjugal and/or sexual l y " non-mi ssi onary" acts th at anyone mi gh t be weak
enough to someti mes commit (wi th men, women, or ani mal s) but th at, because merely a vari ant
of " unnatural si n agai nst th e si xth commandment" , di d not defi ne one's psychol ogi cal
consti tuti on, or sense of sel f.11

Moreover, th e concept of sodomy was i tself " utterl y confused" , for not onl y were th e vari eti es of
acts i t encompassed di zzyi ngl y pl ural and sh i fti ng, i t al so functi oned, i n Europe's " pre-
sexologi cal regi mes" , as a most conveni ent sti gmati zi ng weapon, a demoni zi ng l abel wi th wh i ch
i t was practi cal l y i mpossi bl e to i denti fy, i nasmuch as i t was, i n fact, an " empty category" i nto
wh i ch th e powerl ess were th rust by th ose wh o di ctated th e scope and si gnifi cati on of i ts use. 12
In th e case of Hi spani c Ph i l ippi nesæas h i stori an Joh n Leddy Ph el an concludesæth e resi dent
Sa ngle ye s or Ch i nese were th e col oni al admi ni strators' most conveni ent target for th i s
xenoph obi a-dri ven ch arge, on wh om th e Spanish settlers i n th e i sl ands depended for vi tal
economi c services. 13

Strangel y enough , i n h i s annotati ons to Dr. Antoni o de Morga's Suce sos de l a s Isl a s Fi l i pi na s, 14
Ri zal h i msel f ech oes th e Si noph obi c accusati on of sodomy, unmi ndful of th e bi as i n Morga's
account, wh i ch h ad obvi ousl y been " cri bbed" from previ ous re l a ci one s and cronica s, wri tten by
such dubi ous sources as Marcel o de Ri badenei ra and Mi guel de Benavi dez. 15 Wh i l e Ri zal's
i ntenti on i n h i s annotati ons was cl earl y th e unpacki ng of Spanish col oni al i st " fantasi es" and
raci st mi srepresentations of th e Ph i l ippi nes i n th e avai labl e documents and h i stori es, h e di dn't
h i msel f real izeærath er, h e di dn't wi sh to real izeæjust h ow fantasti c was th e cl ai m th at th e
i ndi os of th e Ph i l ippi nes h ad beeni nnocent of th e " unnatural si n" , unti l th ey were corrupted by
th e foreigners, particul arl y th e Ch i nese.

Typi cal l y, th e argument used by th e Spanish commentators i n th e earl y years of th e Conqui sta
was th at th ere was not even a nati ve word for sodomy among th e i ndi os of th e Ph i l ippi nes, as
th ough by vi rtue of th i s l i ngui sti c voi ding of th e " unspeakabl e cri me" (or th e ne f a nda m
l i bi di ne m), th e many acts th at consti tuted i t coul d no l onger be possibl e among th em.16 Of
course, i t i s th e Hi spani c col oni al arch ives th emsel ves th at can be sh own to contradi ct th i s
amazingl y speci ous argument. In one " confessi on manual " or conf esi ona ri o, wri tten by th e fri ar
Gaspar de San Agusti n and publ ish ed i n Mani la i n 1713, a questi on rel ati ng to " si ns agai nst th e
si xth commandment" went: Cun na gpui t, o cun na gpapui t, o cun na gcasa l a sa h a yop. 17 Th i s
questi on, i nquiri ng as i t di d i nto th e penetrati ve or recepti ve posi ti on th e peni tent mi gh t h ave
assumed duri ng anal sexual i ntercourseæas wel l as i nto probabl e acts of bestial i ty on th e
si deæunequi vocal l y proves th at Tagalog words exi sted, at th i s stage of Spanish
evangel i zati on, to refer to at l east th ese th ree forms of sodomi ti c congress.

Noneth el ess, Ri zal's " denial " of th e Fi l i pi no nati ve's " i nnate capaci ty" to commit sodomy was,
i n th e end, qui te understandabl e, especi al l y wh enwe recall th e fact th at h i s general purpose i n
putting out and annotati ng Morga's Suce sos was th at h e wi sh ed to pai nt a bri ght and " noble"
pi cture of h i s countrymen (and onl y i nci dental l y, countrywomen)æsometh i ng th at mi gh t serve
to l ocate th e Ph i l ippi nes i n an Enl i gh tenment, " evoluti onary" narrati ve of development to
wh i ch h e subscri bed, as wel l as to rectify th e vul garl y unfl atteri ng, " Qui aoqui api st"
stereotypes th at ci rcul ated i n Spai nand th at personal l y affl icted h i m and th e oth er reformi sts
duri ng th i s ti me.18 In h i s study, " Ri zal Reading Pi gafetta" , Resi l Mojares makes a si mi lar
observati on: i n h i s edi tion of th e Suce sos, we see Ri zal effecti vel y wri ting a " counterh i story" , 19
a marginal th ough no l ess arrogant text from someone wh o fancied h i msel f capabl e of
adjudi cati ng between foreign and nati ve perspecti ves, between " dubious" and " correct"
knowledges about th e Ph i l ippi nes. Predictabl y enough , such an undertaki ng was ch aracteri zed
by Ri zal's own nati vi st mystifi cati ons and expropri ati ons of European Ori ental i st i magi ni ngs.

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 Pilipinas #41 September 2003 5

In any case, by furtheri ng h i s own uncriti cal Ori ental i sm, Ri zal unwi tti ngl y bought i nto th e
same " Humani st" , col oni al i st l ogi c agai nst wh i ch h e was tryi ng to i nveigh , countervai l i ng h i s
own project and contradi cti ng h i msel f now and agai n. For i nstance, i n regard to Morga's remark
th at th e nati ve men and women of th e i sl ands were sexual l y " i nconti nent" , Ri zal argues th at
th ey si mply saw no si n i n sex, bel i evi ng th e act of reproducti on, " l i ke many oth er peoples… [as]
a natural i nstinct" . Further, h e states th at th e pagan i ndi os were not so much " l oose" as
possessi ng " an excess of natural i sm" , and th at th ey were not fettered by " rel igi ous or moral
proh ibi ti on" . 20 Reading h i s textual " i nterventi on" , we real ize th at th e contradi cti on i s cl ear:
wh i l e Ri zal sees th e unbridl ed sexual acti vi ti es between nati ve men and womenæwh i ch were
much remarked about and bewail ed i n th e earl y Spanish accountsæas consti tuti ve of a ki nd of
natural i nnocence or " natural i sm" , h e cannot i magine th at such an i nnocence coul d h ave al l owed
th e same people to " wander th rough [sodomy's] mi staken path s" . In oth er words, Ri zal
cri tici zes Morga by " denatural i zi ng" h i s morali sti c account of sexual i ty, yet stops h i s argument
sh ort wh en i t begi ns to dangerousl y wander i nto th e " unnatural " (yes, Ri zal unbl inki ngl y
accepts th i s adjecti ve ! ) terrai n of sodomy. Th i s seems stranger si nce, reading further i nto th e
same annotati on, we real ize th at Ri zal understood sodomy to ch i efl y i ncl ude conjugal l y
" h eterosexual " acts, as wh en h e wri tes th at th e sodomi ti c Ch i nese and foreigners commit i t
wi th th e " i ndi o women, wh o are th ei r wi ves" . Th i s wel l -meani ng " defense" by Ri zal of h i s
people i s, of course, merely one out of so many oth ers i n th e Suce sos, and we must remember th at
sodomy, wh i l e a soci al sti gma agai nst wh i ch Ri zal obvi ousl y demurred, was, fi nall y, onl y a
matter of mi sgui ded or " mi staken" acti vi ti es, and di d not, i n th e way i t was concei ved duri ng
th i s pre-sexol ogi cal peri od i n Ph i l ippi ne h i story, consti tute an i nti mate or defi ni ti ve sense of
i denti ty. (Suffi ce i t to say th at sodomy was si mply a di scourse of acts, not sel ves).

If Ri zal was notæbecause h e coul d not h ave beenæa ba k l a or a gay/homosexual , just exactl y
wh at was h e ? Mi gh t h e h ave beena bi na ba e / yi , wh i ch was a category of gender i denti ty th at
h e most probabl y understood ? Perh aps not, 21 for not onl y was i t h i gh ly unl i kel y th at anyone of
h i s cl ass or stature coul d h ave vol untari l y i denti fi ed wi th wh at i n th i s ni neteenth -century
mascul i ni st cul ture was cl earl y a pejorati ve term of effemi noph obi c abuse, th ere exi sts no
mention of th i s appell ati on ever bei ng tacked on h i m i n any of th e avai labl eæwh i ch i s to say,
approvedæaccounts of h i s l i fe. (Of course, i t i s h eal th y to stay suspici ous regardi ng such
" offici al " accounts: knowing h ow bl i nd nati onal i sti c zeal h ad damaged th e objecti vi ty of so
many of Ri zal's commentators and ch roni cl ers, we cannot be too sure th ese accounts h ave not been
sani ti zed precisel y to conform wi th th e nati onal i st i mperati ve to apotheosi ze th e greatest sci on
of th e Fi l i pi no race ! ) Most probabl y h e was an h ombre , an h ombre i l ustra do to be precise,
wh i ch, on second th ough t, tel l s us noth ing new about h i m at al l .

Ah , but l et us remember th at si nce Ri zal coul d not h ave been a h omosexual , i t onl y fol l ows th at
h e coul d not h ave beena h eterosexual ei th er !

Wh at I wi sh to stress at th i s poi nt i s th i s: previous to th e i nventi on of h omosexual i ty,

i ndi vi dual s were not h eterosexual s ei th er, for th e si mple reason th at h omo and h etero were
i nverse forms of th e same sexual l ogi c th at h ad not exi sted before th e regi me of sexual i ty (th at
i s, of sexual i ty a s we k now i t) overtook our modern l i ves. Indeed, wh i l e men and women
th rough out h i story married and begot ch i l dren, th ey noneth el ess were not defi ned al ong th e
l i nes of sexual object ch oi ce unti l th e l ast quarter of Ri zal's centuryæand th en, onl y i n Europe at
fi rst. Th us, for th e l ongest ti me, men and women were not cl oven i nto th e i denti ti es of " th e
h omosexual " and " th e h eterosexual " . Wh atever sexual di scourse th at mi gh t h ave operated as
a mi ni mal l y si gnifi cant force i n th ei r l i ves di d not di scri mi nate between th ose wh o were
attracted to members of th ei r own sex, and th ose wh o desi red th e opposi te sex, al th ough i t
perh aps mi gh t h ave h ad someth i ng to say about th e frequency i n wh i ch th ey h ad sex, or th e
posi ti ons th ey assumed wh i l e doi ng i t (th ese, of course, were th e basi c i ssues wh i ch th e
di scourse of sodomy busi ed i tself wi th ). As i ndi vi dual s wh ose l i ves were not governed by th e
h omo/h etero di stincti on, th ey were rel ati vel y free to commit h omosexual and h eterosexual acts
wi th out th i nki ng h ow th ese acts affected th ei r sel fhoods.

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6 Pilipinas #41 September 2003

By contrast, i n our own sexual l y sel f-consci ous ti me, one can scarcel y th i nk of h avi ng sex wi th
another man wi th out at th e same trembl i ngl y pl easurabl e moment becomi ng at th e very l east
" worri ed" of wh at th i s coul d meanabout wh o one real ly i s, de e p i nsi de .

Ri zal and th e oth er i l ustra dos of h i s ti me were presumabl y soci al i zed to th i nk of marriage as
th e l ogi cal soci al destiny. But th i s h ad l i ttle to do wi th wh at th ey coul d actual l y experi ence
sexual l y, wi th in th e pri vacy of th ei r own l i ves. Hence, i f we cannot make use of th e rel ati vel y
recent h omo/h etero di ch otomy wi th wh i ch to descri be th e sexual and erotic mi l i eu i n wh i ch
Ri zal l i ved, we mi gh t perh aps l ook at th e organi zi ng soci al pri nci pl es th at determi ned th e
rel ati ons one gender at th at ti me coul d h ave wi th th e oth er, oræand th i s i s extremel y
i mportantæwi th i tse lf .

Just l i ke i n th e greater part of Europe, mi ddle-cl ass mal es and females i n th e Ph i l i ppi nes duri ng
th e ti me of Ri zal were soci al i zed separatel y from each oth er. Boys went to boys' sch ool s, gi rl s
to gi rl s' sch ool sæa pol i cy th at was i mpl emented by th e Spanish col oni al admi ni strati on from
th e smal lest paroch i al sch ool s i n th e ba rrios to th e bi ggest col l egi os and " normal sch ool s" i n
Mani la. 22 Interesti ng accounts of just wh at th i s arrangement entail ed, i n th e l i ves of th ese
students, may be found i n Ri zal's El Fi l i buste ri smo, and i n a rath er candid col umn wri tten by
Fel i x Roxas, mayor of Mani la from1905 to 1917.

A contemporary of Ri zal at th e Ateneo Muni ci pal , Roxas wrote for El De ba te , a Spanish -

l anguage newspaper from th e American col oni al peri od. In a pi ece ti tl ed " Th e Danger of
Coeducati on" , h e sh ares h i s memori es of " th e effects of puberty" on th e young men of th e Ateneo,
and i n particul ar recall s th e embarrassi ng ti me wh en, despite al l measures, " h uman i nstinct...
develop[ed] [and] passionate l etters [were] addressed to each oth er by fel l ow cl assmates" . 23 On
th e oth er si de of th e gender di vi de, Ri zal al l udes to th e exi stence of erotic affecti on i n Mani la's
al l -femal e sch ool s i n a scene fromch apter 22 of El Fi l i (ti tled " La Funcci on" ). In th i s scene, th e
narrator enters Paul ita's mi nd, and verbal i zes h ow th e French word coch er (from" to ri de" or " to
mount" ), remi nds h er " of certai n terms wh i ch convent gi rl s use among th emsel ves to expl ai n a
sort of passion" . 24 And of course, we must remember th at even outside th ese " exclusi ve sch ool "
contexts, pi ety and propri ety di ctated th at young men and women meet onl y under th e assi duous
supervi si on of spi nster aunts and trusted ya ya s. Suffice to say, such " unnecessary meetings" were
general l y frowned uponand di scouraged.

Th us, th e basi c soci al structure th at determi ned th e rel ati ons between th e mal e and female
genders of th e i l ustra do cl ass i n ni neteenth -century Ph i l ippi nes, can be cal l ed " h omosoci al " :
i ndi vi dual s were expected to develop bonds wi th in each of th e two genders, bonds th at coul d be
expressed i n several ways. Some of th e ways, for exampl e, i n wh i ch men bonded wi th one
another were th rough excl usi ve fri endsh i ps, " di sci pl esh i ps" and cl i ques, or membersh i ps i n
fraterni ti es and cl ubs (La Li ga Fi l i pi na woul d be one of th e more i l l ustri ous exampl es of an " al l -
boys cl ub" th at exi sted duri ng th e peri od of th e Propaganda movement). Women bonded wi th
one another wi th in th e real mof th e h ome, i n particul ar, th e grantedl y " femini ne space" of th e
ki tchen, wh ere th ey were seen to become th ei r own natural l y gossipy sel ves, wh i l e th e men
tal ked endl essl y about matters of consequence (such as th e affairs of state) i n th e e ntresue l o or
sa l a .

I am of course not real ly i nterested i n mal e bonds pe r se , except perh aps wh ere th ese bonds may
be seento express th emsel ves sexual l y, as th ey oftendi d i n th e h eavil y h omosoci al past. Ri zal
and th e oth er propaga ndi sta s and th ei r European patrons and supporters were al l mal e, and
th ey al l bonded. Vi cente L. Rafael , examini ng th e records and ph otograph s of th e peri od,
noti ces th e overtl y " mascul i ne" texture of such bondings: not onl y di d Ri zal and h i s compatri ots
organi ze th emsel ves i nto a mutual -ai d associ ati on cal l ed Indi os Bra vos (" Brave Indi ans" ), th ey
al so took pai ns to further " mascul i ni ze" th ei r bodi es by l i fting wei ghts and engagi ng i n sports
l i ke fencing and th e marti al arts, i f onl y to offer an al ternati ve to th e Ori ental i st stereotypes
ci rcul ati ng i n Europe concerni ng th e Ph i l ippi ne i ndi os' percei ved " l ack of vi ri li ty" . 25 Th us,
wh i l e th ei r common i deologi cal persuasi onæth ei r col l ecti ve wi sh to enact pol i ti cal reforms
back i n th e Ph i l ippi ne i sl andsæprovided a basi s for th i s bonding, th ei r gender was al so, i n

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 Pilipinas #41 September 2003 7

truth, th e real common ground on wh i ch th ey confidentl y stood, embraci ng one another, i n fond
sol i dari ty, as i t were. Just wh ere di d th e soci al end and th e sexual begi n, as far as th ese
bondings and embraci ngs were concerned ? I for one cannot tel l . Al l we mi gh t safely say i n th i s
regard i s th i s: i n th e absence of th e paranoi a-maki ng di scourse of h omosexual i tyæa di scourse
th at suddenl y rendered suspect one's desi res and h i th erto unselfconsci ous l ongings to bond wi th
oth ers of one's own genderæmen l i ke Ri zal most probabl y expressed th ei r fel l owsh i p and
camaraderi e wi th one another i n ways th at di d not, at ti mes, excl ude th e geni tal .

We know, reading th e vol umi nous correspondence between Ri zal and th e Austri an eth nol ogi st
Ferdinand Bl umentri ttæas wel l as, to a l esser extent, between Ri zal and th e oth er " reformi sts"
l i vi ng i n Spai n and el sewh ere on th e continentæjust h ow appropri ate i s th i s fi gure of l os
a bra zos or " embrace" . Indeed, th i s was h ow Ri zal and th ose dearest to h i m usuall y ended th ei r
postcards and l etters to each oth er: " I embrace you."

We al so know, especi al l y regardi ng Ri zal and Bl umentri tt, just h ow affecti onate and l ovi ng
th i s epi stol ary di scourse coul d become, so much so th at th ey woul d wri te (jokingl y) h ow th ey
are " desperatel y i n l ove" wi th th e oth er, 26 woul d keep sending ph otos, bri c-a-brac, mementos
and fl owers (! ) to th e oth er, 27 woul d say th at th ey woul d " dare everyth i ng" for th e sake of th e
oth er, 28 woul d profess th at th ey were al ways th i nki ng of th e oth er, 29 or woul d suffer
di sturbi ng dreams about th e oth er. In one l etter, Ri zal rel ates th at h i s strange dream of h i s
" dear brother and fri end" ended wi th h i m " waking up ti red and sweati ng; i t was very h ot on
th e bed."30

Wh i l e i t may be a mi stake to read anythi ng more i nto such decl arati ons of i nti macy between
th e younger Ri zal and th e " broth erl y" Bl umentri ttæwh ose strongest poi nt of affi ni ty wi th one
another woul d seemto be, to al l i ntents and purposes, an i ntell ectual oneæwe must noneth el ess
remember just h ow such bonds between men at th at ti me consti tuted a continuum, and h ow th i s
continuum concei vabl y stretch ed from one form of affecti on to th e oth er, such as fraternal
i nti macy to romanti c l ove. How el se can we expl ai n th e ease wi th wh i ch Ri zal and Bl umentri tt
coul d cal l each oth er " dear" , 31 or decl are th at th ey " l ove" each oth er i n th ei r l etters, wi th out
any sense of sh ame ?

On th e oth er h and, th ere exi sts one l etter, wri tten by Ri zal, i n wh i ch an i nti mati on of a ki nd of
sh ame creeps i n, th ough i t i s one wh i ch h e qui ckl y brushes off: 32 i n i t, h e woul d seem to be
defendi ng th e " i ntimate fraterni ty wh i ch [th ey] profess mutual l y" agai nst " enemi es [wh o do
not] understand th i s sentiment [because th ey] don't h ave a del i cate sentiment" and are " rude" .
Wri ting " you h onor me enough by cal l ing me de a r f ri e nd" , Ri zal refuses to di scuss th e matter
further i n th i s l etter to Bl umentri ttæ" I h ave no more comments to make"æand merely says,
" Perhaps you may understand me." Not i n so many words, Ri zal woul d seemto be sayi ng th at h e
and h i s bel oved fri end are bei ng " i ntri gued" by some Spaniards back i n Madrid, and wh i l e i n
th i s l etter h e deni es i ts veraci ty, h e noneth el ess cannot do so pl ai nl y, and merely appeal s to th e
h ope th at Bl umentri tt " may understand" wh at h e cannot qui te bri ng h i msel f to say.

Th i s deni al and th e verbal di fficul ty i n wh i ch i t i s couched do not, i n th emsel ves, mean

anythi ng: th e i ntrigue may or may not h ave any basi s i n fact, despite or precisel y because Ri zal
mentions i t i n such an atypical fash ion (atypi cal because Ri zal, i n h i s l etters, i s rarely at a l oss
for words). Wh at th i s l etter does make cl ear i s th at such possibi l i ty (a sexual one) exi sted for
th e ki nd of " senti ment" Ri zal and Bl umentri tt sh ared, i f onl y because i t was found cogent both
by th e " rude Spaniards" and by Ri zal, wh o acknowl edges i t enough by wri ting Bl umentri tt
about i t. (And of course, we see th at Ri zal, at th e same careful moment th at h e acknowl edges
th e rumor's exi stence, turns suddenl y i narti cul ate i n h i s di savowal of i t).

Is th ere proof to be h ad to make th i s and oth er such " i ntri gui ng" proposi ti ons more tenabl e ? I’m
afraid th at after th e nati onal i st h i stori ans (wh o were rai sed i n th e American col oni al system,
and th us were al l too cl earl y aware of th e sti gmati zi ng effects of h omosexual i ty) h ad gone
th rough and " cl eaned up" every l i ttle scrap of Ri zali ana, i t mi gh t no l onger be possibl e to
ascertai n anythi ng i n th e extant records th at vaguel y suggests Ri zal h ad sex (or wi sh ed to h ave

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8 Pilipinas #41 September 2003

sex) wi th men, such as wi th any of h i s compatri ots, for i nstance. 33 In fact, such h i stori ans seem
to h ave l ost no ti me i n accompl i sh i ng th e opposi te goal : from as earl y as I can remember,
accordi ng to enl i gh tened l ore, Ri zal was a h ero made more h eroic by h i s spectacul arl y abundant
mach ismo, managi ng to h ave a gi rl fal l h el plessl y i n l ove wi th h i m everywh ere i n th e worl d
h e went. For sure, i n retell i ng th e l i fe of th i s nati onal h ero, th ese h i stori ans were i nscri bi ng
th at l i fe wi th some of th ei r own val ues, wh i ch th ey wi sh ed Ri zal h i msel f h ad sh aredæeven
i f Ri zal cl earl y h ad not.

And th en, th ere may yet be some h ope l eft. In a personal conversati on wi th Ocampo a couple of
years ago, h e mentioned th at th ere are sti l l bi ts of Ri zali ana out th ere th at can offer us an
al ternati ve pi cture of our country's most bel oved h ero. In particul ar, h e was referri ng to a few
h ard-wri tten i l l ustrati ons or " sketch es" , apparentl y drawn from l i fe by th e good doctor, of h i s
pati ents' peni ses i n vari ous stages of tumescence, i n a notebook to be found i n a col l ecti on h oused
i n th e Newberry l i brary i n Ch i cago. Th e notebook i tself h as al ready beenperused and copi ed by
a number of Ri zal arch ivi sts and sch olars; 34 i t i s i ndeed very tel l ing h ow none of th em h as
mentioned th e fact th at such " i nteresti ng" drawings even exi st. 35 Even as th ese drawings may
not si gnify anythi ng more th an a consci enti ous ph ysici an's cl i nical documentati on of th e cases
h e was managi ng (h ow curi ous th at a number of th em sh ould h ave to be " venereal " , h owever),
Ocampo does make th e oft-repeated poi nt cl ear th at most Fi l i pi nos h ave yet to see Ri zal
pl ai nl y, or " wi thout th e overcoat" .

Needless to say, to th e extent th at Ri zal i s a nati onal h ero, th e ful l range of h i s " h uman
complexi ty" h as l argel y beengl ossed over by nati onal i st h agi ograph i c di scourse, for th e sake of
emph asi zi ng th e uni mpeach abl e " greatness" of h i s h eroism. Of course, Ocampo was not th e fi rst
person to real ize th i s, or evento arti cul ate i t i n publ ic. A graduate student of th e Uni versi ty of
Santo Tomas, Ante Radaic, bravel y offered an al ternati ve pi cture of Ri zal i n a seri es of
th ough tful arti cl es th at came out i n th e W e e k ly W ome n’s Ma ga zi ne i n 1962.36 In " Th e Fears of
Ri zal: Li fe and Love", Radaic attends to Ri zal's publ ish ed Me mori a s de un e studi a nte de
Ma ni la , and surmises h ow h e must h ave suffered froma ki nd of " i nferi ori ty complex" , borne out
of h i s pai nful l y keenawareness of h i s own ph ysical l y di mi nuti ve si ze. To Radaic, th i s peculi ar
" mel anch ol y" rendered h i m mi serabl e th rough out most of h i s ch i l dh ood and adol escence, and i t
subsequentl y compel l ed h i m to overcompensate by excell i ng not onl y i n h i s studies but i n every
oth er aspect of h i s fi nall y amazing and " monumental " l i fe.

Th at Fi l i pi nos do not know th e " compl ete pi cture" was, l i kewi se, precisel y th e poi nt rai sed by
Ri zal's own younger si ster, Mari a, i n an i ntervi ew wi th Carmen Guerrero-Nakpi l (th en
Guerrero-Cruz) i n th e Eve ning N e ws, sh ortl y after th e end of th e Second Worl d War. 37 In th i s
i ntervi ew, Mari a confides th at h er famous ol der brother kept certai n " secrets" , to wh i ch onl y
h i s i mmedi ate fami ly was pri vy, such as th e fact th at one of h i s sh oulders was markedl y l ower
th an th e oth er and th at h i s face was sl i ghtl y prognath ous. Ri zal pai nstaki ngl y " h i d" th ese
apparentl y h urtful truths by wearing special l y tai l ored sui ts and by presenti ng onl y h i s most
fl atteri ng " profi l e" every ti me h e posed for a ph otograph .

I do not bel i eve conventi onal bi ograph y or even autobi ograph y i s th e onl y recourse we h ave i f
we wi sh to pi n down certai n vi tal " truth s" about such a h i stori cal personage as Ri zal. As Leon
Ma. Guerrero poi nts out i n h i s transl ator's preface to th e book, Th e Young Ri za l, Ri zal
apparentl y subjected h i s onl y exi sti ng autobi ograph yæth e aforesai d Me mori a sæto
" consi derabl e revi si on" , i mpl yi ng th at h e was wi l l ful l y cul tivati ng a persona i n h i s own
wri tings. 38 Wh at i s worth noti ng i s th at th ese emendati ons were not stri ctl y styl isti c. Some
were bl atantl y substanti ve, especi al l y th e erasure and substi tuti on of certai n names and facts,
ostensi bl y for th e purpose of conceal i ng h i s i denti ty, al ready effecti vel y di ssimul ated by th e
pen name " P. Jaci nto" on th e manuscri pt's ti tl e page.

In particul ar, Guerrero poi nts out an i nteresti ng erasure i n th e second ch apter, " My Li fe Away
from My ParentsæMy Troubl es" , referri ng to th e ni ckname by wh i ch th e young Ri zal was
teased, by h i s burl y boy cl assmates i n Bi ñan. Al berto and Tomas F. Barretto, wh o publ ish ed th e
Spanish edi tion of Me mori a s i n 1949, h ad deci dedærath er erroneousl y, as Guerrero decl ares i n

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 Pilipinas #41 September 2003 9

an endnoteæto put " Cal ambeño" (one wh o h ai l s from Cal amba) i n pl ace of th e ori ginal word
wh i ch h ad been " crossed out...so th orough l y" i n th e manuscri pt. Guerrero doubts i f th i s was
i ndeed th e case, because " Cal ambeño does not seemto be, as an epi th et, suffici entl y opprobri ous
to h ave cal l ed for an exci si on." 39 Moreover, i ts cursives' th ree tal l strokes are not consistent
wi th th e di scerni bl e two tal l strokes of th e ori ginal word th at Ri zal used. Reading about th i s
bi ograph i cal " mystery" now, we are l eft wonderi ng wh at th i s word coul d h ave been, wh i ch
proved to be so derogatory and " opprobri ous" th at i t needed to be scored over and over by i ts
wri ter. 40

Th e cl ue i s th at wh atever i t was, i t h ad someth i ng to do wi th th e roughh ousi ng and bul l yi ng

th at Ri zal regularl y suffered at th e h ands of h i s tal l er and bi gger cl assmates, wh o dwarfed
and overpowered h i m at pl ay, and wh om h e tri ed to beat i n cl assroom contests i nstead. Li ke
most ch i l dh ood taunts, th i s one must h ave conferred on i ts vi ctim a most anni hi l ati ng feel ing of
" sh ame" , an affect wi th in wh i ch an earl y sense of sel f most probabl y developed, wh i ch th e
wri ter of th ese memoirs, al ready a young adul t, scornful l y repudi ates. (Ri zal wri tes: " I h ave no
desi re to spend my ti me counti ng th e beatings I recei ved or pi cturi ng my emotions wh en I
suffered." ) 41 In h i s essay-seri es, Radaic concedes th at autobi ograph i es are far from factual and
are necessari l y i nterested texts, i n Ri zal's case most trench antl y so. 42 It i s easy to see th i s
" i nterestedness" i n th e fi nal and l ongest ch apter of h i s me mori a s, a ch apter made memorabl e by
th e fact th at i t i s th e most " fi cti ve" ch apter of al l , empl oyi ng di al ogues and l yri cal
descri pti ons th at are l acking i n th e previous sections of th ese quai nt ch i l di sh memoirs, wh i ch
are ful l of " exclamati ons and apostroph es" . (It i s h ere th at Ri zal recounts, i n a sentimental l y
mannered fash ion, h i s youthful i nfatuati on wi th th e 14-year-ol d Segunda Kati gbak).

Suffice i t to say, th e fortunate th i ng about Ri zal i s th at h e wrote a great deal , and i n many of
h i s wri tings, h e unwi tti ngl y l ai d bare h i s own personal i ty. I do not si mply mean th at h e sel f-
consci ousl y wrote h i s own sel f, h i s own i denti ty, i n h i s textsæi n h i s two novels, for
i nstanceæbut th at i n depi cti ng l i fe as h e knew i t, h e was al ready providi ng some cl ues as to
wh at ki nd of worl d h e l i ved i n, as wel l as wh at ki nd of person h e was i n rel ati on to such a
worl d: cl ues l i ke, for exampl e, h i s surpri si ng awareness of mal e-to-mal e sexual emascul ati on i n
th e opening scene of h i s l i ttle-known sati re, " Th e Vi si on of Fray Rodriguez" , 43 as wel l as h i s
own atti tude toward th e questi on of womenand th e revoluti onæh i s famous l etter to th e " Young
Countrywomen of Mal olos" comes to mi nd, as wel l as h i s ch aracteri zati on of women(and men) i n
both th e N ol i Me Ta ngere and El Fi l i buste ri smo. (Of course, among Ri zal's " fi cti ve females" ,
th e most curi ous are th e two Doñas, Vi ctori na and Consol aci on, both unfl atteri ng cari catures of
graspi ng, sh al low, si l l y connivi ng and despicabl e women). Oth er cl ues may be found i n h i s
correspondences wi th fri ends and compatri ots, a reveal i ng exampl e of wh i ch i s h i s voci ferous
l etter to Bl umentri tt, i n wh i ch h e vi ci ousl y excori ates a certai n Doña Antoni a Rodriguez, wh om
h e cal l s " a despicabl e wh ore" because sh e h as h ad mul tipl e affairs wi th al l manner of men,
fromCatalans to Al sati an Jews.44 Ri zal wri tes th i s to caution Bl umentri tt agai nst ever wri ting
or associ ati ng wi th h er. In th e process h e professes such h atred for h er th at h e can bri ng h i msel f
to say th at " to be outraged by h er i s an h onor." Defi ni tel y, th i s l etter reveal s a ki nd of prudish
mascul i ni st mi sogyny on th e part of th e oth erwi se ch aritabl e and l i beral -mi nded h ero.

At th i s poi nt, I wi sh to carry out my own reading of a certai n form of mascul i ne bonding th at I
feel undergi rds th e central pl ots of h i s two novels. In particul ar, I am i nterested i n suggesti ng
possibl e i nterpreti ve trajectori es i nto th e worl d of Ri zal's fi rst novel, th e N ol i Me Ta ngere . A
caveat, i n any case: th e fol l owi ng i s merely an attempt at del i neati ng just wh at such trajectori es
mi gh t l ook l i ke, and i s th erefore h ardly suffici ent i n demonstrati ng th e cogency, l et al one th e
i ntricacy, of th i s approach . Let me just say th at I am not ori ginati ng th i s " method" : th e famous
study, Be twee n Me n: Engl ish Li te ra ture a nd Ma l e H omosoci a l De si re , wri tten i n th e mi d-1980s
by American femi ni st cri tic Eve Kosofsky Sedgwi ck, actual l y i naugurated th e vi brant fi el d of
gay or " queer" studies i n th e Uni ted States. In h er study, Sedgwi ck argues th at mal e
h omosexual beh avior i s but one i nstance of mal e h omosoci al desi reæoth er soci al practi ces,
oth er bondings between men exi st al ongsi de i t, forming a continuum th at consti tutes patriarch y
i tself. Th us, th i s th eory posi ts desi re to be i n fact a soci al forceæwh i ch i s to say, i t exerci ses

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10 Pilipinas #41 September 2003

certai n soci al effectsærath er th an just a personal i ssue of pri vate, arguabl y " psych ol ogi cal "
wants.

Before th e i nventi on of h omosexual i ty, real izi ng th e exi stence of th i s continuum was much
easi er, for i ts practi ces vi si bl y moved i nto and rei nforced each oth er, as th e l i terary evi dence
Sedgwi ck ci tes cl earl y demonstrates. Looking at a sel ecti on of i mportant Engl ish Romanti c
Goth ic and Vi ctori an texts fromth e mi d-ei gh teenth to ni neteenth centuri es, sh e di scovers th at
i n th e typi cal pl ot of " h eterosexual " ri valryæth e ever-present " eroti c tri angl e" æmen's
h omosoci al desi re proves stronger precisel y because i t takes a " detour" th rough th e same
bel oved woman. 45 In oth er words, men's desi re for women i s merely a " strategy" to pursue th ei r
desi re for each oth er. Wi th th e path ol ogi zati on of h omosexual acts, h owever, th i s very
structure was suddenl y sh aken, and a paranoi a began to overtake men's bonds. Th i s h as l ed to
th e twenti eth -century sti gmati zati on of h omosexual i ty, i ts paranoi d " oth eri ng" . Presumably,
i t i s by th e sti gmati zi ng and di savowal of th i s one segment th at th e rest of th e mal e h omosoci al
continuumæpatriarch y's most essenti al structureæcoul d be kept i nvi ol ate and " safe" .

And so, on to reading...

El i as and Ibarra are, i n al l of th e N ol i , th e most cl osel y kni t of ch aracters. Th ei r bonding i s such

th at th ey take turns savi ng each oth er's l i fe and, at ti mes, appear to be al ter egos of each oth er,
pol emi ci zi ng wh at are obvi ousl y Ri zal's own di al ecti cal vi ews concerni ng th e matter of
soci opol i ti cal reforms and armed revoluti on currentl y gri ppi ng th e country. Th i s bonding i s
confounded by th e revelati on th at Ibarra i s th e di rect descendant of th e man wh o h ad caused
th e downfal l of El i as' own fami ly, but i s rei nforcedæi f not ennobl edæby El i as' i mmol ati on for
Ibarra's sake at novel's end.

It i s possibl e to demonstrate th e presence of an admi ri ng mal e h omosoci al gaze i n Ri zal's

depi cti on of El i as, Ibarra's si gnifi cant oth er and greatest " l over" æfor, l est we forget, h ere i s a
man wh o gi ves up h i s own l i fe to save th at of another. And th i s admi rati on deri ves from El i as'
eni gmati c " di fference" : i n h i s very fi rst " i ntimate" encounter wi th El i as, i n h i s h ouse as h e i s
" putti ng fi ni sh i ng touches to a ch ange of cl othi ng" , Ibarra i s " surpri sed" by th e " severe and
mysteri ous fi gure of El i as." After a bri ef conversati on, i n wh i ch El i as proves h i msel f strangel y
el oquent, i t becomes cl ear to Ibarra th at th i s man i s " nei th er a pi l ot (ba nk ero) nor a rustic" , and
h e " gazes" at h i m and h i s " muscul ar arms, covered wi th l umps and brui ses." 46 Th us, El i as'
oth erness i s made more desi rabl e (for al l desi re i s desi re for di fference), because i t touches on
and i s proximate to th e same: El i as, despite bei ng qui te unl i ke Ibarra i n obvi ous ways,
noneth el ess tal ks th e tal k of someone wh o mi gh t h ave gone th rough th e same " cul ti vati on" as
Ibarra di d. (And so h e i s di fferent enough to be desi rabl e, yet not so di fferent as to be completel y
unrecogni zabl e).

And we see th i s desi re expressi ng i tself i n Ri zal's narrati ve l ater on. In th e 49th ch apter, " Th e
Voi ce of th e Hunted" , we encounter th e fol l owi ng descri pti ve paragraph s th at spri ng at us i n
th e mi dst of th e l ong and h i gh ly pol emi cal di al ogues between th e two " si mil ar yet di fferent"
men ri di ng th e same bel eaguered ski ff. At fi rst, Ri zal frames th e dusky and mascul i ne fi gure i n
a romanti c tabl eau, one ench anted evening:

El i as spoke passionatel y, enth usi asti cal ly, i n vi brati ng tones; h i s eyes fl ashed. A
sol emn pause fol l owed. Th e ba nca, uni mpel l ed by th e paddle, seemed to stand sti l l
i n th e water. Th e moon sh one majesti cal l y i n a sapphi re sky, and a few l i gh ts
gl i mmered on th e di stant sh ore. (p. 316).

And th en, th i s same earthy and mysteri ous fi gure, standi ng just across th e i mpeccabl y cl ean
i l ustra do, Don JuanCri sostomo Ibarra (wh o, I must add, h as not been much convinced, up to th i s
poi nt, of th e vi rtue i n th e oth er's posi ti on th at bl oody struggl e i s an i nevitabl e th i ng), i s
transformed i nto a great manl y sh ape: " El i as was transfi gured; standi ng uncovered, wi th h i s
manl y face i l l umi nated by th e moon, th ere was someth i ng extraordi nary about h i m. He sh ook
h i s l ong h ai r and went on..." (p. 325).

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 Pilipinas #41 September 2003 11

Now th ese are just a couple of i nstances i n wh i ch a h omosoci al structure mi gh t be sh own to

i nh ere i n Ri zal's texts. By ci ti ng th em I do not mean to suggest th at Ri zal h ad i ntended for
Ibarra and El i as to desi re each oth er. In truth, to th e degree th at h omosoci al i ty was a soci al
structure i n wh i ch Ri zal was rai sed and from wh i ch h e wrote h i s novels, h e coul d not h ave
i ntended i ts presence i n h i s texts i nasmuch as i t was al ways al ready consti tuti ve of th em.
Noneth el ess, th ese passages sh ould cue us a l i ttle i nto th e ki nd of mi l i eu i n wh i ch th e men of
Ri zal's ti me and background workedæal ongsi de one anotheræas fri ends, compatri ots, fel l ow-
revoluti onari es, enemies, ri vals, or wh atever el se.

It mi gh t al so prove i mportant to mention th at El i as' " transfi gurati on" i n th i s scene paves th e
way for h i s Ch ri st-l i ke sacrifi ce toward th e end of h i s th e novel, i n wh i ch h e meets and
i nstructs th e boy Basi li o (a boy wh ose features are " attracti ve" , as Ri zal's text goes), to wh om
h e bequeath s th e N ol i 's most memorabl e l i nes: " I di e wi th out seei ng th e dawn..." And i t i s
l i kewi se si gnifi cant th at i t i s th i s very same boy, Basi li o, wh o i n th e El Fi l i becomes th e ward
and cl osest fol l ower of Si moun. In th at novel, another h omosoci al configurati on takes over th e
admi ri ng and consummate fri endsh i p th at exi sted between El i as and Ibarra, and th i s
configurati on i s one of mentorsh i p between an ol der man (th e master) and h i s student. (Ri zal 's
fortui tous descri pti on of th e el egantl y dressed h omeopath i st and h i s favori te " di sci pl e"
wal king th e cobbled streets of Mani la just now comes to mi nd).

But wh at h as h appened to Mari a Cl ara, Ibarra's decl ared romanti c i nterest, wh i l e al l th i s

i nti mate bonding i s taki ng pl ace on th e suddenl y romanti c l ake ? Sh e i s i n h er h ome,
presumabl y, wh ere women sh ould properl y be. Even El i as' ostensi bl e l ove i nterest, th e
eni gmati c Sal ome, must fi nall y be exi l ed fromth e novel's pl otæas wel l as from th e novel i tself,
i n i ts publ ish ed formæbecause Ri zal's affecti onal worl d i s, qui te si mply, a worl d domi nated
and made fascinati ng by men. In th e N ol i 's mi ssing ch apter, " El i as and Sal ome" , th e
i neffectual i ty of men's bonds wi th womenand th e potency of men's bonds wi th one another, may
be seen to be cl earl y expressed. In th e fi rst and onl y ti me we read about th em and th ei r
" fri endsh i p" , El i as i s al ready sayi ng goodbye to Sal ome, for h e h as " l ost h i s l i berty" to th e
man wh o h as saved h i s l i fe (Ibarra), and must now fol l ow h i m to " di sch arge th i s debt".

In th i s tri angl e of l ovi ng reci proci ti es, th e woman i s th e weakest l i nk, fi nall y reduced to
l ooking l ongingl y on, " l i steni ng to th e sound of [El i as'] footsteps, wh i ch gradual l y di e[d]
away." 47 In th e end, we can say th at i n al l l i keli h ood Ri zal di d not th i nk th e revoluti on to be
th e " proper" pl ace for women. In fact, i n h i s " To my Young Countrywomen...," h e may be seen to
typi fy th e patriarch al vi ew th at, evenor e spe ci a l l y i n ti mes of soci al ferment, women are to be
defi ned i n mal e termsæas supporti ve moth ers to th ei r revoluti onary sons, toward wh om (l i ke
th e l egendary women of Sparta) th ei r ul ti mate l oyalti es and responsi bi l i ti es must be
di rected. 48 Li ke every oth er i mportant affair, th e revoluti on, for Ri zal, was unmi stakabl y
mal e-i ncl usi ve. How el se sh ould i t be, after al l , gi ven th e undeni abl e ma l e ne ss required of
every si gnifi cant formof soci al i ntercourse i n h i s ti me ?

On th e oth er h and, we must understand th at mal e bonding as a formof rel ati ng di d not cancel out
romance wi th th e opposi te sex. Patriarch y's " traffi c i n women" i s i ncontroverti ble proof of men's
power, for i t reduces womento an exch angeabl e commodi ty between one group of men (fathers) to
another (h usbands). Marriage i s essenti al to th i s system, i n wh i ch women exch anged between
h ouseh ol ds functi on as a ki nd of soci al adh esi ve to secure men's bonds, and keep th em fi rmly i n
pl ace. Th us, wh i l e Ri zal i ncl uded women and romance i n h i s novels, h i s vi si on of th e
revoluti onæas wel l as of fraternal i ty and possibl y communi tyænoneth el ess sh ows th at th ere
were sph eres of soci al l i fe wh i ch were sh ut off from women. 49 Wi th in th ese excl usi vel y mal e
spaces, mal e h omosoci al desi re rei gned supreme, and encounters between men qui etl y, th ough not
for th at matter unpassi onatel y, took pl ace.

Fi nall y, I wi sh to rei terate th e poi nt I made earl ier on: th e questi on " Was Ri zal gay ?" h as no
answer, si mply because i t i s mi si nformed. Noneth el ess, I th i nk th e acti vi ty of rai sing such an
i nquiry h as not beenal l th at uni nsi gh tful and frui tl ess. As we h ave seen, i t l eads us to aski ng i f

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12 Pilipinas #41 September 2003

th e questi on of Ri zal's sexual ori entati onæas wel l as oth er si mi lar questi onsæi s, i n th e fi rst
pl ace, th e ri gh t ki nd of questi on to ask. We must remember th at not just gender and sexual i ty but
th e subjectæth e " person" æh ersel f cannot be presumed to be th e same across peri ods and
cul tures. Th us, l ooking i nto forms of i nti macy i n th e l ate Spanish and earl y American peri od i n
th e Ph i l ippi nes necessi tates th e wri ting of wh at Foucaul t h as cal l ed a " genealogi cal cri tique" .
Th i s i s a ki nd of conceptual h i story th at traces th e ori gins of seemingl y natural and ti meless
essences l i ke sex, th e psyche and even i denti ty i tself to di scourses, practi ces and i nstituti ons
wh i ch may be demonstrated to h ave a h i story, an unmi stakabl e materi al base.

Especi al l y i n rel ati on to such di fficul t questi ons as gender and erotici sm, we must remember
wh at Judi th Butl er, th e foremost th eori st of th e soci al l y constructed subject, h as sai d: sex i s not
a bi ol ogi cal template, a " gi ven" upon wh i ch gender rests—as i ts random and oftenti mes
i nequi tabl e el aborati on—but rath er, a " performati vi ty" . Butl er's performati ve th esis takes al l
sex, gender and sexual i ty (and th e i denti ty th ey col l ecti vel y evoke and represent) as th e
di scursi ve effects of ri tual i sti c performances of i deali zed " norms" ; moreover, i t i s th ese
performances and not an i nnate gender " core" th at i n fact " produce" th ei r subject, precisel y as
th ei r effect. 50 Th us, accordi ng to Butl er's th eory of performati vi ty, sex and i denti ty i tself are
" regul atory fi ctions" forcibl y enforced across ti me, materi al i zi ng th e very " bodies th at matter" ,
th e very subjects th ey supposedl y merely descri be. Th i s performati vi ty must be seen not as any
si ngul ar or si ngle del i berate " act", but rath er as a process, a rei terati ve and ci tati onal practi ce
by wh i ch " di scourse produces th e effects th at i t names" . It i s i n th i s sense th at we may see
i denti ty as bei ng wh at ones does, rath er th an wh at one i s. In a manner of speaki ng, we a re not
wh a t we a re ; we a re wh a t we do.

Wh at I h ave attempted to do i n th i s expl oratory essay i s partial l y si tuate certai n soci al

performances of mascul i ni ty duri ng Ri zal's ti me wi th in a " h omosoci al " contextæh omosoci al i ty
bei ng, for my purposes, a h euristi c th at refers merely to easi ly observabl e soci al bonds. As such ,
th e concept of h omosoci al i ty does not presume to l ay cl ai m to any psychi c (or psychosexual )
di mensi ons, wh i ch I am not prepared to do, si nce i ndeed th a t woul d be courti ng more danger
th an I am wi l l ing to face. In any case, I can say th at th e real work l i es ah ead: carryi ng out a
more detail ed soci al h i story of th e sex/gender system of th e peri od i n questi on, a cl ear
descri pti on of wh i ch woul d provide wh at i s, i n th e case of Butl er's study of twenti eth -century
gender and i denti ty i n th e h egemoni c West, th e " h eterosexual matrix" —wh i ch i s to say, th e
mode of i ntell i gi bi l i ty, th e si gnifyi ng structure or regulati ve di scourse wh i ch renders certai n
acts and performances i ntell i gi bl e, wh i l e denying th i s very same i ntell i gi bi l i ty to oth ers.

For Butl er, th i s matrix h as th ree consti tuent parts, al l of wh i ch functi on as bi nari sms. Th i s
" structural i st" i nsi gh t, th anks to countl ess oth er femi ni st th i nkers, i s al ready wel l known: th ere
are two sexes (mal e and female), two genders (mascul i ne and femi ni ne), and two " essenti al "
sexual i ti es (h eterosexual and h omosexual ). Of course, accordi ng to h eteropatri archy, th e i deal
combinati ons can onl y be: mal e, mascul i ne and h eterosexual ; female, femi ni ne and h eterosexual .
Al ready, one wonders i f a comparabl e matrix obtained i n th e Ph i l ippi nes duri ng th e Spanish
col oni al peri od, and i f i t was i n any way stable, coh erent or h egemoni c across th e di fferent
soci al cl asses and eth nic groupi ngs i n th e arch ipel ago. On second th ough t, gi ven th e l ack of
normal i zi ng tech nol ogi es i n th e backward Fi l i pi na s of Ri zal's ti me, th i s " matri x" most
certai nl y coul d not h ave been al l th at stable or h egemoni c. (Certai nl y, as we h ave al ready
cl arifi ed, i t coul d not h ave beenh eterosexual ei th er, despite th e " mal e/femal e" bi nari sm th at
may h ave obtained on th e l evel of ge ni ta l sex).

In parting, l et me recur to my paper's controversi al questi on, wh i ch proves frui tful i n another
sense. Al l ow me to el aborate. Someti me i n th e Centenni al year (1998), i n h i s col umn for th e
Ph i l ippi ne Da i l y Inquire r, Ambeth Ocampo stated th at i mputi ng to Ri zal gayness i s not th e
worst th i ng th at h as been done to th i s nati onal h ero. To Ocampo, th e worst th at anybody h as
sai d about Ri zal i s th at h e and h i s greatness are fabricati ons by th e Ameri cans.

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 Pilipinas #41 September 2003 13

Wh i l e I agree i t i s si mply terribl e to th i nk th i s of Ri zal, I al so wi sh to regi ster a specifi c

demurral agai nst Ocampo's unwi tti ng i mpl icati on th at th i nki ng Ri zal mi gh t h ave been gay i s,
al l th i ngs considered, sti l l and al l ba d e nough .

If anythi ng good came out of Isagani R. Cruz's ch eeky col umn on Ri zal's k a ba kl a a n, i t woul d be
th i s: i n ponderi ng th e mystery of wh ether our nati on's greatest h ero was a ba k l a or not, we h ave
di scovered th e truth, not so much about Ri zal, as oursel ves. And wh at truth i s th i s ? It i s si mply
th at we cannot be sai d to be accepti ng of th e ba k l a i n our mi dst to th e degree th at we cannot
begi nto accept th e possibi l i ty th at someone we h ave been taught to admi re from as earl y as we
can remember, coul d h ave beensuch an awful , awful th i ng.

Notes

* Read at the symposium, "Making Love: Eroticism in Colonial Filipinas", Asian Studies
Center, University of the Philippines, Diliman, 2 July 2002. An earlier version of this
essay first appeared in J. Neil C. Garcia, Closet Queeries (Pasig City: Anvil
Publishing, 1997).
I am i ndebted to Dr. Mi l agros Guerrero for al erti ng me to th e exi stence of Carmen
Guerrero-Nakpi l's i ntervi ew wi th Mari a, Ri zal's younger si ster, and to Benedi ct
Anderson for h i s h el pful comments on th i s essay's draft. I woul d al so l i ke to express my
gratitude to Raquel Reyes for urgi ng me to " beef up" my work on Ri zal, and to Fr. Al bert
Al ejo, for h i s ki nd words as moderator i n th e UP Asi an Center's Symposi um on Erotici sm
i n col oni al Ph i l ippi nes.

1
Isagani R. Cruz, from the column, Kritika, "B a k l a ba si Rizal ?", Filmag: Filipino
Magazin, Vol. 4, no. 192 (25 November 1996): p. 19.

2
For a history of this as well as "similar" terms (like binabae/yi, bayot, etc.), see my
Philippine Gay Culture: The Last Thirty Years (Quezon City: University of t h e
Philippines Press, 1996), pp. 52-65.

3
See Jonathan Ned Katz, The Invention of Heterosexuality (New York: Plume, 1995), p.
54. Ironically, the same sexologist "invented" heterosexuality eleven years after h e
first coined "homosexual" to describe the erotic acts performed by men with men, and
women with women.

4
Jose Rizal, El Filibusterismo, translated by Ma. Soleded Lacson-Locsin (Manila:
Bookmark, 1998), p. 231.

5
Homeopathy is a form of medicine which was founded in the late eighteenth century
by Hahnemann, a German physician from Leipzig. Its key doctrine is similia similibus
curanturæLatin for "likes are cured by likes"ætaken to mean that the best way to treat
a particular disease is by administering to the patient "small doses of drugs which
would produce in the person symptoms closely resembling those of the disease being
treated." (See The Oxford English Dictionary, Second edition, Volume VII, p. 338).
Of course, none of this explains why Rizal chose to make this doctor a homeopathist,
unless perhaps because he was trying to be euphemistic about his "subject", primarily
by using a pun: "homeopathy", "homeopathist", "homeopathic" are phonetically
resonant terms in relation to the kind of behavior this character likes to engage in,
especially with the young cavalry officer. The "homo" refers to same- or like-ness,
while "pathic", from the Latin pathicus, was a term used to refer to "a man upon whom
sodomy is practiced". See The Oxford English Dictionary, Second edition, Volume XI,
p. 339.

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14 Pilipinas #41 September 2003

6
Arnold Davidson, "Sex and the Emergence of Sexuality", in Forms of Desire: Sexual
Orientation and the Social Constructionist Controversy, edited by Edward Stein (New
York: Routledge, 1992), pp. 89-132.

7
I must clarify that I make this statement not so much to be anti-nationalist as to
recognize the fact that the signifier "Filipino", during Rizal's time and especially in
the Europe he sought to "locate" himself in, almost always referred to the Creoles or
criollo, meaning Spanish people who were living in the Philippines. In a personal
essay, "Kalutang", the late National Artist N.V.M. Gonzalez recalls how frustrating
it was for him to realize this. See N.V.M. Gonzalez, Work on the Mountain (Quezon
City: University of the Philippines Press, 1995), p. 51.

8
For fuller discussions of constructionist accounts of sexual orientation, see the other
essays in Forms of Desire: Sexual Orientation and the Social Constructionist
Controversy, especially those by Ian Hacking, Steven Epstein and Lenore Teifer.

9
Sebastian de Totanes, Arte de la Lengua Tagala y Manual Tagalog (Sancto Tomas,
1745), 1pp. 43-146.

10
Antonio de Morga, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, Found in The Philippine Islands, 1493-
1898, Emma Blair and James Robertson, eds. (Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark, 1903-09),
Volume 16, p. 130.

11
For early modern understandings of sodomy, see Jonathan Goldberg, Sodometries:
Renaissance Texts, Modern Sexualities (Stanford University Press, 1992).

12
Goldberg, pp. 14-18.

13
John Leddy Phelan, The Hispanization of the Philippines: Spanish Aims and Filipino
Responses, 1565-1700 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1959), pp. 186-187.

14
Antonio de Morga, Historical Events of the Philippine Islands, English Translation of
Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, annotated by Jose Rizal (Manila: Jose Rizal National
Centennial Commission, 1962.)

15
Ribadeneira's and Benavidez's accounts were written in or around 1601 and 1605
respectively, while Morga's Sucesos was published in Mexico in 1609. These incidents of
"cribbing", especially from Ignacio de Santibañez's and Juan de Plasencia's chronicles,
are rampant in Morga's account, as Rizal himself occasionally notes. See: Archbishop
de Santibañez to Phillip II, Manila, 24 June 1598; cited in Horacio de la Costa, T h e
Jesuits in the Philippines: 1581-1768 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University
Press, 1961), p. 207. For a detailed examination of the "sodomy narratives" in early
Hispanic Philippines, see my Philippine Gay Culture, pp. 138-143.

16
Note, for example, this statement from one of the relations, from 1605, of Miguel de
Benavidez, Archbishop of Manila and founder of the University of Santo Tomas:
"Among themselves, they never knew of the unnatural sin and they had no word or
name for it, nor would they know of it, until the Chinese came to this country, and from
them they have learned it." See Miguel de Benavidez, Archbishop of Manila (1605), in
Volume 13 of The Philippine Islands, 1493-1890, edited by Emma Blair and James
Robertson (Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark, 1903-1909).

17
Gaspar de San Agustin (1713), Confesionario Copioso en Lengua Española y T a g a l a ,
Para Direccion de lost Confesores, y Instruccion de los Penitentes (Sampaloc: Convento
de Nuestra Señora de Loreto, 1787), pp. 148-149.

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 Pilipinas #41 September 2003 15

18
Wh at i s i ronic i s th at, at l east as far as sodomy was concerned, th i s may h ave been
exactl y wh at th e Spanish admi ni strators th emsel ves l i kewi se sought to accompl i sh , i n
order to draw a di stincti on between th e Ph i l ippi ne and th e Lati n American i ndi os, wh o
were general l y seen as sodomi ti c and/or cannibal i sti c by th e Europeans i n th e opening
years of th e Spanish Conquest of th e Americas, th anks to th e h ysteri cal accounts wri tten
by conqui sta dore s l i ke Hernan Cortes, Tomas Orti z and Cabeza de Vaca. Such accounts
were responsi bl e, i n part, for th e grave and genoci dal abuses th at were committed agai nst
th e nati ves by th e European settlers of Lati n America, and i t seems i t was i mportant for
th e Spanish col oni al government th at th e Ph i l ippi ne i ndi os be spared from a si mi lar
demoni zati onæas a way, perh aps, of justifyi ng th e costly and di fficul t " mai ntenance" of
th e arch ipel ago, wh i ch proved si mply too far to admi ni ster di rectl y from Spai n. Th us,
great care was taken to depi ct th e nati ves, i n th ese accounts and rel ati ons comi ng from
th e Ph i l ippi nes, as a l argel y gentle and congeni al people, i ncredi bl y i nnocent of th e
" unnatural cri me" , and th us worthy of continued Spanish benevol ence. For more on th i s
poi nt, see my Ph i l ippi ne Ga y Cul ture , pp. 319-325.

19
Resil Mojares, Waiting for Mariang Makiling (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila
University Press, 2002), pp. 52-86.

20
See Rizal's Morga, p. 289.

21
But then again, perhaps yes: see note 37.

22
In his book, History of Education in the Philippines, Evergisto Bazaco writes t h a t
throughout the Spanish period, "co-education was not believed in". Parochial schools
had a building for boys and a building for girls, and even the Law of 1863 ordered t h a t
in every town with a population of 5,000, there should be two schools, one for boys and
one for girls. See Evergisto Bazaco, OP, History of Education in the Philippines
(Manila: University of Santo Tomas Press, 1953), pp. 54-59, 70.

23
Felix Roxas, The World of Felix Roxas: Anecdotes and Reminiscences of a Manila
Newspaper Columnist, 1926-36, trans. by Angel Estrada and Vicente del Carmen
(Manila: Filipiniana Book Guild, 1970), pp. 335-336. In this column, Roxas actually
says that in the school year 1887-1878, one such letter was discovered by one of t h e
Jesuit inspectors, who subsequently "lectured" the student body about it. What is
interesting is that Roxas declines to name the author and receiver of this infamous
missive, and instead merely hints that the former hailed from Vigan (a man who has
since married and died, leaving behind a big family), while the latter is "X, a patriot
who has not yet returned from Spain." Casually enough, he remarks that this passion
was never actually requited (as though he could have seriously known for sure).
Many thanks to Ambeth Ocampo for pointing out the existence of this intriguing piece
of literary journalism.

24
In a paper delivered at the University of the Philippines, Benedict Anderson refers to
this passage as well as to the one on the "elegantly dressed" homeopathist, to lend
further credence to his claim that Rizal was well aware of sexual matters, as he could
only have been, given all the other interesting "coincidences" between his second novel
and certain French "decadent" works. See Rizal, El Filibusterismo, pp. 247-248, for t h e
curious passage on the French vaudeville performance that has come to townæa
performance which ends up troubling the pretty, convent-bred Paulita, specially with
the appearance of the masculinely attired women called cochers.
Anderson's paper, "The French Connection: Rizal, Decadence and Revolutionary
Anarchism", was delivered on 23 January 2004 at the Faculty Center Conference H a l l ,
University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.

Was Rizal Gay ?

16 Pilipinas #41 September 2003

25
See Vicente L. Rafael, "Nationalism, Imagery and the Filipino Intelligentsia of t h e
Nineteenth Century", in Discrepant Histories: Translocal Essays on Filipino Cultures,
ed. Vicente L. Rafael (Manila: Anvil Publishing, 1995), pp. 149-150.

26
Letter of Ferdinand Blumentritt in Leitmeritz, 4 September 1887. See The R i z a l -
Blumentritt Correspondence (Manila: Jose Rizal Centennial Commission, 1961), p. 131.

27
Rizal in Rome to Blumentritt, 27 June 1887. See The Rizal-Blumentritt Correspondence,
p. 110.

28
Rizal in Hong Kong to Blumentritt, 20 April 1892. See The Rizal-Blumentritt
Correspondence, p. 443.

29
At least thrice did Rizal write that he was "always thinking" of his "faithful friend".
See: Rizal in Kalamba to Blumentritt, 3 December 1887, and Rizal in Dapitan to
Blumentritt, 4 July 1895, in The Rizal-Blumentritt Correspondence, p. 158 and p. 512
respectively.

30
Rizal in Brussels to Blumentritt, 31 March 1890. See The Rizal-Blumentritt
Correspondence, p. 343.

31
A typical passage is this: "Dear, if you do not receive any letter from me, think only
that I am very busy, but that I always remember you." See: Rizal in Paris to
Blumentritt, 9 September 1889, The Rizal-Blumentritt Correspondence, p. 284.

32
Rizal in Paris to Blumentritt, 19 November 1889, The Rizal-Blumentritt
Correspondence, p. 304.

33
I might, for instance, cite as an example of this American-sponsored, stigmatizing
discourse of sexuality the aforesaid account by Felix Roxas, who was clearly bothered
by the implication of his "confession" concerning the besotted Ateneans of his youth,
and thus takes utmost care not to name names.

34
These "Clinical Notes" were, for instance, reprinted in Escritos Varios by the Comicion
Nacional del Centenario de Jose Rizal in 1961 (Volume VIII, Segunda Parte).

35
In a "less catty" context, Ocampo makes mention of these provocative drawings in h i s
paper "Josefina: Rizal and His Women", also read at the symposium "Making Love:
Eroticism in Colonial Filipinas", held at the Asian Center, University of t h e
Philippines Diliman, 10 July 2002.

36
Ante Radaic, "The Fears of Rizal: Life and Love", Weekly Women’s Magazine (28
December 1962): p. 16.

37
Carmen Guerrero Nakpil, "Rizal’s America", Evening News (13 December 1947): p. 7.

38
Leon Ma. Guerrero, "Translator's Preface", in Jose Rizal, The Young Rizal: A
Translation of Memorias de Un Estudiante de Manila, etc. (1950).

39
Guerrero, "Notes", p. 95.

40
Could this word have been the Tagalog binabae/yi, which as a childish taunt would
roughly translate to "sissy" ? Also, when written down, this word would evince the two
tall strokes spaced just right, which Guerrero assiduously notices in his translator's
notes. Looking at the facsimile of Rizal's Memorias, I must say I agree with this

Was Rizal Gay ?

 Pilipinas #41 September 2003 17

perspicacious observation of Guerrero's—an observation that should give other

Rizalist aficionados pause. See Facsimiles de los escritos de Jose Rizal (Manila:
Comision Nacional del Centenario de Jose Rizal, 1962).

41
Guerrero, p. 24.

42
Radaic, p. 35.

43
This satirical piece is one of Rizal's most vitriolic attacks on the Philippine
frailocracy. It begins with Friar Rodriguez, an Augustinian priest of Guadalupe, Rizal
(and author of the pompous booklet, Cuestiones de Sumo Interes) receiving a visitation
from a bearded man dressed up like a bishop, who proceeds to heckle him and hit him
with his crosier on the head. The decrepit friar begins to crawl on all fours, whereupon
the spectral apparition contemptuously exclaims, Homo sine homine, "Man without
manhood !" While obviously intended to humiliate the friar, this description does
implicate ideas of sexual domination between a man with a "staff" beating up a man
without it, and all it proves is Rizal was aware of this phallic, intra-male dynamic.
See "The Vision of Fr. Rodriguez", Rizal's Unknown Writings, translated by Juan
Collas (Manila: Bookman, Inc., 1957), p. 15.

44
Rizal in Paris to Blumentritt, 23 June 1889, The Rizal-Blumentritt Correspondence, pp.
263-264.

45
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1985). In this study, Sedgwick pursues t h e
feminist idea that patriarchy is characterized not just by the overt oppression of
women by men, but by the promotion, by men, of each other's interests, precisely at t h e
expense of women.

46
Jose Rizal, The Social Cancer, translated by Charles E. Derbyshire (Manila:
Philippine Education Company, 1956), pp. 211-212.

47
Jose Rizal, "Elias and Salome", in Rizal's Unread Legacy, translated by Juan Collas
(Manila: Bookman Inc., 1957), p. 77.

48
Jose Rizal, "To my Young Countrywomen of Malolos", in Rizal's Unknown Writings,
translated by Juan Collas (Manila: Bookman, Inc., 1957), pp. 85-87.

49
Rafael finds "photographic evidence" of this male-exclusivity in an 1890 picture taken
of Rizal, Juan Luna and Valentin Ventura in Paris. Allow me to quote him: "[The] image
of masculine solidarity is further suggested by the barely visible picture of a
womanæPaz Pardo de Tavera, Luna's wifeæsituated in the background, at the margins
of the frame, as if to signal the sexual hierarchy that patriotism reinstitutes." See
Rafael, "Nationalism, Imagery and the Filipino Intelligentsia...," p. 150.

50
Judith Butler, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (New York:
Routledge, 1990), pp. 146-47.

Was Rizal Gay ?