The "Bi" Confusion



Hairstylist Ricky Reyes personifies the "bakla"
in Mass Media



Here's an interesting comment about the confusion of the "bisexual" word as commonly used today in Manila:

i have to say this here lex but i really am beginning to hate that word - BI. it is the most abused word in the GLBT lingo. ang lalake pag takot na sabihin o aminin na bading siya, automatic yan, parang yes FM, ang ililabel niya sa sarili niya bi siya. so yung mga contestants ng mr posh walang bading, puro bi. eh lahat yan puro bayarang lalake sa boytoyforhire ni paris. and again, pagtatanungin mo sila ano ang orientation nila, sasabihin pa sayo straight sila kung makakalusot. pagna corner na, ang sagot, the most convenient answer in the gay world nowadays, bi ako in a major major way. i wonder what others will have to say to that.

Anonymous

*****

Hi Anonymous,

Allow me to offer my own speculation on how all this "bisexual" term confusion has happened. Before the mid-20th century, Filipinos categorized the queer men into two: one is the "bakla" or "binabae", which refers to men who dress up like women. The other term is "silahis", men who are into other men but are masculine in nature.

Ogie Diaz personifies the "silahis"

Now, here's where the confusion begins. "Silahis" may refer to any man (whether gay or bisexual) as long as they choose a masculine appearance. In simpler terms, Ricky Reyes in his red pants and make up is "bakla" and Ogie Diaz, in his jeans and shirts, and the fact that he has a wife despite of his publicly "gay persona" is "silahis" following this categories.

 

So, when the term homosexual and bisexual permeated our culture, they simply became a synonym of our existing terms. Homosexuality conveniently took the seat of "bakla" and bisexuality became "silahis". In this case, the homo/bi - sexual concepts became "filipinized".

Ergo, in Manila, if a man claims to be "bi", oftentimes, he means, he is silahis. He prefers masculine clothes, and may or may not be attracted to the opposite sex.

Lex