# Diaspora resilience: How Filipino LGBT+ voices are driving global calls for healing and justice
In the face of growing global challenges, Filipino LGBT+ communities across the diaspora are emerging as powerful catalysts for social change, weaving together traditional values with progressive advocacy to create unique spaces of resilience and solidarity.
## Quick Take
Filipino queer communities both at home and abroad are increasingly using cultural strengths to address discrimination while building international coalitions that amplify calls for justice. From leadership symposiums in Manila to community-building practices in pandemic-era lockdowns, these efforts showcase a distinctly Filipino approach to advocacy.
The Philippine LGBT+ environment presents a complex picture. While the country stands among Southeast Asia’s most welcoming societies for queer communities, significant challenges remain. This February, the Philippine LGBTQ+ Gender Spectrum Forum and Leadership Symposium brought together corporate leaders, policymakers, and advocates to advance workplace inclusion, drawing inspiration from the Philippines’ rich historical journey of inclusion, from the revered gender-transcending Babaylan spiritual leaders to modern expressions of queer identity.
“The Philippines continues to stand among the most welcoming and accepting of gay and queer communities in broader society,” notes LEAD Filipino, which organized the Queer Lakbay Summit exploring the twin concepts of “Bakla” (Gay) and “Lakbay” (journey).
These cultural foundations provide strength for Filipino LGBT+ communities navigating often hostile environments abroad. A recent UN Women paper highlights how LGBTIQ+ migrants face “heightened risk of human rights violation at all stages of migration,” with only 37 countries granting asylum based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The pandemic particularly tested these communities, with Filipino healthcare workers becoming the faces of the frontline while suffering disproportionate losses. “We really suffered,” shares a community member identified as Tita C. “We lost many friends and family, but I am just grateful to God and for the support we gave each other”.
This period sparked innovative responses: online mutual aid networks delivered groceries and home-cooked meals, while new platforms like Tinig UK emerged to provide reliable information about the pandemic’s effects on Filipino communities.
Educational institutions are also recognizing these unique intersectional experiences. City College of San Francisco now offers courses examining “the experiences of the Filipinx LGBTQ+ communities in the Philippines and the diaspora,” exploring “histories and legacies of colonization, belief systems, sexuality, and gender identities”.
As migration rights activist Rey Perez Asis puts it: “Continue to get involved and actively take part in talking about our issues as LGBTIQ+ individuals and as migrants, create and expand those safe spaces and networks of support and solidarity, and amplify our voices together with other marginalized communities”.
