Philippine gay language

The Philippine Gay lingo is built upon words, expressions, and existing languages (local and foreign). It's full of allusion to popular culture, celebrities, places, and even events. Bekispeak is unique and shows Filipino ingenuity and adaptability to culture. Uncover the intriguing world of Beki Speak - an extravagant and witty gay lingo in the Philippines. Learn fascinating terms used in everyday conversations and gain insight into the vibrant LGBT community.

Swardspeak (also known as salitang bakla (lit. 'gay speak') [1] or "gay lingo") or Bekinese, is an argot or cant slang derived from Taglish (Tagalog-English code-switching) and used by a number of LGBT people in the Philippines. [2][3].

gay lingo dictionary

Lastly, and probably the most important gay lingo — "shuta" — which basically means "fuck" or "bitch." It's like the Tagalog curse word "puta" who grew up to be a little bit more extra. The gay language in the Philippines is a pidgin language that was created by Filipino gay people to communicate discreetly with each other. It borrows words and meanings from English, Tagalog, Spanish and other Philippine languages.

The only difference is that Dasovich never returned to the United States. Instead, after traveling through Indonesia and Singapore, he was scouted for commercial modeling in Manila. Half Filipino, he realized he wanted to connect with his roots on a deeper level. Even as English increasingly grows as a dominating cultural force, people across the country still speak more than languages.

Of those, the government has designated two as official—Tagalog and English—and nineteen as auxiliary languages. A coded lexicon mostly spoken by gay men, Swardspeak draws from English and Tagalog, as well as Spanish and, to a lesser extent, Japanese. To Filipino speakers, Swardspeak sounds witty and twangy, and it immediately identifies the speaker as homosexual.

Swardspeak is both playful and mind-bogglingly complex.

Many terms come from the names of celebrities, brands and a cornucopia of other colorful sources. Filipinos are surprised to find foreigners who can fluently speak Tagalog, let alone Swardspeak. So I went out of my way to learn it. His viral clip also serves as a window into the evolution of gay slang. Although he may not have known it at the time, Dasovich—who self-identifies as straight—was showing how Swardspeak has been appropriated by mainstream heterosexual society.

Far from a recent phenomena, the origins of gay slang stretches back decades. But over the last several decades, Filipinos have become increasingly more accepting of gay men—a Pew Research Center survey found the Philippines to have the most positive views toward homosexuality among Asian countries, despite reports of ongoing discrimination and hate crimes against LGBT individuals. Words and phrases from Swardspeak have, in turn, permeated Filipino pop culture.

This is especially true in industries typically dominated by gay men, such as show business. Especially comedians. In many ways, the historic trajectory of Swardspeak parallels Polari , a British gay secret language that was widely spoken among gay men and theater types in the early-to-mid 20th century. Polari was popularized in the mainstream by two notably campy characters, Julian and Sandy , on the s BBC radio show Round the Horne.

By the time the UK Sexuality Offences Act legalized private homosexual acts in , Polari fell into disuse and all but disappeared. This decline could be accredited to the stigma associated with using it as it came to embody camp stereotypes in Britain, but gay men also had fewer reasons to speak an anti-language as culture became more hospitable.

Only time will tell if Swardspeak will eventually follow the path of Polari to irrelevance and eventual cultural neglect. Follow Jon Shadel on Twitter. By Stephen Andrew Galiher. By Luis Prada. By Veronica Booth. By Shaun Cichacki. Videos by VICE.