By Jun Nucum
The new TV rom-com series Drag You and Me dares to unravel the lives of Filipino drag queens in one of the most conservative and predominantly Roman Catholic countries in the world.
Headlined by Andrea Brillantes as Betty Bettina Catapang (also known by her drag name Valentine Royale), a cisgender woman and a strong LGBTQIA+ ally and JC Alcantara who has a dual role as a straight male Jason Sabas, and an irresistible bisexual drag queen Shania Lacroix in a love triangle with Betty and JC’s drag mother Bubbles Lacroix (played by Christian Bables who is also known in the show as Charlie Bautista.)
In a Zoom media conference recently, Brillantes thanked the LGBTQIA+ movement for unceasingly fighting for their rights.
“If not for them, we will not have the courage to create a platform like the TV series Drag You and Me, clubs for the LGBTQIA community to participate in and perform. I am proud for what this community has gone through from being relegated to perform in barangay fairs and now in the mainstream with their own beauty contests, competitions, our TV show that is about drag queens and they are all over social media platforms too,” said Brillantes. “We hope this will continue and that they will eventually have the rights they are entitled to here in the Philippines as our next goal and achievement.”
Alcantara is glad Drag will spotlight the roles and contributions of gays and lead to further understanding of the gay community.
“We know that in the Philippines they still are suffering from discrimination and it is encouraging that they have platforms like this that serve to understand what these drags are going through including that they will be represented in the society,” Alcantara said.
Alcantara revealed they got a lot of good feedbacks from viewers.
“We hear that even the cisgender (or straight) and gay alike are thrilled and they giggled even when gays fall in love with a character like Betty who is straight. They fall in love with the pair and they accept us. They support us wholeheartedly,” Alcantara explained.
One of the main focuses that stands out in the show was the importance that Filipinos have on love for family and family values. And this was evident in the twist and turns of the show.
Brillantes revealed, “We also show that not all families are perfect as Betty’s family is not being readily accepted by the people around them and in society as a whole. Our TV series show the struggle of those not being readily accepted even by those in their own families,”
Brillantes elaborated. “Betty was fortunate that her family gets along well with parents who are both members of the LGBTQIA community but JC was unfortunate to have a family who does not readily accept as he is, a drag.”
“There is no need to hate. There is nothing wrong with being drag queens. As we have shown since the first episode, drag is just an expression and a form of art. Being gay is just loving a person also. You are merely loving someone without doing something wrong. Sadly, there only are the usual ugly stereotypes attached to gay people,” said Brillantes.
“I also hope that this show will be able to help those who are still finding to courage to come out with their real gender identity and find their proper place where they truly belong and thrive,” Brillantes wished.
“As long as you are not you are not hurting anyone, as long as you are just loving others there is nothing wrong with what you are doing. The LGBTQIA ++ community deserved to be loved,” echoed Alcantara.
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