‘Gayspeak,’ linguistic prejudice and discrimination

I TAKE issue with Ramon Tulfo’s somewhat condescending, albeit subtle, postulation in contending that the recent “gayspeak” or “swardspeak” (coined by Nestor U. Torre circa 1970s) exchange between presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda and Joey Salgado, head of Vice President Jojo Binay’s media office, “shows just to what level national politics has gone” (“Gayspeak at the top,” Metro, 8/11/15).

Linguistic experts would categorize Tulfo’s negativity toward swardspeak as a form of linguistic prejudice whereby negative attitudes are directed toward persons based solely on their use of a particular genre of language. Unfortunately, social scientists aver that linguistic prejudice may be a precursor to linguistic discrimination (also termed “linguicism” or “languagism”), the active singling out of a certain group for unfair treatment based purely on their use of language.

Oppressed and marginalized social minorities such as the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community are often linguicism’s most consistent targets because speech varieties linked to such groups have a tendency to be ridiculed or, at worst, stigmatized.

A distinctive feature of gayspeak is the instant identification of the speaker as gay. While this immediate categorization facilitates gays’ recognition of each other, it sadly also makes them highly visible and vulnerable targets of prejudice, discrimination, and outright violence.

Falling prey to the perils of stereotyping, Tulfo then expresses a veiled insinuation as he writes: “Words from the gay vocabulary… were used in public by Lacierda and Salgado, who are supposedly straight guys” (underscoring supplied).

Affirmatively, gayspeak strengthens gays’ resistance to cultural assimilation. In power terms, it allows gays to resist the dominant culture of their society and to create a space of their own. Contrary to Tulfo’s nuanced suggestion that gayspeak is an inferior type of discourse, it eloquently demonstrates the dynamic nature of language with new terms and phrases permeating everyday language even that of straight individuals. Such fluidity reflects changes in gay culture, helps maintain gay identity and, most importantly, allows for greater freedom of expression among its speakers. Moreover, gayspeak is witty, humorous, vibrant and patently multicultural as it is built on the world’s major languages such as English, French, Chinese, German,Spanish and Japanese, to name a few.

In conclusion, Tulfo indubitably did not gain lots of fans from the high-Filipino-density Golden Gate City with his unenlightened oversimplification: “Lacierda and Salgado should live in San Francisco, California, a gay haven, where they can freely use gayspeak.”

—FREDDIE R. OBLIGACION, [email protected]