Tonight On T.V.!

Pls. indulge me in a little cross-plugging for a friend.

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“CHISWISANG BAKLUSH” (GAY TALK!)
I-Witness with Sandra Aguinaldo
This Monday: August 6, 2007

Carmi Martin, Manilyn Reynes, Jolina Magdangal…. Who would think that the names of these actresses would bear a totally different meaning for members of the gay community? Among them, Carmi stands for karma, Manilyn for being lustful or “malibog” and Jolina for someone already circumcised or “tuli na”.

In tonight’s I-Witness episode, Sandra Aguinaldo shows how “swardspeak” or gay lingo has infiltrated the day-to-day conversations of Filipinos. Even those who are not gay commonly use gay terms and phases.

Sandra brings together groups of gay beauticians and stand-up comedians to demonstrate how gays create their own language. According to the two groups, “swardspeak” is one way they express their freedom and fight discrimination in society.

The gay words “chika” and “tsugi” tied for 3rd prize in the 2004 Sawikaan Word of the Year competition, sponsored by the UP College of Arts and Letters. And several originally gay words are about to be included in the 2nd edition of the University of the Philippines’ Dictionary!

Find out which words made the cut in this fascinating and funny documentary on the evolution of language entitled “Chiswisang Baklush (Gay Talk!)”. Written and hosted by award-winning documentarist Sandra Aguinaldo, it airs Monday late night over GMA-7’s I-Witness.