Netizen slams Jose Manalo, Tito Sotto for ‘promoting hate’ on gays

L-R Wally Bayola, Paolo Ballesteros and Jose Manalo in Eat Bulaga’s Problem Solving Segment (Photo from Eat Bulaga’s official Facebook page)

MANILA – A certain Cha Roque expressed her disappointment over “Eat Bulaga” hosts Jose Manalo and Tito Sotto for telling a gay dad to ‘get back in the closet.’

Roque, a lesbian mother, posted an open letter in her Facebook account, saying she was appalled by the noontime show hosts’ advice and remorseful for the father who trusted them with was he was going through.

“How you suggested that this guy should go back to the closet so his kids won’t be discriminated is like saying that homosexuality is a sin… You are not in the position to tell this guy ‘bumalik sa closet’ (get back in the closet) or ‘bakit kasi nag-asa-asawa’ (why did he marry) or threaten to hurt him jokingly,” she wrote.

“You are promoting a culture of hate. You are telling the world that corrective beating up is okay to make a gay guy become manly. You are telling the world that the only key to be accepted is to hide who you truly are,” she continued.

Roque greatly disapproved ‘hiding in the closet.’

“I am a lesbian mom and I chose not to hide in the closet, because I love my kid. I don’t think she deserves to be lied to and lying to her about who I am is the biggest betrayal. You don’t hide secrets from the people you love – more so your identity,” she wrote.

“We (LGBT people) do not want to hide. We want to be accepted, and acceptance is different from being tolerated. It is not okay that you are only okay with us if we keep quiet,” she continued.

Roque believed that it was an ‘immature and uneducated move’ for the hosts and the segment.

“You have millions of followers spanning the whole Philippines. Needless to say, the personalities in your show are influential.

You even have a Senator blatantly telling this guy to go back to the closet. Don’t you have gay or lesbian colleagues or staff in your show?,” she asked.

Roque ended her letter saying people ‘have right to their choices.’

“We know who we are and you don’t have the right to tell us to be otherwise,” she concluded.

It can be recalled that in Eat Bulaga’s Problem Solving segment on May 22, a gay father alias “Diamond” asked the hosts how he could save his three children from being bullied because of his sexuality. Host Jose Manalo then advised him to somewhat ‘change’ how he looked and appear manly. Co-host Tito Sotto agreed and immediately added that the gay dad should ‘get back in the closet.’