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“That Performance Was Not for You to Begin With”

Performing Queer Worship as Resistance in the Philippines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2025

Ian Rafael Ramirez
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Abstract

In July 2023, drag artist Pura Luka Vega’s Ama Namin (Our Father) performance in “Jesus drag” went viral across the Philippine archipelago. Many deemed Luka’s performance blasphemous, and they were declared persona non grata and imprisoned twice. This kanalization is a process where Christian fundamentalists, conservative publics, and state officials tag bakla (often conflated with being gay or transfeminine) as kanal (canal or sewer), deserving imprisonment and even death. By queering worship, bakla communities challenge anti-bakla regimes.

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TDR , Volume 69 , Issue 4 , December 2025 , pp. 185 - 199
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© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of New York University Tisch School of the Arts

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References

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