MANILA, Philippines —  It's a given that a writer puts a little bit of himself in every literary work that he produces. But for those writing from the sidelines, what sets them apart – such as their gender and sexuality – often end up being the very essence of their art.

These and other issues on gender identity were tackled in “Gender Issues in Writing”, one of the discussions held during Lit Out Loud, a conference organized by the National Book Development Board and co-presented by National Bookstore.

Writers J. Neil Garcia, Danton Remoto, and Jhoanna Lyn Cruz – all authors of books dealing mainly with the gay and lesbian experience – were on hand to talk about how their own gender and sexual orientation inevitably ends up coloring what they write and how it is interpreted by the reading public at large.

While he is best known for his work with J. Neil Garcia in the seminal “Ladlad” series, Remoto says that before “Ladlad” came out, he wrote stories with decidedly heterosexual characters. “Before Ladlad, I used to write short stories published in National, Midweek, and Focus Philippines, about men and women falling in love. Isang malaking kaplastikan 'yan!” he reveals with a laugh.

However, once “Ladlad” was published and Remoto was “outed”, in a manner of speaking, he says that his work changed to reflect it.

“When a writer becomes aware of his sexuality and gender, there is a change because that informs the consciousness behind the writing. The act of creation becomes a conscious effort, he no longer hides behind facades and walls, because they open an infinity of doors,” explains Remoto.

Even critics noticed this in the books Remoto came out with after the publication of “Ladlad” in 1994.

“In a study done by Dr. Ronald Baytan, he says this of my writing: ‘’'Danton Remoto's 'Skin, Voices, Faces' (1990, Anvil) and 'Black Silk Pyjamas' (1996, Anvil) place the homosexual subject in the center of the poems. In 'Skin, Voices, Faces', one can see the liminality of sexual identities with the ambiguous gender of the persona. In 'Black Silk Pyjamas', homosexuality figures more prominently. By the time 'Black Silk Pyjamas' came out in 1996, Danton Remoto had become an advocate of gay and lesbian rights, if by accident,'” he says.

Standing up for feminism
Cruz, on the other hand, talked about how women writers in Mindanao have been able to stand for feminist issues, even while rejecting that label. By being women writing their stories and pursuing their craft alongside their familial obligations, these women are already subverting the established norm.

She cites as one example Aida Rivera Ford, who in a recent talk at the Ateneo Library of Women's Writings (ALiWW), admitted to the semi-autobiographic nature of her work.

“It is one of the more important issues that a woman writer has to face, to reveal herself and her secret life,” says Cruz. “For me, that is subversive, for a canonical writer to say that you can read my stories and assume that they all really happened.”

Cruz also cited the example of Tita Lacambra Ayala, mother of equally famous artists Joey Ayala and Cynthia Alexander. Ayala, according to Cruz, saw in writing a refuge from the tasks of raising six children.

“This was of course, her choice to be wife to an artist and writer and be a mother to six children. This particular situation is something that most women writers who have chosen a domestic life and motherhood while also having a career share this with Tita Ayala. These are very modern concerns,” she says.

Cruz herself, as a “non-practicing lesbian” and a feminist, says that she herself feels the need to create stories about women and lesbians precisely because of her gender and sexual orientation.

“My book 'Women Loving' is mostly composed of lesbian stories. I wrote them when I was a practicing
lesbian. Now, I don't know,” she says. “But it's important for me to keep making the lesbian appear in my writing. I don't know how, I'm still discovering it. I don't want to be part of the process of disappearing the lesbian.”

Gayness is a perspective
Garcia says that one of the unavoidable results of being known as a gay writer is that you are often boxed in that category, no matter what it is you write.

“Once you come out as gay writer, everything you write henceforth will be seen from that fact. Gayness is not a matter of topic or theme, it is an assumed position, a perspective. I have created a myth about myself as a gay poet, and everything I write will be refracted from that fact,” he explains.

This, says Garcia, is necessary in an environment where characters are automatically assumed straight unless stated otherwise. For the gay character and perspective to exist, or any perspective not often seen in the mainstream, it first has to exist outside of fiction.

“Writing gay text means you have to assume the character in public and the myth making at the very outset, in order to even begin to inaugurate its own space in heteronormative discourse,” he explains.
“Characters are always assumed to be straight. We need to keep coming out as gays and lesbians, not just in words, but also in deed.”

Distancing himself from his sexual orientation, says Garcia, is practically impossible in the current social climate.

“My homosexuality has never struck me as immaterial, inconsequential, to my very being, in as much as everywhere I look, I am reminded of the unlawfulness of my desire,” he says. “It's hard not to remember that you're gay, when everywhere you see there are straight people on TV and the movies. I don't like the girl, I like the guy! You never forget it! I can only write as a gay person because it is something that society keeps reminding me I am.”