Club Government, Makati City - He is talking to a friend in one of the tables fronting the dance floor. A tall gentleman in his late thirties, had it not been for the newspaper photos of him shaking hands with the parloristas during last election's campaign, I will never recognize his presence just a few feet away from me.
He is wearing a silver rimmed spectacles that bounce off a glint of light, when the strobe lights hit a part of the metallic frame. His curly uncombed hair suggests a person of modesty, unlike the other gay guys in the club who might have spent an eternity sculpting their mohawk-cut hair to catch the crowd's attention. Finally, his trademark striped pink polo shirt reveals his advocacy. He is a defender of rights and a lover of gay men. Many would consider him an effeminate gay guy from an earlier generation. Despite this, I know that he is the man who holds sway of my future.
He passed right in front of me, his hands gracefully swinging in mid-air. Dabo, who was leaning against the table while guzzling his San Mig Light did not see him walk past behind him. Even if it took me some time to recognize him as the esteemed gay advocate from Ateneo, something tells me that we are dealing with a very important person. Might as well turn an ordinary Saturday gimmick into something worth blogging about.
"C'mon, let's introduce ourselves" I told Dabo. "It would be nice to brush elbows with the future congressman,"
My companion immediately agreed to my idea without displaying any signs of hesitation.
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"Excuse me sir, are you Congressman Danton Remoto?" I approached him, feeling awkward of my introduction.
He smiled and extended his hand to acknowledge my presence. Much to my amazement, Danton spoke warmly and did not introduce himself as the congressman. He was so down-to-earth that the barriers between us crashed in an instant. I thought that every gay man who knows Danton address him as congressman - like what supporters do to their candidates. I was wrong. He isn't a representative yet. In fact, the then COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos had declared him a nuisance candidate last national elections for very dubious reasons.
But being aware of his prominence as one of the spokesperson for gays and lesbians in the country, I cannot help but address him as congressman. After all, he is the point person to approach in every national issue that involves gays - like what happened in the Vicente Sotto Scandal. He is also the first person gay men call for help when bath houses are being raided - like what had happened at Sanctum a few weeks ago. For a person who have given so much for his advocacy, I believe that Danton deserves to be addressed as a representative, whether he is in congress or not.
I introduced myself and Dabo as one of the "grassroots bloggers." I came up with the name to let Danton know that we are ready to help him in his advocacy using our minuscule influence in cyberspace. It means that we can lend our blogs to write about him, in hopes that the mainstream bloggers like Manila Gay Guy, McVie and BaklaAko would pick up our entries and disseminate them to their larger audience. However, for Danton, our designation was of no value. For him, what is important is that someone had recognized and made him feel welcome, especially in a club infamously known for the pretentiousness of its patrons.
And so the three of us had a conversation.
We learned that Danton will be running for Congress as the party list representative of Ladlad this coming elections. A presidential candidate, who I would openly support, had assured him of a ticket in his party. Danton revealed that this candidate would be funding his campaign. Good for him. I hope that this candidate wins the presidency, for after he lead the senate into signing the cheap medicine law several months ago, I knew that he would serve the country well.
Our subject jumped from this presidential candidate to Ping Lacson, who apparently was afraid to be associated with gays. "Baka naman may tinatago," I told our guest, while his eyes rolled suggesting an approval in my statement. We also talked about the recent Sanctum Raid, where his name was mentioned in one of the forums where the subject was brought up. He said that he was against the operation of the said blue bar simply because they earned a lot from their operations while remaining a fly-by-night enterprise.
"Imagine they don't have any permits nor they pay government taxes," Danton explains. "How can we help gay establishments that promote such business practices?"
Our thoughtful conversation could have went on the whole night. Unfortunately, it was cut short when a group of gay guys approached our guest. It seems like Danton was getting more popular as the night wore on, so we decided to let others take our place and proceed to turn the heart of dance floor as our group's dancing space.
Dabo and I thought that it would be the last time we would see our congressman.
Later that morning we found out that we were wrong.
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