User:WdotCK/sandbox

Precolonial Period
The babaylan, also called katalonan, bayoguin, bayok, agi-ngin, asog, bido and binabae depending on the ethnic group of the region, held important positions in the community. They were the spiritual leaders of Filipino communities tasked with responsibilities pertaining to rituals, agriculture, science, medicine, literature, and other forms of knowledge that the community needed. In the absence of a datu, the babaylan can take charge of the whole community.

The role of the babaylan were mostly associated with females, but male babaylans also existed. Early historical accounts record the existence of male babaylans that wore female clothes and took the demeanor of a woman. Anatomy was not the only basis for gender. Being male or female was based primarily on occupation, appearance, actions, and sexuality. A male babaylan could partake in romantic and sexual relations with other men without being judged by society.

Precolonial Philippine society accepted gender-crossing and transvestism as part of their culture. Rituals and trances performed by the babaylan mirror the reunification of the opposites, the male and female.They believe that by doing this they will be able to exhibit spiritual potency used for healing spiritual brokenness. Outside this task, male babaylans sometimes indulge in homosexual relations.

Spanish-Colonial Period
The Spaniards brought a very patriarchal culture to the Philippines. Males were expected to show masculinity in their society. Machistas ,meaning real man, were their models of masculinity. The Spaniards saw homosexuality as a sin against the sixth commandment of the Bible. Confession manuals made by the Spanish friars during that period suspected that the natives were guilty of sodomy and homosexual acts. During the 17th-18th century, Spanish administrators burned sodomites to enforce the decree by Pedro Hurtado Desquibel, President of the Audiencia.

Datus were appointed as the district officers of the Spaniards while the babaylans were reduced to relieving the worries of the natives.The removal of the datu system of localized governance affected babaylanship. The babaylans eventually disappeared with the colonization of the Spaniards. Issues about sexual orientation and gender identity were not widely discussed after the Spanish colonization.