The people of the Philippines aren’t sure what they should do about the gay population. On one hand, they’re a very religious nation built primarily of Catholics. On the other softer, more manicured hand they seem to really get a kick out of feminine males and butch females.

One of the country’s biggest stars is Vice Ganda. He’s an entertainer–a term used often in the Philippines for famous people. Like many other countries where variety shows still work, instead of reality shows they have triple threats who can sing, dance, and host TV shows. They’re basically Ryan Seacrest if he could do anything other than his hair.

Gays aren’t figuratively massacred as much as we’d assume by the public. The people there who aren’t accepting seem to do so out of their own personal bias. In the United States, the gay haters excuse it because someone told them there was a passage somewhere in the Bible about it. They’re not sure where because like me and just about every book in 9th grade English, information gets into their heads by copying information from others.

If it were up to the people of the Philippines, every gay person in the world would be gathered up then placed in a concentration camp. But it would be a Five Star concentration camp that includes back rubs. But the person giving the back rubs will have rough hands and keep telling you he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

One of my favorite things about the Philippines is how popular their Miss Gay Contests are. In these, straight men compete to show off how gay they can behave. It goes against everything I grew up learning. I guess in a country without football, you come up with other sports. The Philippines decided to go with men dancing in bras and panties.

Television is filled with gay people and it’s great to see. Although the country isn’t ready to allow them to marry, it’s refreshing to see how comfortably they fit into society. The US identifies gay people as being gay and nothing else. In the Philippines, the feel is more that the homosexuality is one element.