Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 14) — Pura Luka Vega, the drag queen behind the viral “Ama Namin” video, on Friday apologized to those who felt uncomfortable with the performance, but added the issue will not be the end of their way of expressing art and practicing faith.
“I feel like they want me to apologize, but I apologize if it made them uncomfortable, but I really did that performance as a way for me to kind of heal the exclusion I have experienced as a Catholic, as a queer person being somewhat being made to feel that I don’t really belong,” Vega told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
Early this week, a video of Vega went viral online as it showed the drag queen wearing an outfit to appear to be like Jesus Christ while performing the rock version of “Ama Namin,” the Filipino version of the Lord’s prayer.
This drew flak from the public, with some senators saying it was blasphemous, offensive, and disrespectful.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri even said that Vega can be criminally charged for the performance under Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code. This punishes those who “offend any race or religion in the performance of obscene or indecent plays, scenes, acts or shows in theaters, fairs, or any other place,” the lawmaker noted.
For Vega, dressing up as Jesus Christ is like an \”art therapy.\” The drag queen also likened this to how some Catholics dress up as Jesus Christ in doing penitential acts, usually during Holy Week.
The performer, who uses the pronoun they, said while they can take all the flak, the reaction of the public has been making their family worry about their safety.
Vega also believes the matter does not need to be a national issue.
“I don’t think that I merit that much attention. I’m just a drag queen, I’m just a human being and I don’t know if that calls for a national issue having senators react in that way… but I hope that they also understand it from my point of view,” they said.
Despite the backlash, the drag queen said they will continue to impersonate Jesus Christ, which they have been doing in the past, as a way of “bringing honor to the Catholic faith in a queer way.”
Fr. Jerome Secillano, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, told CNN Philippines in another interview that the performance done by Vega was not a way to worship.
“What you saw in the video is not a way of practicing religion. It’s not even a way of expressing one’s faith. As I saw it in the video, it’s a way of entertaining people, it’s not even a worship thing,” he said.
Secillano emphasized that sacred elements in a religion, like in this case Jesus Christ and the Lord’s Prayer, if used for entertainment purposes, becomes a mockery and blasphemy.
Even if the motive was not to disrespect, the act itself was already disrespectful as the costume and prayer were used to perform and entertain in an inappropriate place, he also pointed out.
