Teejay Marquez: The New Breed Fantasy
The smell of flowers tickles his senses as everyone seemed to hold their breath and time came to a stop. The world lay still as the new breed bathed in sunlight, realizing that a door had been ripped between his world to ours. So back through the veils of time, the new breed slipped leaving a single flower alone. A glimpse of magic and fantasy through a crack in a secret door, Teejay Marquez walks and his tracks the single bloom — reminding us to all find the room for belief in our hearts to grow.
Teejay Marquez: The New Breed Fantasy
With a tinkle of laughter and a flash of bright color, Teejay joins into a dance, darting and dashing in and out of the flowers. He joins in the huge gallops towards love, towards equality — especially for the LGBTQ+ community. Even when the joy remains contagious and the new breed tosses their mane in reckless abandon, discrimination, homophobia, and exclusion still continue to exist. A ton of BL series campaigns for accepting LGBTQ+ people, advocating for their equal rights and fair treatment. This includes Ben X Jim which stars the new breed fantasy himself, Teejay Marquez.
The world is very old, but year by year it grows new again when buds appear. The world is very old and sometimes sad, but when the daisies come the world is glad. Oh, the world is very old that it doesn’t understand the representation that the youngins need to see. Again, the world is very old and yet, we don’t see a lot of gay roles in the media. The fairy-like LGBTQ+ people are used to seeing LGBTQ+ characters as sidekicks, comrades, or a crony of some sort. Sometimes, they would be stereotypical and oversimplified (like James Corden’s gay character in The Prom) which can be damning to the community.
Ben X Jim sequel: B X J Forever
Dawns of rainbow garnet fans open as a new breed of the story unfold — Ben and Jim find love in the middle of the damaging COVID-19 pandemic. The two hit a snag as impediments and obstacles hinder their love for each other. Another lover joins the hurdle, an ex-lover comes to play, a disapproving parent becomes an issue and a dark secret hints at a barrier. These complications test them to the brink as a question flashes beneath their eyes: Will they be able to fight for their freedom to love? Or, will they give up to avoid more painful consequences?
SOGIE Bill Orientation as preparation.
Rainbows are lovely — their soft hues bring the new breed’s promise in clear views. An obvious act of love after the tears had gone, showing my own heart the glorious dawn of fantasy. As a preparation for his role, Teejay Marquez joins his co-stars on a SOGIE Bill orientation. Directors Rod Singh and Easy Ferrer facilitated this to let them understand the role that they will portray.
The Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill or also known as the Anti-Discrimination Bill (ADB) remains a bill intended to prevent various economic and public accommodation-related acts of discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression. This protects every Filipino’s rights and assures us that we can exercise those rights — because we are human.
Protecting anyone from discrimination, injustice, and inequality in every single way — because, quite literally, everyone has SOGIE. Everyone has a sexual orientation and everyone has a gender identity. It doesn’t matter if you’re straight or a member of the LGBTQIA community, the SOGIE Bill is for you, too. However, despite that, the bill has always been on the backburner of the Senate, meeting staunch opponents that often cite religious rights as a reason for barring it.
The upward spiral of gay love stories in the Philippine entertainment industry.
Publicized gay love stories don’t mean that the LGBTQ+ won’t be afraid anymore. It takes a sign of great courage to love someone of the same-sex in a world that is constantly trying to find ways to tell you not to. The new breed says to hold onto the reigns and let this fantasy run wild. Maybe it will collapse in a mile or maybe it will run onto the finish line. But, still, it needs to continue past that. No one ever knows the future and let’s be honest — the LGBTQ+ community still struggles for acceptance in conservative Asian countries, which of course includes the Philippines.
The Philippine entertainment industry fell short in many things — failing to tell same-sex stories in a positive light remains one of them. And, the truth is, nobody really thought that Filipino creators would go hard for the BL genre. Although that remains the case, the fact that people have started telling stories about same-sex relationships evens it out. In the past, gay kids would have to suppress their actual selves to avoid conflict and discrimination from tyrants and tormentors. Now, it would be easier to express how they feel because they watched the same thing happen through a BL series. Nevertheless, the genre has started erasing the fears of yesterday.
Let us know what you think!
Publisher | Richie de Quina & Gwynn Crisostomo
Editor-in-Chief | Jim Reynold Zamora
PR & Advertising Manager | Josh Austria
Digital Manager | Allen Esteban
Produced by Josh Austria
Words by Angela Baltan
Video by Deo Gosmo
Photography by Jai Murcillo
Stylist | Jowie Namayan
Fashion Designer Paul Santos
Grooming by John Carlo Ronquillo
Special Thanks to ALV Talent Circuit, Benjamin Gabitan, Rod Mirra, Jen Ashley, and Ethan Roberto Leyson
