Eat Bulaga’s Bawal Judgmental segment once again brought the whole studio to tears in the noontime show’s episode aired on Saturday.
The segment became a top trending topic on Twitter for its episode that featured contestants who came out to their parents for the first time.
Eat Bulaga co-host Maine Mendoza lauded the contestants who bravely outed themselves on live TV.
She tweeted: “Bumabaha ng luha ngayon sa APT Studio. *sniffs* Coming out is not easy kaya proud kaming lahat sa tapang niyo to do it here. Isang mahigpit na yakap sa inyong lahat!”
Other Eat Bulaga hosts and members of the audience were also moved as contestants shared their personal experiences and struggles in seeking acceptance from their family and the society.
Former beauty queen Melanie Marquez was the segment’s guest who was asked to judge or pick out four out of the seven contestants who still have not opened up about their gender identity and sexual orientation to their parents.
These contestants were praised for bravely revealing who and what they are for the first time on national TV.
A contestant named Aries shared that he still has not come out, afraid that he may be judged and be shamed among family members.
Another contestant named Prince revealed that the reason why he decided to out himself in Eat Bulaga is to put an end to and answer his son’s recurring question “Papa bakla ka ba?”
Prince had a wife but is separated from her. They have a four-year-old son.
“Kaya ako nandito para sa anak ko kasi pag bibisita ako, lagi niya sinasabi na Papa bakla ka ba?”
He admitted he had a hard time figuring out how to explain it to his son at such a young age and thanked the segment for serving as a platform to share who he really he is.
“Kumbaga parang masakit kaya itong Eat Bulaga ito yung magiging paraan natin na…Balang araw mapapanood niya to at sasabihin sa ama niya niya na inilabas niya kung ano ako at hindi ko siya pinabayaan nung nawala yung nanay niya.”
It was also contestant Ronan’s first time to come out to his family. His mother said, “Tanggap ko nalang siya. Buong puso ko tatanggapin kasi anak ko siya,” to which her son responded with a hug and a kiss.
Ronan asked for acceptance from his father and siblings. “Mga tol, sorry mga kuya, pati sa Papa ko, di pa alam. Mahal ko kayo,” Ronan, who is the youngest of five kids, added.
Meanwhile, contestant Jimar realized after graduating from college that he felt there was “something wrong” with him and shared that he fell in love with his guy best friend.
“Sana matanggap mo ako kasi dito ako masaya. Nagmamahal ako ng kapwa ko. Sana matanggap ako ng maraming tao… para makalaya na rin ako,” he said.
Upon knowing the truth, his mother jokingly requested if he could still give her a grandchild: “Sana kahit ganyan ka, mabigyan mo ako ng apo.”
“Be honest. Alam ko maraming masasaktan, pero they have to accept you if they love you. You’re fearless when you’re honest. You deserve to be happy, hindi yung sa dilim ka lang,” advised Melanie Marquez.
Netizens who were moved by the segment offered their salute to the contestants who courageously spoke their hearts out, and let everyone know that “being gay doesn’t make you less of a person”.
They also praised the segment for tackling another eye-opening topic. The show trended last month when they featured HIV positive contestants.
