Why Was Silent Sanctuary Dropped as a Performer at This Year's Pride Festival?
This year’s LGBTQ+ Pride Festival was one for the books. Organizers estimated 110,000 attended the event at the Quezon Memorial Circle on Saturday (June 24), reportedly a record for being the biggest Pride March ever not just for the Philippines but for Southeast Asia.
There was plenty to celebrate, for sure, but the event was marred by a slightly minor controversy. On the day of the event, organizers announced that it was dropping popular OPM band Silent Sanctuary from its roster of performers. People started wondering: what happened exactly?
WE ARE DROPPING SILENT SANCTUARY from our roster of performers at #LoveLabanSaQC.
— Pride PH (@tfpridePH) June 24, 2023
Pride PH and Mayor Joy Belmonte firmly stand against homophobia.#LoveLaban#PridePH pic.twitter.com/qZyKwVyMah
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Why was Silent Sanctuary dropped from the Pride Festival?
According to the statement posted by Pride Festival organizers on its social media accounts, the band was being disinvited to play “due to homophobic actions done to one of our own.”
There were no further details provided in the statement, except an apology for initially including the band in its roster and a commitment that as a collective, Pride PH remains a “safe space” for everyone and that “homophobes are never welcome on our stage.”
The decision to remove Silent Sanctuary from the list of performers came just hours after former band member Ian Carandang posted a series of tweets questioning why the band was playing at the festival in the first place. Carandang says he was the Silent Sanctuary’s former vocalist although he is not acknowledged as a past member in the band’s profile page on Wikipedia.
In his tweet, Carandang accused his former bandmates of forcing him to go back to the closet during his time with the band.
“I have always stayed quiet on this but THIS is a bridge too far for me that they purport to be pro-LGBT but have never publicly acknowledged or made amends for what they did to me is the last straw. That they are going to collect a talent fee and profit from a community that they have DIRECTLY discriminated against is FUCKED up and because of this I will not be attending QC Pride.”
Just learned that Silent Sanctuary is playing at QC Pride Night and the fact that when I was their vocalist they told me I needed to go back into the closet if I wanted to keep being their vocalist is extremely offensive to me. (thread)
— Ian Carandang (@gayrockstar) June 23, 2023
Soon after his tweets, Pride PH organizers issued the statement dropping Silent Sanctuary from the lineup of performers.
Carandang voiced his appreciation to everyone who “commented, shared, retweeted, and otherwise voiced support” and said he was “truly humbled.”
“When I made that post, I had no goal to ‘get back’ at them, I was just voicing my very real pain and sadness at the situation,” he said.
Silent Sanctuary’s reaction
The band issued its own statement soon after.
“We are deeply saddened with the allegations thrown at us currently,” the band said. “Being in the performing arts industry, we respect all forms of gender preferences and identity. We have shared the stage, backstage, and dressing rooms with many who represent the lgtbq+ community and had no qualms about it for any matter.
“We were really looking forward to being part of your celebration but judgment has been passed without giving us equal opportunity to defend ourselves. One man’s angle does not paint the whole story of the bigger picture.”
They ended by wishing everyone a successful Pride March 2023.
— Silent Sanctuary (@silentsanctuary) June 24, 2023
the Silent Sanctuary conroversy did little to dampen the overall mood of this year's Pride Festival, which was stacked with many other performers and appearances from some notable personalities, from LGBTQ advocates and allies. Among those who took to the stage were the Sex Bomb Girls, Jason Dhakal, Paul Pablo, Sassa Gurl, beauty queens Megan Young and Michelle Dee, and drag performers including Minty Fresh and Pura Luka Vega.
Representatives from different embassies and diplomatic missions, including Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, France, Norway, the Netherlands, and the European Union also made an appearance onstage.
Organizers say plans are already in place for next year’s Pride Festival which will be held on June 29, 2024, also in Quezon City Circle.
