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Bekimon,
or the secret code of
gays
Published August 12, 2010 2:50pm
By JOHN IREMIL E. TEODORO
Bekimon comes from two words: “becky or beki," gay speak for “bakla" or
young gays, and “jejemon," which refers to the strange text and Internet
language that has gained widespread usage among netizens and mobile
phone users in the Philippines. It is the new term for gay lingo or gay speak,
the beautiful and confusing (to those who are uninitiated) and very gay (in the
old sense of the word) languages of the bakla, the agí, and the bayot of this
fabulous, fabulous Philippine archipelago.
In his lecture, Prof. Fernandez discussed the nine ways of forming bekimon
words. Yes, nine. As in “a gay cat has nine lives," like so:
3. Using acronyms. “GL" stands for “ganda lang," which means you got
something for free because of your beauty or looks. Another example is
“OPM" for “oh promise me," which refers to a white lie or a promise that
is not meant to be fulfilled.
7. Using the names of famous persons and places. If you don’t know yet,
“Carmi Martin" means karma, “Rita Avila" signifies that someone is irita,
"Luz Valdez" refers to a loser and “Wynona Ryder" a winner, and finally,
“Baliwag, Bulacan" means baliw or crazy. (Note: in the #3 example
above, the same phrase is also shortened to Oprah)
Indeed, bekimon provides a space for gays to talk about their lives without
being understood by heterosexuals around them, many of whom are
homophobic. Because of this, bekimon is quick to change or mutate.
The lecture ended with a video presentation of a gay father scolding his son in
bekimon for not adding “her" as a friend on Facebook. It was hilarious
especially when the video was shown again, this time with Filipino subtitles.