QUEERLY SPACED: SIGNS, AFFECT AND STANCETAKING IN THE LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE OF THE METRO MANILA PRIDE MARCH

Abstract

The study explores the semiotic construction of Metro Manila Pride (MM Pride) (2017 to 2019) from the perspective of linguistic landscapes. Adopting a nexus analytic approach and the notion of affective practice, the study examines various semiotic resources (e.g., language, affect, gestures) and the ways these are mobilized in representational and embodied practices of social actors in and across material and digital landscapes. The assemblage of these practices facilitates the emergence of MM Pride as a space for LGBTQ+ activism that reproduces discourses that resist and contest heteronormativity and address intersections of sexuality, religion, and social class. In the process of spatializing MM Pride, social actors also embed their affective investments, which reflect ideologies about what it means to be part of the LGBTQ+ community in the Philippines and the importance of MM Pride as a vehicle for activism to the community.