(Sodom and Gomorrah)

In a town – whose name has slipped my mind- on an island in the southern Philippines I was perusing my phone over a morning coffee. I was alone in the small open-fronted café. I was the only client and had been served by a waitress who was clearly a ladyboy. As in Thailand, I was struck by the number of transgender people in the country – called ‘katoys’ in Thailand, ‘ladyboys’ in Philippines.

As some western men come to the Philippines just to meet ladyboys I was not surprised to have met so many of them. They are eager to meet white men: you may be a possible client, or it may be just to talk – I listened to the life stories of several. Filipinos love to chat and gossip. There seemed to be an easy casual acceptance of them. They have their own beauty pageants on national TV. They are presenters of popular TV and radio shows. They seem to be accepted by most people but there are exceptions.

 I, myself, had gotten used to them when living in Thailand some years before so their attention didn’t bother me. Indeed, I found their company pleasant. They had cut my hair, served me in restaurants, chatted with me in bars. They were often beautifu but I managed to stay heterosexual. I was comfortable with their company – unlike Aladdin.

I saw him striding across the street. He was dressed entirely in black: black shirt, black trousers, black shoes. His hair, obviously tinted, was blacker than a raven’s wing. His shirt was open far enough to reveal a few chest hairs – unusual in Asian men. Around his neck was a gold-plated chain with a huge cross dangling on the end, he was fortyish. He resembled in my mind an angel of vengeance. Although the café was empty, he asked if he could join me.

He introduced himself as Aladdin, pastor of a nearby evangelical church called, rather prosaically, ‘The Church of the Believers’. I asked him about his unusual name. He said his parents gave him the name because of magical happenings in his house the morning he was born. However, he refused to say, when questioned, what the happenings had been. I, of course, thought of the genie escaping from the bottle.

I asked him about his attitude to ‘ladyboys’. He felt that while society might tolerate them it was the type of thing which had led to the disaster of ” Sodom and Gomorrah”! i was surprised by his passionate denonciation. I knew God had destroyed these cities and all its peoples – even the innocent – for sexual misbehaviour. I didn’t know enough about the biblical story to tell if ‘ladyboys’ were involved in the misbehaviour that provoked the wrath of a vengeful God. I suggested that, as they did not harm him, that he might be more tolerant.

He looked at me severely and declared vehemently between sips of coffee that sinful behaviour was sinful behaviour, no buts. They had to repent, there was no other solution. I did not dare ask if he wanted that God destroy town, where we were, which of course would include him. I suggested that the idea of collective punishment even by Gods is looked upon, in these times, very unfavourably! He again muttered that sin was sin.

Before we parted, he invited me to come to his sermon the following morning and paid for my coffee. Next morning, unfortunately, I had to leave town early and so I missed what was going to be, I imagine, another ‘fire and brimstone sermon’.