Babaylanes, DDB MNL turn watch time into support for trans creators this Pride

This Pride season, one campaign is turning your scroll into solidarity. LGBTQI+ rights organisation Babaylanes, in collaboration with DDB MNL, have launched "Play through the hate,"  a movement that reframes a simple act - watching a video to the end - as a powerful show of support for trans creators in the Philippines.

It's timely. The country now has the largest transgender population in Asia, with around 239,000 trans Filipinos, according to World Population Review. But with increased visibility has come a wave of online hate, trolling, and platform-level neglect.

"Trans Filipinos are already out here - creating, expressing, living," said Jap Ignacio, executive director of Babaylanes, as quoted by independent media outlet Mountain Beacon. "But visibility shouldn't come with a price. It should come with support. The algorithm can't silence us if you hit play."

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There's a quiet power in watching a video from start to finish. In the attention economy, every second counts - and for trans creators in the Philippines, those seconds are starting to mean something much bigger.

"Play through the hate" asks audiences to support trans creators by doing one deceptively simple thing: watch their content, all the way through. By doing so, it teaches the system to treat queer visibility as valuable - not controversial and not disposable.

Leading the movement are creators such as Kylie Celebre, Rica Salomon, Stef Aranas, Bam Terol, and Killian Perez - trans voices unafraid to show up, speak out, and document the everyday. Whether it's through lip-syncing, humour, storytelling, or simple daily check-ins, their videos serve as acts of defiance in a digital landscape where transness is still politicised.

"We play through it, sing through it, laugh through it. We kick some balls through it. Because strength is in staying through it, playing through it from start to end," said the campaign. "You teach the algorithm to give trans creators more support, more visibility."

According to its website, Babaylanes is a non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering Filipino LGBTQI youth through education, advocacy, and community-building. Founded in 2008 as the alumni arm of UP Babaylan - the pioneering LGBTQI student organisation at the University of the Philippines - Babaylanes envisions a society free from discrimination, where LGBTQI individuals can fully enjoy their rights and realise their potential.

Its work includes human rights education, policy advocacy, and organising national networks such as the National LGBT Students Network and Lagablab LGBT Network. As a resource centre, Babaylanes also supports SOGIESC-focused research and develops inclusive policies while providing expertise on LGBTQI issues across the country.

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