Hi, trans sisters! What you’re looking at is the painted image of the goddess LAKAPATI- the pre-colonial Tagalog deity. She was a transgender goddess of fertility and agriculture, a favourite among our ancestors in pre-hispanic times because of her kindness and generosity. And yep, that’s a thyroid cartilage on her neck, or the Adam’s apple. She was a first generation deity, up there on the high level of THE Bathala himself. There’s a treasure chest of knowledge to be had regarding our highly esteemed standing in pre-colonial Philippine society. We were revered; we were respected, we were among the BABAYLANS and we even had our own Goddess Queen Lakapati to our name! Until colonisation happened. The Spaniards considered us a threat and started the great “cultural erasure.” We were cancelled. And the rest is regretful history.