Sa puntong ito ng buhay niya, how does Markki Stroem identify sa kanyang gender, or sexual orientation? Saan siya sa LGBTQIA++ spectrum?
Napakunot-noo si Markki, “Ahh, to be honest, recently… I was demisexual for a while.
"Demisexual means I’m attracted to people if… we’ll have sex with people if I love them for who they are.
“But now, I reached the point in my life where I’ve stopped… I’ve stopped enjoying the pleasures of sex.
“Maybe it’s because I have not found… at the moment, at the moment, ha? It’s just… it’s fleeting… I already talked about this before, I talked about this whole concept. Demisexual is leading na to asexuality.
“And I’ve reached the point in my life na maybe if I find someone good, whether in be anyone, transman… I will, and I find attraction to them, and I find emotional attraction, maybe. Maybe.
“It’s a form of pansexuality that is not really pansexuality because it has reached the point of… kasi, I told you, LGBTQIA++ is a spectrum. It’s not just L.
“Like, that’s why when people say you’re gay, and I’m like… that’s the thing, if you’re gay, I’m not.”
Ayon sa resource website na demisexuality.org, ang 'demisexuality' ay maaaring ipaliwanag bilang: "...sexual orientation in which someone feels sexual attraction only to people with whom they have an emotional bond."
Ni-label ba niya kahit minsan ang sarili bilang gay, or queer?
“I don’t know. At the moment, I’m waiting for marriage. And I want marriage… I also said that I do not… I wanna be the one to not have to not make a media explosion about who I am as a person,” pagtatapat ni Markki.
“I do not want to make that as like… a reason to have more publicity. My reason for keeping who I am is because I don’t know yet.
“At the moment, it’s an evolution. I’m waiting for the right time. Because like if I say one thing, baka tomorrow I’m something else. So, let’s just say I’m in the plus. Di ba, LGBT+?”
Hindi pa matukoy ni Markki kung ano ang gender ng gusto niyang mapangasawa. Not necessarily hetero marriage, puwedeng same-sex…
“It can even be a transman, like a woman who became a man. Or transwoman. Who knows?” pahayag ni Markki.
“My sexuality is based on the person I love, not based on the person on actual sex organ.”
MARKKI GETS COMFY WEARING HIGH HEELS
Na-inspire ba si Markki Stroem sa pagti-Tiktok ni Gardo Versoza, na naka-high heels habang nagsasayaw?
Gardo Versoza /
“Hindi ko pa napapanood yun, actually. Na-inspire lang ako because I had to play a drag queen,” pagbuntong-hininga ni Markki.
“Ang because of that, nakita ako ng fashion designer from the States. Kasi nakita niya ako na nagre-rehearse ako ba mag-shablam, duck walk, yung Tiktok with Pipay Kipay who’s my drag daughter in the series.
“So, I was able to walk in the house, watch the series. Kasi, I’ve learned lipsynch ‘For Your Life.’ I’ve learned how to read the bitch, you know, I’ve done the whole ‘Reading is fundamental, right?!’
“And so like, I learned all of these things in popular culture, and I tried to incorp, ‘Ikaw na babae, porke lagi kang nagsisimba, akala mo, may karapatan ka nang maghusga ng tao?!’ Yung mga Elektra moments. Yung mga ganun.
“So there’s a lot of mainstream culture that we’ve incorporated in the series. It’s great kasi, after our series comes out, Drag Den, and then Drag Race. So it’s a huge year for the drag community and the drag scene and queer culture.”
Lilikha sina Markki at Manila Luzon ng Drag Den-My Delivery Gurl multiverse.
“A lot of her queens in her series are also in my series,” pakli ni Markki, na nakipag-twinning kay Manila Luzon.
“They’re part of my series. So we have crossovers. Abangan niyo yun.”
Matagal na ba siyang nagha-high heels?
“Early this year, if you ask me, ‘Have you ever worn high heels?’ ‘Never! Never worn high heels!’” panlalaki ng mga mata ni Markki.
“And then nung tinanong ako, after they saw my post sa Love At The End Of The World, and then tinanong nila ako if I can wear drag, sabi ko, ‘Yeah, sure.’
“I mean like, initially I was scared. Kasi, baka hindi ako ma-accept ng community. But after asking me two or three times, sabi ko, ‘Sige, let me try this.’ I need to take a challenge.
“I walked around sa bahay lang na naka-heels, six inches. Nanonood lang ng Netflix na naka-heels para alam ko kung paano maglakad with heels.
“And then during the series, ‘Tanggalin mo muna yung heels mo, rehearsal lang ito.’ Sabi ko, ‘No, I want to keep it on para sanay ako, para mukhang maganda sa screen.’”
Sa pelikulang Slumber Party (2012) ay nag-crossdressing si Markki. Hindi iyon drag.
“Crossdressing is different from drag. Drag has hip pads, six layers of stockings, your feet are swelling the whole day,” paglilinaw ni Markki.
“You have beautiful eye make-up. It’s so mainit, kasi ang daming layers and layers!”
MARKKI LAMENTS QUEERSHAMING WITHIN LGBTQ COMMUNITY
Isa si Markki sa mga bida ng BL series na Love At The End Of The World, kung saan katambal niya ang commercial model turned actor na si Khalid Ruiz.
Siyam na episodes ang Love At The End Of The World, na nilikha at idinirek ni Shandii Bacolod.
Mag-i-streaming ito umpisa Disyembre 30 sa GagaOOLala.
Nag-shoot si Markki sa BL series na ito bago siya rumampa sa Arab Fashion Week sa Dubai nung nakaraang buwan.
May natanto kapagkuwan si Markki sa pagkakaiba ng gay culture at queer culture.
“Sa gay culture, pagkatapos ng Love At The End Of The World photo ops ko, ang daming nag-message sa akin!” maigting na bulalas ng 34-anyos na singer-actor-model.
“Forty thousand, fifty thousand blah-blah-blah! Of course, hindi naman ako pumapatol dun.
"Hindi ko naman kailangan yung pera.
“Pero pagkatapos kong i-post yung mga drag series ko, the same gay men who are asking to pay me fifty thousand pesos for sex, are now calling me bading, bakla, ang pangit mo! Blah-blah!
“I’m like… wait a second. So, you see the internalized homophobia within the LGBTQ community. I think the people within the community should start to love each other more and understand each other more, and not bring each other down.
"Coz there are times kasi na kita mo, parang may side eye. May mga sad comments na naririnig mo sa mga tao in the various aspects of the community.
“That makes you feel, ‘Omigosh! Wait a second! Why can’t we just all support and understand each other and love each other?’
“You can be masculine one day, and you can wear a dress the next day, and it’s completely OK. Completely fine, di ba?”
Ang tinutukoy ni Markki ay ang netizens, gaya ng Instagram followers na napa-wow sa kanya nang mag-topless, pagkatapos ay inalipusta siya nang mag-drag siya.
“So, I understand where this queer shaming is coming from. And in my heart, in my soul, 2021 na. Or 2022 na, malapit na. Let’s all understand, and let’s all figure out na yung community is not just LGBT. There’s the QIA++ pa.
“So it’s a spectrum. One day you can be completely gay and only like men. The next day, you like transmen. The next day, you’re asexual.
“So, sexuality is an evolution. And we have to understand and accept each other.
“Today, I’m asexual. Kasi, I’ve been very busy. So, medyo yung sex drive ko…”
Ang mga huling nakahalikan ni Markki ay si Khalid na gumanap bilang Caloy sa Love At The End Of The World, and then si Rocky Salumbides na gumanap bilang Jakoy sa My Delivery Gurl.
Pagpapatuloy ni Markki, “Like literally, that is my last kiss, yung during work. Kasi, di ba, from Dubai, straight to Baguio for taping, straight to Pokemon events—I’m doing a Pokemon grand scale event now for the Pokemon company in Japan. Green screen."
Very upfront si Markki sa pagsasabing wala siyang panahon para sa sex.
Aniya, “So, since puro work ako ngayon, walang time to think about sex. So at this point in time, to be completely honest, I have not jerked *ff in a while.”
Tantiya ni Markki ay mga three weeks na, but, “right now, who knows what will happen tomorrow, or the next day, or next week,” pagtatapos niya.