Philippines President Duterte: I Used to Be Gay!

The president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, prompted criticism when he told a group of Filipinos in Tokyo that he used to be "a bit gay," but that he was "cured" by "beautiful women" and no longer craves "handsome men," reports CNN.

Duterte's remarks were taken by at least one critic as "joking." The Philippines president is regarded as an authoritarian who has a reputation for framing outrageous statements as jocular comments, but it's unclear from media reports whether this was one such instance or whether Duterte was in earnest in saying he once might have had feelings of attraction toward other men.

CNN noted that Duterte's "gay" phase occurred during his marriage to Elizabeth Zimmerman, with whom he has three children. Their marriage ended in 2000.

Duterte credited Honeylet Avance�a, with whom he is now involved, for "curing" him.

"I became a man again! So beautiful women cured me," Duterte told his audience... "I hated handsome men afterwards. I now prefer beautiful women."

The New York Times reported that Duterte also aimed a claim of homosexuality at Filipino Sen. Antonio Trillanes, who has spoken out against Duterte's strongman approach to the country's drug problems.

Strait Times reported that Duterte told listeners, "Trillanes and I are similar. But I cured myself."

Trillanes did not allow the claim to go unanswered.

"By admitting his gay past, I am beginning to be suspicious of the true nature of Duterte's seeming obsession towards me," the senator said in a statement, going on to add, "such comments by Duterte show how perverted and sick his mind is."

The Times took note of Duterte's habitual use of claims that opponents are LGBTQ. He also levels critiques at the Catholic Church, which is a powerful force in the Philippines, claiming to have been victimized by a sexual predator priest during his teens.

Even so, Duterte has reached out on occasion to the country's LGBTQ citizens, assuring them that they will not suffer persecution under his administration.

The claim that he was gay at some point in his life and then was "cured" rankled at least one LBGTQ advocate, however. The Times reported that filmmaker and activist Rhadem Camian Morados took exception to the claim, calling it "demeaning" and scoffed, "as if there's a need to 'pray the gay away' and that homosexuality is a disease that needs to be cured."

That exact narrative forms the basis of persistent claims from religious conservatives that sexual minorities "choose" not to be straight.

An entire industry has sprung up around this characterization of LGBTQ people, with churches and counselors offering so-called "conversion therapy" to "cure" gays and turn them into heterosexuals. Reputable mental health professionals decry such claims, saying that "conversion therapy" does not work, and can lead to even greater harm to those who resort to it.

But some individuals insist that such "therapy" worked for them, although it is an open question as to whether their essential sexuality was altered or merely suppressed or, in the case of bisexuals, they simply cultivated a focus on their attraction toward members of the opposite gender and ignore romantic and sexual yearnings for people of the same sex.

Proponents of "conversion therapy" often say that their "unwanted same-sex attraction" does not actually vanish, indicating that no true "conversion" has, in fact, taken place.

The Times reported that Duterte capped his comments by bringing a number of women from the audience onto the stage with him and kissing them. A similar demonstration in South Korea, when Duterte kissed a married woman on stage at an event, prompted an outcry last summer.

Homosexuality is not criminalized in the Philippines, media sources noted, though heterosexuals are prohibited from both divorce and abortion.