'Seeing me': Landmark mural in LA is updated to reflect famed Filipino subject's trans identity

A landmark mural in L.A.’s Historic Filipinotown has been updated to reflect the identity of one of its subjects, the singer Jake Zyrus, who came out years ago as a trans man.

The revision follows more than a year of conversations among community members, local advocacy groups and the muralist, Eliseo Art Silva. Supporters of the changes say it's a joyous moment at a time when trans rights are under legal and legislative attack.

In the updated mural, Zyrus’ pre-transition image has been replaced by a painting of the city’s first Filipino American councilmember, Ysabel Jurado. A new portrait of Zyrus, meanwhile, is located a few feet to the left, framed in an oval.

The new images were celebrated last week in a dedication ceremony falling on Filipino American History Month and featuring Zyrus and Jurado.

Zyrus didn’t speak at the event but on Instagram stories thanked those who advocated for the change and “for seeing me, even when I’m quiet. For hearing me, even when I’m silenced.”

Zyrus, the first Asian solo artist to reach Billboard’s Top 10 albums chart, publicly transitioned in 2017 and has since continued to perform and speak about his journey of self-discovery and acceptance.

“I don’t know what comes next,” he wrote on Instagram. “I just know I’ll never understand why being yourself — freely, quietly, joyfully — is such a threat to others.”

Ysabel Jurado, L.A.'s first Filipino American councilmember, has been added to the mural at Unidad Park in Historic Filipinotown.

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In 1995, Silva painted the mural depicting Filipino American history on the exterior wall of a building that now houses Rideback, the film and television production company, and faces Unidad Park.

Named “Gintong Kasaysayan, Gintong Pamana,” which means “A Glorious History, A Golden Legacy” in Tagalog, the mural features luminaries such as labor leader Larry Itliong and apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas.

It saw the addition of Zyrus in 2011. Six years later, the singer transitioned, and talk began bubbling up about updating the mural. But it was not until last year, when Filipino American arts organization Sunday Jump made a post on Instagram pushing for the change, that the debate burst into the open.

Silva said he was open to an update but also listed a number of considerations, including funding and creative principles.

He said he had placed the original image of Zyrus by Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao to symbolize the first woman and first man.

"I cannot just disrupt the narrative,” Silva said last year after the controversy deepened. “It's going to compromise the integrity of the entire mural.”

At the center of the mural are large renderings of labor leader Larry Itilong and musician APL.DE.AP of the Black Eyed Peas.

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With the change to the mural, Councilmember Jurado now takes the spot Silva intended for a woman to have next to Pacquiao.

Reached via a messaging app, Silva said he was in the Philippines and that he had no comment about the redesign.

Eddy Gana, and co-founder of Sunday Jump, said the update process was “collaborative but I don’t want to say it was smooth sailing.”

“There were creative differences and ideas of what art is and how it can be static but also how it can change and what does it mean to be a people’s mural,” Gana said.

The most important thing for Gana “is that the mural was done and Jake is happy and having his authentic self there. Gana, who is a therapist, said that when someone is misgendered, chances of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation increase.

The updates to the mural, which is overseen by the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, was paid for with about $10,000 in city funds, which Gana said were also used to touch up the left side of the mural focused on earlier chapters of Filipino history.

The mural, before the revision, was first created in 1995. It gained Jake Zyrus' portrait in 2011.

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Josie Huang

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LAist

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Gana said that they hope updates to the mural — and the dialogue surrounding it — will allow for more public art that represents the diversity of communities in Historic Filipinotown. They said that's already begun with the arrival of new murals on Rosemont and Temple, and another on Temple and Union.