[Technicolor Musings] Don't Expect the Pope to Be Progressive

A lot of folks were eager to call the current pope progressive and whatnot based on his willingness to speak up about many issues include climate change and other things. There were big headlines about him saying "Who am I to judge?" when it came to the question of the LGBT community and so a lot of people were quick to declare he represented shift in the Catholic perspective.

But the pope is the leader of a religion, and it's one that is well-known for being conservative and generally dismissive of the LGBT community. The usual Catholic stance is that it's okay to be gay, just don't engage in homosexual acts like, you know, sex. Hello single blessedness.

First, he's only one man. His opinions do not immediately represent the majority view of the entire organization. And Catholicism is not run like a dictatorial government - they also have councils and they need to discuss among themselves what their stands on issues are going to be before they make a statement.

And two, he's pope for a reason. It means he still follows the same general principles and beliefs that the rest of the organization has. And so when he says that government officials in the US should be able to defy the law in line with their religious beliefs, that's just him playing par for the course.

[Pink Culture] We Need More Than Tolerance In The Philippines

About two years ago, some survey claimed that the Philippines is among the most LGBT-friendly in the world. And I suppose it's easy to see why this may be true given how we see members of the community everywhere ranging from your local hair salon to hosting shows on national television. But in light of the recent US marriage equality ruling, the renewed attention on the LGBT community just stresses how far we have to go.

A more recent survey shows that 7 in 10 Filipinos are against same-sex marriage in the country. The Speaker of the House has also been quoted as saying that he is against any same-sex marriage bills in the House. And just look at the comments section of any news agency for articles about same-sex marriage or LGBT rights and you'll see all the Bible-thumpers proclaiming how to be LGBT is a sin and other statements along those lines.

So it doesn't feel like we're LGBT-friendly - if anything we're only really LGBT-tolerant. Just look at how different it is when a conservative person seems okay with LGBT people outside the home, but the moment a family member comes out all hell breaks loose. There's a weird line between knowing LGBT out there in general and having an LGBT member of the family that changes everything. And thus so many members of the pink community stay in the closet out of fear of rejection and disdain from those they love the most.

But all is not lost - I will always believe in love and love will see us through. That and a lot of hard work and major efforts to educate others why the LGBT community is very much real and why we deserve truly equal treatment. This is not about fighting religion or something - we just want a space of our own that we should feel fully entitled to as human beings. We deserve full recognition and not just tolerance. We deserve acceptance.

[Pink Scene] Why Marriage Equality in the US Matters to the Philippines

Friday's landmark US Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage across all 50 states is certainly a significant one, and LGBT rights advocates around the world are taking part in the celebrations for this momentous occasion.

Some have questioned why folks around here have been so vocal in celebrating the news. After all, this is only about rights being extended to US citizens and won't directly affect the Philippines. But while there are no direct effects, it's foolish to think that the US becoming the 21st country where same-sex marriage is legal is a purely domestic matter for the US.

The United States of America remains to be a true superpower in the modern world. It's a country with a lot of military power, yes, but it's also a country with significant political influence. The US is also known for standing up for human rights and nudging its allies to see things in a similar manner here and there.

Beyond their direct actions in the political arena, the US is still a country that many countries, including the Philippines, tend to look up to or aspire to be like to varying degrees. The US as country is quite the influence leader. And the US is often used as an example for what one can be or at least a model for how things might work.

So continue to wave your rainbow flags and change your profile images to rainbow-tinted bits of beauty. Celebrate the successes of LGBT advocates in the US and use their story as an inspiration for what we can hope for here.

We continue to fight for the love we deserve. In the end, love tends to win.

[Pink News] Gay Marriage in the Philippines in Our Lifetime?

On May 19, Jesus Nicardo Falcis III filed a petition with the Philippine Supreme Court to nullify provisions of the Family Code that prevent gay marriage in the country. It's a rather bold move that should prove to be an interesting legal at the very least regardless of the outcome. If anything, it represents one of the more serious efforts to get the gay marriage question discussed in legal circles. At the very least I expect our own legislators to give more thought to the matter, which will most likely include a few bills that will try to reinforce the Family Code or introduce other legal restrictions geared towards preventing gay marriage from becoming a reality in the Philippines.

A few days before the filing was made public by the Supreme Court, this commentary piece appeared on GMA News with the mantra that seems to be in use more and more when it comes to talking about this subject - Not In Our Lifetime. It refers to the usual answer when people ask if they think gay marriage will ever become legal here. Most don't expect it to happen in our lifetime and thus even the major LGBT groups have focused more on pushing anti-discrimination legislation as opposed to going straight to gay marriage.

Falcis echoed the "not in my lifetime" statement in his own opinion piece over on Rappler, where he talks about his reasons for challenging the Supreme Court in this manner. It's a bold move and I laud him for his efforts and those of us in the LGBT community ought to do our part to show our support. Sure, our Supreme Court isn't quite as "cool" as the US Supreme Court tends to be on such matters, but every bit helps.

Just over the weekend we saw Ireland vote in support for gay marriage on a national scale. It was the first time that a popular vote determined the legality of gay marriage for a country. And gay marriage won with about 62% of the vote - which is pretty darned amazing. There's a wave of change slowly sweeping across the world with gay marriage now legal in about 20 countries so far. It's not exactly a tsunami, but it's definitely gaining strength as time passes.

Maybe we will live to see gay marriage in the Philippines in our lifetime. But if that reality is going to become real any sooner, it will need more people to show their support and be prepared to get the heavy lifting done. The Ireland vote won because of a lot of hard work to raise awareness and gain support. Falcis' Supreme Court petition is one big step forward, but there's going to be a longer legal fight ahead of us and we need to get out there and get our voices heard.

[Pink Scene] Goodbye, BED Manila

So earlier in the month, the surprise announcement hit social media that BED Manila was closing its doors after 12 years of partying. And while I haven't been to BED since it moved to its Greenfield District location, the news still made me feel a little sad. I have more than my fair share of histoy at BED's original Malate location and it's always sad when a gay institution like this closes shop. The LGBT community here is always in need of safe spaces to be themselves and pretty much have fun when needed.

So by the time this post finally publishes, BED would have completed it's Last Dance closing event and those red doors are going to stay closed for now. I wasn't able to squeeze in a last visit to the bar before all this, but I suppose that's just as well given how I've already buried my history there.

It's okay to feel sad about BED closing. It's definitely a sad turn of events. But also make sure to focus on the good times and celebrate all the good times on that dance floor. BED raised a lot of us queer people and I'm sure that we all learned things there in one way or another.

[Pink Culture] We Deserve More Than Just Tolerance

In June, the Inquirer cited the Philippines as being one of the most gay-friendly countries in the world based on their interpretation a Pew Research Center survey. The headline was definitely clickbait since we were pretty much in the top ten countries who answered positively to a particular question. But given its abstract nature, it was easy to confuse.

When we look at how the local media have handled the Jennifer Laude case (and that's not even considering the madness of the comments sections of these articles), we can see a very different picture when it comes to the greater LGBT community. It's easy for Filipinos to theoretically "tolerate" homosexuals - especially those that fit their internal stereotypes about parlor gays, TV entertainers and butch lesbian security guards to rattle off a few concepts. It's easy to be tolerant when it comes to gay people who aren't part of your family. But once the LGBT person is a lot closer to home - especially when it's a family member - then things tend to change.

The absence of laws that protect homosexual rights and provide equal rights including marriage and adoption is a clear sign of where the country is. The fact that the only LGBT party-list group had to go to the Supreme Court to remain valid since their supposed national constituency was cited as a reason for disqualification is another example. The LGBT community as a whole is a big question mark in many people's minds - one that leads to odd questions about "immoral behavior" or whatever you want to call it.

Just this week on a news item about Tim Cook formally coming out as gay was immediately peppered with comments citing homosexuality as some sort of sin with the usual quotes from Leviticus. And to see comments like those on just about any news article that talks about aspects of the LGBT community is pretty disappointing. And when you see or hear this sort of negative feedback on a regular basis, it can be pretty damaging indeed.

No, tolerance is never going to be enough. We're not some pain that people try to ignore since it's too expensive to go to the doctor. We're not a problem to be dealt with or a segment of the population that needs to be cured of some disorder. We're just people, and because of that we deserve equal rights and protection of our freedom to be who we are. We deserve to love freely and to contribute fully to this society in a manner that allows us to be proud of who we are.

And thus we continue to fight for true acceptance and full recognition in the eyes of the law.

[Technicolor Musings] Escaping The Power Of Words

Laverne Cox is on the cover of TIME Magazine. Sure, she didn't make it into this year's TIME 100 list of Most Influential People, at least she has become the face of TIME's issue focused on the transgender community and their fight for equal rights.

The quick summary above reflects the fight for LGBT rights as a whole, when you really think about it. We make a few advances here and there - that's worth celebrating. But at the same time there are still instances where we're not doing too well, and thus we are reminded of how much further we have to go.

But as much as we have a long way to go in terms of equal rights in the global community at large, the amount of internal homophobia that continues on is rather frustrating. And what's worse is how we can't even agree when the homophobia begins - the LGBT community is actually a rough effort to tie together so many different groups whose only common ground is the fact that we don't easily fit into the "traditional" male and female gender roles.

So let's talk about the supposed discrimination related to language.

[Technicolor Musings] Appreciating Facebook's Improvements

This week the big news has been about Facebooks new options for one's gender identity. It may not seem like a big thing, but providing this option to people in order t better represent themselves online is an amazing step forward in the right direction. And while there are those who choose to see the negative side in things and complain that it took 10 years for Facebook to get around to doing this or other such complaints. But really, we need to celebrate progress for its own sake. I mean come on, they've coded in 56 different options plus you can also set what pronouns Facebook will use when referring to you. The little things matter!

And this comes like 3 years after Facebook provided more LGBT-friendly options for one's relationship status including "domestic partnership" among others. As much as Facebook's privacy snafus annoy me to heck, I do appreciate how they're taking steps to better represent their LGBT members. And when a social media platform as big as Facebook makes changes like this, it certainly sends ripples throughout the tech community that get more people thinking about how they want to handle LGBT concerns as well.

So good job, Facebook! Now all we need is for you to get your act together in terms of your News Feed filtering.

[Technicolor Musings] Betchiwariwariwap Launched!

So a few friends and I have just launched an LGBT social media project that we're calling Betchiwariwariwap! Like a lot of Filipino gay speak, the work's precise meaning is never fully clear but at the very least it's a vote of confidence of support for something (with a heck of a lot of suffixes). For now it's based in Facebook but overtime we hope to expand to other social media platforms like Twitter and Google+.

The project has three main goals:
1) Spread positive, uplifting news / stories relevant to the LGBT community
2) Provide a one-stop shop for information on local LGBT-related events
3) Promote positive LGBT concepts as opposed to limiting stereotypes.

I envisioned this to be a very positive project given there are so many challenges that the LGBT community already faces, we certainly don't to be reminded of such woes on a daily basis. Following the basic principle of taking time to smell the roses, the page is really about celebrating the succceses we've achieved as a global community and to help different LGBT groups and networks get more attention.

So whether gay, straight or at least LGBT-friendly, I'd really appreciate if you take time to like our Facebook page and share it with your friends. And while the posts are often introduced in swardspeak to some extent, the core articles and images are universally understandable.

Join us in making the world a more color place! Bet niyo ba? Betchiwariwariwap!

[Technicolor Musings] Jesuit Hope for LGBTs?

A few months ago, Pope Francis stated "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?" - a rather surprising statement for the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The media were all over that story of course, but admittedly I remained rather skeptical about the whole thing. It's a nice statement, but it's not exactly official Church policy or anything like that.

But in a published interview released this week, the new Pope has gone on to discuss a number of controversial topics - or at least those considered rather controversial by the Church. In the most direct statement ever released by a Catholic Pope, he has actually gone on to talk about how the Church needs to adopt a more inclusive approach to dealing with subjects like homosexuality and even the role of women in the Church. And while homosexual acts are still considered a sin, this was a rather public acknowledgement that this is still somehow separate from the orientation.

These views are not particularly new - we've heard them a lot from the Church in general but especially among Jesuits in particular. I had been taught as much during my school years given I had gone to a Jesuit-run school. But it's nice to hear him to make such statements formally in something as concrete as the interview published around the world.

This won't make me become Catholic again or anything like that - I think I'm well and done with organized religion. But the Pope's statements do give me hope for how the Catholic Church approaches members of the LGBT community. Instead of a Church that actively campaigns against LGBT concerns and rights issues, perhaps this will lead to the Church focusing on its ministry instead of negative campaigns and such.

One cannot say for certain how the Pope's statements will translate into actual doctrine and Church policy. But again, even a skeptical agnostic like myself finds reason to hope for the better. And that's a good thing.

[Pink News] US Supreme Court Hears Gay Marriage Arguments

This week, the US Supreme Court heard arguments related to two major cases - California's Proposition 8 and the Defense Against Marriage Act (DOMA). To help generate support online, the Human Rights Campaign asked social media users to change their profile photo to an image to the one above to show solidarity with the fight for marriage equality for the LGBT community.

It's hard to determine how either ruling will go, but the arguments for both sides were pretty impressive. The Supreme Court has posted full audio recordings and text transcripts of the proceedings which make for a most interesting use of your time - take notes Philippines LGBT rights advocates!

Here are the links for the arguments on Proposition 8 and DOMA respectively.

In addition, TIME has put together this great interactive timeline of the LGBT rights struggle in the US.

In the meantime, let's all hope for the best for our fellow queers in the US! I'm pretty confident that DOMA will be overturned but I strongly suspect that the Supreme Court will sidestep a ruling on Proposition 8 entirely and just pave the way for gay marriages to resume in California but no where else in the US. It'll still be good news, but not as great as them ruling in favor of same-sex marriage for the entire US.

Fingers crossed!

[Technicolor Musings] The New Catholic Pope

So the Roman Catholic Church has a new Pope - in this case Pope Francis, previously Cardinal Bergoglio. He's the first Latin American Pope (with Italian lineage though) and the first Jesujt Pope, but he is also a rather conservative one at that. He's known for his humility but also known for his stand against both gay marriage and gay adoption rights and his disdain towards contraceptives. In other words, he sounds like another traditional Catholic Pope.

I don't fully understand queers who continue to claim to be Catholic when the religion in itself frowns on queer sexual activity. I don't understand why there are those members of the LGBT community who are against gay marriage in general either. But these people continue to exist and claim to be devout Catholics.

Given how the Philippines is perceived to be a predominantly Catholic country by many, we just can't ignore the opinions of the new pope since his pronouncements will naturally affect a lot of what our local priests will be proclaiming from their respective pulpits. So while I consider myself to be agnostic, I pay careful attention to such religious leaders since they will go out of their way to make LGBT rights their business, and typically in a bad way.

So how do you feel about the new Pope? Does he give you hope? Do you believe he's going to help address a lot of the issues that the Catholic Church has been facing in recent years? Or do you think he's going to be worse than Ratzinger and will continue to fight gay rights, but now on a global scale?

And I think I've made it clear that I think we need to stand up for truly equal representation and protection in the eyes of the law and not just mere tolerance. 

So what about you?

[Advocacy] Project Indulge by Love Yourself

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to the fight against the spread of HIV and AIDS is the social stigma that is often attached to it. Many individuals fear getting tested because of the potential "shame" that they believe will come with being diagnosed. Thus instead of getting treatment right away, they choose to live in ignorance.

As I tell many friends who ask me about HIV testing, we shouldn't treat this disease as something that is distinct or separate from all other conditions. Being diagnosed with HIV is not an immediate death sentence in itself - no more than being diagnosed with conditions like diabetes, heart disease or asthma. All require certain precautions, changes in your lifestyle and on-going medication. So why does HIV and AIDS need to be different?

LoveYourself is one of the many HIV/AIDS advocacy groups active in the country right now and they continually try to find new ways to spread their message by effectively utilizing various social media channels. And their latest campaign, Project Indulge, is certainly something to be excited about.

[Pink News] The LoveYourself Hub Opens Today!

The following is a press release from LoveYourself.ph:

The Love Yourself Project, an ongoing advocacy group which aims to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS is set to open ‘The Love Yourself Hub’ on July 8, 2012 at 1850 Leon Guinto St., Malate, Manila (at the back of PWU).

The Love Yourself Hub will serve as a resource center to further increase the levels of awareness and knowledge, counseling and education, wellness, prevention, cure and rehabilitation of the communities it serves specially the youth and LGBT-MSM in response to sexually transmitted infections (STI and HIV) and other sexuality-related concerns.

One of the main key programs is to conduct HIV Counseling and Testing (HCT) with the able support of the Research Institute for Topical Medicine (RITM).

To complement this main task, equally important are the other goals which aim to establish the following: ‘EQUALITY’ without regard to HIV status, religion, sex, gender preference and culture; provide skills training to other advocate volunteers on HIV counseling, HIV health education and management; empower professionals and other advocate volunteers to administer timely, appropriate therapeutic counseling and safe quality care; promote HIV education (e.g. Philippine HIV/AIDS Law) through partnerships with education-related groups and organizations; align with the Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC), World Health Organization (WHO) and partners to maximize resources.

The Love Yourself Hub shall embrace the ideals set forth by its parent organization – the Love Yourself Project by reaching out to the community it serves by propagating ideas and practices that encourage loving one's self -- to DARE to be oneself, to CARE for oneself, and to SHARE oneself as a way to multiplying joy.

[Technicolor Musings] Manny Pacquiao Is Still A Bigot

So what started as a badly written article that made it appear that he was condemning all gays to death supposedly in line with the Book of Leviticus (which he later revealed to have never read - which I sincerely believe), a clarification that he was misquoted and later a statement that he doesn't condemn gays, but he's still against gay marriage, where does that leave us?

It's a complex issue when you get down to it, and we can break it down into several points, for the sake of discussion. It should prove to be an interesting exercise for this week's Technicolor Musings indeed.

And before you even ask - NO, his statements against gay marriage and other rights do not make me "hate" Representative Manny Pacquiao. I never liked him to begin with. So there.

[Pink News] Upcoming LGBT Events in May

There are a few major LGBT events this month that you Geeky readers may want to support. And remember these aren't exclusively for members of the LGBT community - these events are more than open to other straight supporters who want to support their LGBT friends or the issues that we're trying to achieve.

The first is a rally in support of the Anti-Discrimination Bill (House Bill 1483) on May 14, 2012. It'll be at the Sandiganbayan itself so if you can get up bright and early, it'll be a good idea to go. Be sure to wear pink or red on the day!

Next up on May 20, 2012 is that Love Yourself, Yoga for Life and other HIV/AIDS advocacy groups are celebrating the 29th International AIDS Candlelight Memorial at the Quezon City Circle. The annual event is meant to commemorate all those who have lost their lives to HIV/AIDS as we all renew our pledge to fight the biggest challenges related to this virus - ignorance and fear.

These are just some of the LGBT events that you can all participate in this month. If you have other events that you'd like for us to promote or help spread awareness about, feel free to leave a comment and we can discuss things more directly.

[Technicolor Musings] Time For A Miss Transgender Universe?

One of the major news items going around is the decision by the Miss Universe organization announced that they would now allow transgender contestants to compete in the beauty pageant, a case brought on by the earlier disqualification of Jenna Talackova from Canada. This is a landmark move by the organization, certainly not one that I had expected them to make any time soon.

What has been more surprising has been the mixed reactions to this announcement even within the LGBT community. You'd think that this news would be taken positively by fellow queers but instead there are very mixed feelings - some of them less than positive.

The most common tack people are taking is that a beauty pageant like Miss Universe should only be for "real" women, which is probably one of the more inadvertently offensive statements being thrown around. And this is despite the fact that Jenna Talackova meets all legal requirements in Canada to be recognized as a woman.

What a lot of people don't factor in is why Jenna went through gender reassignment surgery (or whatever other term you want to use to refer to a sex change). The most common assumption, I'm certain, is that this is simply something that she wanted for herself. And ironically it's along the same train of thought that has people saying gay people only choose to be gay instead of this being an essential part of our character and gender identity.

Many transgender individuals go through this grueling process of changing from man to woman (or vice-versa) not out of choice, but out of the sense of being in the wrong body all their lives. They grow up feeling that they are women literally trapped in men's bodies (or the other way around) and thus the need to go through a sex change is not a vanity operation but more "corrective" in nature.

Thus it seems weird to me that people find it easy to argue that some people can be born homosexual and yet have a more challenging time accepting that transgenders may in fact be people with the wrong sexual organs based on how they honestly feel about themselves. We don't live their lives - we don't know the inner turmoil they've gone through in life as they struggle with their sense of self. That's just now how things go.

So this issue is a great opportunity for all of us to rethink our opinions on transgenders. It's a great opportunity to think beyond our current limitations and see the bigger picture. This world is always in need of more tolerance and acceptance. Let's begin with ourselves.

[Pink News] NY Senate Votes for Gay Marriage

Image via WikipediaFinally, some good news despite the bad weather we have here and the announcement that the White Party has been postponed indefinitely.

In a surprise move after talks seemed to have stalled as of a few days ago, the New York Senate has voted 33-to-29 in favor of a bill legalizing gay marriage within the state including providing all the legal rights entitled to married couples. This comes after many lengthy debates and a Republican-controlled legislature.

Quoting the CNN report:

"New York has finally torn down the barrier that has prevented same-sex couples from exercising the freedom to marry and from receiving the fundamental protections that so many couples and families take for granted," Cuomo, a Democrat, said in a written statement shortly after the vote.

Now all it needs is the governor's signature and then New York will be the 6th state in the US that will legally allow for gay marriage. Another step forward for LGBT rights! The bill has been signed into law! Gay marriage in New York will begin in 30 days!

[Pink News] U.N. Council Passes Gay Rights Resolution

Image by Ashitakka via FlickrWell this is great news!

While it's not exactly a solution to our problems in itself, to have a policy body like the United Nations to pass a resolution about the importance of LGBT rights is a key step in our path to true equality.

Quoting from the CNN news report:

'It talks about the violence and discrimination that people of LGBT persuasion experience around the world,' she said, 'and that those issues ... need to be taken seriously. It calls for reporting on what's going on, where people are being discriminated against, the violence that is taking place, and it really puts the issue squarely on the U.N.'s agenda going forward.'

I especially like the focus on addressing LGBT discrimination and related violence. While many argue that existing laws generally cover these concerns, I still feel that specific legislation that acknowledges the challenges of the community remain a key focus point that needs to be continually addressed.

The resolution also will commission the first-ever U.N. report on the challenges that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people face around the globe. Nossel said the Obama administration hopes it will 'open a broader international discussion on how to best promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons.'

This is also very important - you have to admit that there are far too many formal studies done on LGBT-related concerns and to have the UN work on such a report should prove to be important to future LGBT rights efforts. Plus it'll be a pretty interesting read to boot!

While I know we all laugh at the UN's lack of relevance at times when it comes to international affairs, every now and then they do manage to do the right thing. Now it's up to the individual member nations to follow suit - but that's a whole different ball game.

[Pink Scene] The 2010 LGBT Pride March On December 4

December 4 is not only Thai Environment Day in Thailand or Navy Day in both Italy and India, it's also the date of this year's LGBT Pride March! Sure, the traditional celebrations of Pride take place in June to coincide with the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, but locally we always have a separate parade in December that coincides with December being AIDS Awareness Month.

This year's LGBT Pride theme is "One Love" and it also marks the first time the march is moving from Manila to the generously supportive Quezon City!



Straight Loves Gay (Philippine Pride March 2010)

For the details, a few links to remember:

• Online Registration Forms
  
• The Parade Route
  
• Guidelines and Reminders for Participants

Show your support and stand up for LGBT rights! And if you're not yet out, you can still join by wearing a mask or whatever elaborate costume you can come up with. The point is, if you value LGBT rights, then show up and support the cause!

Assembly time is at 02:00pm - see you there!


Lagy Gagita for Pride March Philippines 2010