Congratulations, Washington!

The governor affixes her signature, saying "It is signed!"

More good news from the U.S., as the Washington state legislature has passed a bill to legalize marriage equality in that state.  The home of the great city of Seattle, Microsoft, Nintendo, Starbucks Coffee, and some of the best apple orchards on the planet, has become the most recent part of the world to grant gays and lesbians their basic civil right to marry.

Washington had already had a Domestic Partnership Law since 2007, which offered some of the rights of marriage to same-sex couples.  The law was expanded in 2008 (adding 170 rights and responsibilities) and then again in 2009, becoming the "everything-but-marriage law."  This meant the rights given to same-sex couples in domestic partnerships were equal to marriage, except in name.

Washington's governor, Christine Gregoire (who is a Catholic, by the way), has been a strong supporter of the new marriage equality bill.  As of Feb. 13 she has officially signed the bill into law.

Gov. Gregoire

"With today's vote, we tell the nation that Washington state will no longer deny our citizens the opportunity to marry the person they love. We tell every child of same-sex couples that their family is every bit as equal and important as all other families in our state. And we take a major step toward completing a long and important journey to end discrimination based on sexual orientation."

— Washington Governor, Christine Gregoire

Congrats, Washington!

News from the States: Prop 8 Unconstitutional

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (a higher, federal court; not a California state court) has issued a ruling upholding an earlier lower court ruling which found that Proposition 8 was and is unconstitutional.  Prop 8, as you may recall, was the 2008 ballot initiative which banned same-sex marriage in the state of California, after marriage equality had been legalized by the California Supreme Court.

This ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court is profound, to put it lightly, and very good news for equality.  The judges ruled that Prop 8 indeed violated the Equal Opportunity Clause of the U.S. constitution, unfairly targeting a minority group, i.e. gay and lesbian Californians.

If the court-ordered stay is lifted within fourteen days (per the release of the official mandate), it would mean that marriage equality will return to California immediately.  If the opposition appeals again, however, to the U.S. Supreme Court, the stay on marriages will remain in place until the issue is resolved.

It is truly amazing news for equality, and a same-sex marriage case will likely eventually end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.  Due to the U.S. Supreme Court's influence, a ruling for marriage equality may have a very positive reverberation in courts around the world, including in the Philippines, whose constitution also has a clear-cut Equal Opportunity Clause borrowed almost directly from the U.S. Constitution's.

Cruz Needs a Check-up from the Neck up

He just exudes love, doesn't he?

Keep standing against bigotry and foolishness, folks, because there's still a long way to go in the Philippines.

Archbishop-emeritus Oscar Cruz has proven himself to be a first class dingbat in the past, and he's working hard to keep that reputation alive.

Hot on the heels of Benedict's recent rant against gay unions as a threat to the future of humanity, Cruz set out to gleefully regurgitate his boss's madness to the masses in the Philippines.

Cruz's level of confusion astounds me, I mean literally floors me.  How a man can be alive for 77 years, yet remain utterly clueless and non-sympathetic to his fellow man, is beyond me.  Arrogance can, however, be blinding.

For instance, on January 13th he made this statement:  "Gay people also have human rights but they cannot force the Catholic Church to bless their unions."  Oscar, no one desires, or is setting out, to force your church or any other church to bless any union whatsoever.  That's the distinction between religious marriage and civil marriage.  You should know that by now, and if you don't, you can review the marriage equality laws of other countries.  It's really not that complicated.

Straight Folks, the Shame is Ours

As I write this it is a new year, and 2012 promises to be another good one for the gay and lesbian community, particularly in the West.

2011 was a banner year on which to build.  From the removal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the U.S. military, to the Australian Labour Party changing its platform to support marriage equality.  From same-sex marriage becoming legal in New York state, to Denmark announcing that it will be upgrading its partnership law to full marriage equality.  From civil unions being instated in the biggest Catholic-majority country on the planet (Brazil), to the U.K.'s Prime Minister announcing that British foreign aid will be greatly reduced to those countries which fail to protect and guarantee the rights of LGBTs.  And from the swearing-in of the world's first openly gay male head of state (the new Prime Minister of Belgium), to the Psychological Association of the Philippines (finally!) announcing its support for the Anti-Discrimination Bill.

Now we await the good news to come in 2012:

• Washington state's governor has endorsed marriage equality and pledged to make her state the next to have same-sex marriage;

• The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California will issue a ruling in the Prop 8 case by May, which legal analysts are 99.99% sure will make marriage equality legal once again in America's most populous state (a broadened case may even end up in the U.S. Supreme Court by 2013);

• Both Germany and Finland have marriage equality upgrade bills in the legislative docket (both already have partnership laws in place);

• and France's president Sarkozy is expected to endorse marriage equality before the April 22nd national elections (the opposition socialists, who have included same-sex marriage in their platform, have made the issue a cornerstone of the campaign, promising to bring marriage equality to France if they win a majority.  Their candidate, Francois Hollande, is currently polling at least 10 points ahead of Sarkozy, by the way).

Philippines, Don't Let the World Pass You By...

The beautiful coast of Quintana Roo, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico

As a foreigner in the Philippines, I can assure you without hesitation that the Philippines has immense potential to be a tourist magnet.  The pristine, white sand beaches alone make the country a magnet for pasty-skinned, sun-starved white people like me.  Add in the surfing and scuba diving spots, golf resorts, rain forest excursions, historical sites, endless opportunities for adventure sports lovers, not to mention the warm and friendly Filipino people, and the Philippines is a serious player in the highly competitive game of tourism.

But the Philippines may potentially be cutting itself off from a lucrative piece of the tourism industry pie:  gay wedding package tourism.

No, I'm not being wry.  Hear me out.

Double-standard Much?

Right-wingers aren't trying to ban this:

Strip clubs and nudie bars all over the world: big money, big immorality

Why I'm A Liberal Christian

The Bishop of Borg, Norway.  Yep, she's a woman.  Deal with it.

Sometimes I get the feeling that many Filipinos have a hard time accepting that someone can be a Christian and a liberal at the same time.  It's funny because, once you get outside of Southeast Asia (and Africa), you'll find that many Christians are in fact quite liberal.  This is especially true where I'm from, where liberal Christians FAR outnumber the conservative ones.

It may stem from simple misunderstandings.  Some may believe that if a person is very liberal, he is either an atheist or not a "true" Christian.  These certainly aren't true.

Being a liberal Christian doesn't mean "anything goes,"  and it doesn't mean we don't believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  Liberal Christians have morals, values, standards, and faith in Christ, too.  But what sets us apart from conservative Christians is that we liberals use our brains in order to think and reason, rather than simply surrender our minds to our religious leaders.

One More Reason to Love Starbucks

As if we needed another reason to sing the praises of what is arguably the best coffee on the planet, our friends at Starbucks have made themselves even more likable lately.

The Seattle-based company has always been proudly and loudly pro-LGBT rights (giving big bucks to pro-gay causes around the globe and offering their gay and lesbian employees the same partner benefits as their straight ones), and now Starbucks has gone grande with its stance on equality.

It has joined 69 other American companies in signing an amicus brief to declare that denying gay and lesbian couples the right to legally marry is bad for business, bad for freedom, and bad for the future.

What makes it even better is that it caught the ire of one Mr. Tony Perkins, the head of the "Family Research Council," a right-wing, anti-gay, anti-woman's choice organization that calls itself "Christian."  They're not.  I'm a Christian and they certainly don't represent my values.  Perkins and his gang are just fundamentalist nutjobs, plain and simple.

So Tony boy issued a battle cry to stay away from Starbucks because, as he said, "they like gay marriage a latte."  But not all of us consider that a negative, Tony.  In fact, it makes me more apt to support Starbucks even more often than usual.  I'm just thrilled that Tony has one more thing to panic about this holiday season.

Now where are my keys?  Time to go spend some money at Starbucks!