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HIV in the PHL. Religious Right, YOU'RE to Blame.

If you're an HIV virion in the Philippines, business is booming for you these days.

One of only seven countries in the world where HIV rates have risen 25% over the last decade, the Philippines has a very big problem on its hands.  But rather than listening to world medical experts and tackling the problem, the Philippine government is opting to listen to the Religious Right -- particularly the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and its mother ship, the Vatican -- and taking a gamble with the lives of its own citizens.

Unprotected sex between men accounts for 87% of all new HIV cases in the country, according to the DOH and UNDP.  Ten new infections are detected each day, and nobody really knows how many silent HIV carriers are milling around the general population.  Many Filipinos remain untested for the virus, which has an asymptomatic latent period of up to 10 years, during which no major signs or symptoms are seen or felt.

When coupled with the fact that the Philippines has the lowest rate of condom use in Asia, it's a recipe for disaster.  It's a recipe that is now starting to yield some unsavory and frightening realities.

Lessons From the Latino Playbook: Emphasize Family and Love More Than Rights

Philippine and Hispanic cultures have so much in common.  Heavily influenced by the 16th- and 17th-century culture of Habsburgian Spain of old, the parallels between the two in terms of family life, customs, mores, and of course, Roman Catholic religion, are easily recognizable.

It is because of this commonality that I took notice of something that happened in the U.S. last week.  A coalition of 21 different Hispanic organizations, whose members range from second and third-generation Hispanic-Americans to recent immigrants from Central and South America, announced a joint pro-LGBTQ equality campaign.

The name:  Familia es Familia, or in English, "Family is Family."  Its aim:  to further build support for LGBT equality within the wider Latino community through public education, resources, and engaging the community through social media, and to heighten acceptance of LGBT family members within the Latino community.

PMA: "We Won't Discriminate... Buuuut..."

In somewhat of a mixed-message, the PMA (Philippine Military Academy) has stated that there is no ban on gays and lesbians from applying for entry.  They insist they do not and will not discriminate against or turn away cadets if they happen to be gay or lesbian.

This should be applauded.  It's a great thing for the premier military academy of the Philippines to publicly commit to such a policy, and they honestly and sincerely deserve a pat on the back for it.

And then come the "buts"...

PMA spokesperson, Capt. Agnes Flores, says that cross-dressing is a total no-no.  Okay.  But that's not a gay issue, that's a cross-dressing issue.  The vast majority of cross-dressers are either transvestites or transgenders, not gay men and lesbians (see Definitions page).  Captain Flores is a little confused and prone to stereotyping, it seems.  Bless her heart though, she's trying.

We've Been Warned (Again): Gayness Destroyed Rome!

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France Set to Become One Kick-Ass Country

New president, new day

»» Update added 30 June 2012

France already rocks, but it's about to turn up the volume on its coolness level.

Three-hundred forty three out of five-hundred seventy seven.  That's the official number of seats that the French Socialist Party and its fellow-progressive allies now have in the National Assembly, as a result of elections held this month.

That's a clear majority, and it means the conservatives, who earned only 223 seats, don't have enough votes to block the progressive legislative agenda of the new French government.

The French Senate, too, has a clear socialist majority, and it's all very, very good news for equality.

Interesting News Bites from Asia

TAIWAN:  TAPCPR, the Taiwan Alliance to Promote Civil Partnership Rights, has announced that it will deliver a same-sex partnership bill to the Legislative Yuan (the Taiwanese legislature) in July of 2012.  TAPCPR has been advocating for a change in the current civil law since 2009.  Its bill will be three-pronged, covering a partnership system, legalization of same-sex marriage, and modernization of the current family code.

A same-sex marriage bill has been proposed before in Taiwan, but it met a major hurdle.  This because, according to Taiwanese law, family members of one spouse are automatically bound by law to become relatives of the other spouse's family.  The subsequent conflict over the implementation of family inheritance laws has effectively stalled that bill since 2003.

What Ever Happened to Article 26 of the Philippine Family Code?

What happened to Article 26 of the Family Code?

A few days ago I received a very good question/observation via email, so I thought I'd share it as a post.

____________________

"I'm somewhat confused about the current status of same-sex union law in the Philippines.  Technically same-sex marriage is not specifically banned or illegal, because of no law which forbids it or Constitutional amendment which forbids it. 

"However, the Family Code declares marriages to be between a man and a woman only, which on technicality actually DOES make same-sex union illegal in the country.  But then the Family Code (Art. 26) also declares that marriages conducted legally outside the Philippines shall be recognized also in the Philippines.....  If the law says that, so why would a Filipino couple married in Spain (for example) not be able to register as a proper married couple in the Philippines?  It was conducted legally, so why is this law just being ignored?

"What is correct?  Is it just me or do these laws not contradict on each other?"

____________________

For starters, if you happen to be confused:  join the crowd.  To the best of my knowledge, both of the above observations are correct and, yes, they do overlap in a contradictory manner.  In other words, it is confusing!