The Pope's Having a Really Bad Day

Can't win 'em all, buddy.

When the pope woke up in the Vatican this morning, he was greeted with some very bad news.  His morning report undoubtedly led with the front line: RH Bill passes Philippine House and Senate.

While liberal progressives like me cheered for the Philippines, I can imagine that the halls of the Vatican most likely fell silent.  You could probably hear a pin drop as the news came in.

Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a life-long stalwart opponent of women's rights, gay rights, and common sense in general, conceded defeat on the matter.  The pope too must swallow this bitter pill and accept reality.

The Abortion Tragedy in the Philippines

I'm so tired of the gaggle of "Pro-Life" politicians in the Philippines.  You've seen them and unfortunately heard them:  Golez, Pacquiao, Enrile, and our favorite dork of the month, Sotto, harping on about the grave dangers of condoms, pills, and IUDs.  All, of course, propped up by the Philippine Mini-Popes, i.e. the CBCP.

Look, I'm a progressive liberal.  I'm about as liberal as a person can get.  When I say liberal I mean liberal in every way:  an economic liberal, a military liberal ("a dove"), and a social liberal.  I grew up in a liberal family, in a liberal culture, in a liberal country called Norway.

In my country, RH isn't an issue.  It hasn't been an issue since...well...it's never really been an issue.  This is because the Catholic Church holds absolutely no sway in Norway.  None.  The pope never visits us because we honestly don't want him to.  (We think he's a bigot, to be quite honest with you.)  In my country the government's been giving out free condoms and birth control pills since the 1960s,  and the state doesn't interfere in a woman's right to choose what to do with her own body.

Sotto's March of Shame Goes On and On

Shamed Senator Vicente Sotto, of the Nationalist People's Coalition, keeps digging his hole of ignorance deeper and deeper.

Senator, it's time to put the shovel down.

We all saw him recently crying in the Senate during his passionate attack on the "big, bad" RH Bill (which has been proposed for more than a decade now), in which he used out-dated "facts" and was caught red-handed plagiarizing the intellectual property of no less than five bloggers.  He then crassly dared the bloggers whose writings he pirated, to sue him.  But that wasn't enough it seems.

It's no secret that Sotto is a Roman Catholic right-winger when it comes to social issues.

He's loud and proud in his opposition to women's right to make reproductive health decisions for themselves...

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.

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

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Baby Steps of Progress in Italy

Italy, the birthplace of the Roman Catholic Church, isn't known for its progressive stance on gay rights.  Italy is one of the only European countries that still does not offer some form of legal recognition to same-sex couples.  But the pendulum is starting to swing a bit...

On the 15th of March, 2012, the Italian Supreme Court (Corte Suprema di Cassazione) issued a two-pronged ruling in the most important gay rights case thus far in that country.  The case revolved around an Italian same-sex couple who were legally married outside of Italy, and who sued the state to have their marriage recognized by the Italian government.

The Supreme Court ruled that the government does not, at this point in time, have to recognize same-sex marriage contracted in other countries, which seems like a defeat.  But the second part of the ruling is where it gets good.

The Philippines Needs Leaders with Backbone

What I would love to see one day, is for a Filipino politician -- especially a member of a sitting administration -- to finally have the balls to stand up for the LGBT community and tell the church to stuff it.

This is what Lynne Featherstone (photo left), U.K. Equalities Minister, did last week, and she deserves high praise for it.

The British government has promised that the U.K.'s marriage law will be amended no later than 2015, but likely sooner.  Since 2005 the U.K. has had a Civil Partnership Act, which conveys all the rights and benefits of marriage to same-sex couples, only under a different name.  The new marriage equality law will change the term "civil partnership" to marriage, and allow for gay couples to be married in churches that are willing to do so.

Naturally the Roman Catholic Church is reacting as if someone is throwing acid in their face, and, along with some of the more conservative Anglican clergy, have stepped up efforts to stall marriage equality.

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.

Philippines: Asia's Only Christian Country. Bad Excuse.

I have to admit I've grown quite weary of hearing that the Philippines cannot, should not, and will not offer basic civil rights to same-sex couples because A) "It's Asia's only Christian country," and B) "It's a Catholic country."

These are poor excuses to treat a minority group of Filipinos as second-class citizens.

I hate to burst any bubbles, but for starters the Philippines is not the only majority-Christian country in Asia.  Since 2002 it has shared that distinction with East Timor, when that island nation gained its independence from Indonesia.  East Timor (official name Timor-Leste) is 97% Catholic in fact, which beats the Philippines' 80% Catholic rate.  If you count in other Christian denominations, comprising an additional 10% of the Philippines' population, then that takes you to 90% Christian.

Courts, part 3: Why Equality is on a Winning Streak

The arguments for same-sex marriage are compelling; the arguments against it are hyped but hollow.  Pro-equality lawyers absolutely blow the anti-equality side out of the water.  We've seen this in court case after court case, from Canada to Israel, and from Brazil to Massachusetts.

The rulings consistently find that:

1. Denying same-sex couples the right to marry serves no legitimate state interest
2. Permitting same-sex couples to marry does not affect opposite-sex marriage, divorce, or the number of children born in marriages or outside of marriages
3. The religious or moral views held by the majority cannot decide which rights can be either withheld or granted to a minority -- the constitution is the ultimate law of the land, not religious texts.

I love reading court transcripts from various same-sex marriage cases because they're so entertaining.  When reading them, it's easy to see why the anti-equality side crashes and burns.  Their "argument" is based on four premises:  that marriage is deeply religious and has always been between a man and a woman; that marriage will be destroyed if LGBTs get to have it too; that kids in same-sex households will be molested; and that we'll go extinct as a species.  Each of those arguments are rooted in ignorance and are easily dismantled, even by inexperienced lawyers, and show that the root cause of the opposition is fear:  fear of the unknown and fear of change.

Courts, part 2: The Philippines is not Immune to Change

(A continuation from the previous post, "High Court Progress Seen in Western Nations; What About the Philippines?")

I had the opportunity to ask a respected Filipino attorney about the prospects of Filipino LGBTs going through the courts to pursue equality.  His opinion was that, at this time, there would likely be no benefit for gay and lesbian couples to sue the government for equal protection.  He highlighted the fact that, because there are no anti-discrimination laws on the books and no legal precedent to stand on from any equality cases in Philippine courts, a suit would be destined to fail.

I agree with that in part, but at the same time I am reminded of same-sex marriage cases that have been won in states in the U.S., for example, which had no anti-discrimination laws on the books.  The courts only had the Equal Protection Clause of the Bill of Rights to go on.  The Philippine Constitution has these same guarantees for its citizens.

The current Philippine Supreme Court has based several of their decisions on grounds of equal protection violations, declaring portions of certain laws to be unconstitutional because of those violations.  Yap vs Thenamaris Ship's Management in May 2011, which struck down Section 10 of R.A. 8042, is one such example, as is Biraogo vs. Philippine Truth Commission in December 2010, which struck down E.O. Number 1.

Oh those shocking gay people!

The facial expression says it all!  I hope he was able to sleep that night.

As you may or may not know, on Saturday the 24th of June in the beautiful city of Baguio, there was a mass same-sex marriage ceremony.  Some sources say that eight couples were wed, others say ten, but the number isn't that important -- the fact that they did it is what matters.

The marriages, dubbed Holy Unions by the officiating church, were conducted by ministers of the Baguio chapter of the MCC, or Metropolitan Community Church.  The MCC has three churches in the Philippines:  one in Quezon City, one in Makati City, and one in Baguio City.  It is a Christian church that has congregations all over the world, and ministers largely to members of the LGBT community, many of whom are rejected or outcast from certain mainstream denominations.  The MCC also conducts Holy Unions for committed same-sex couples who have been in a stable relationship for at least eight months.

It goes without saying that same-sex marriage is, of course, not recognized in the Philippines.  Some say it is "illegal," but that's not entirely correct.  There's actually nothing stopping two consenting adults from marrying each other in a commitment ceremony in a church (there is no specific law that expressly forbids same-sex marriage), as long as the priest or minister agrees to it and wishes to officiate.*

One More Reason to Love New York!

The Empire State Building lit up to celebrate equal marriage

Great news out of New York:  To the sound of loud cheers and applause, the Senate of the state of New York has passed its Marriage Equality Act!  The bill had already been passed by the Assembly, and will next be signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a strong supporter of same-sex marriage.

This is huge.  Marriage in New York matters because it's New York.  Other countries and states have marriage equality, too, but they don't carry the weight or influence that New York does.

New York is a big and influential state in a big and extremely influential country.  Its biggest city is, of course, New York City, known far and wide as the capital of the world.  It's the center of business, industry, trade, and media, sways the world's economies with its Stock Exchange, and is the permanent home of the United Nations.  When New York does something, the world takes notice.  "That's the power and the beauty of New York," as Governor Cuomo put it.  No doubt about it, marriage equality in the state of New York is a very big deal.

The vote came after a session of late night debates in the Senate chamber.  One of the Senators who had been undecided, Republican Mark Grisanti, said this in a speech just before the vote:

"I'm not just here as a senator who is Catholic... I'm also here with a background as an attorney, through which I look at things and apply reason.  I cannot legally come up with an argument against same-sex marriage.  I cannot deny a person, a human being, a taxpayer, a worker, or people in my district and across New York the same rights that I have with my wife."

Congratulations, New York!  Welcome to equality!

Update:  Governor Cuomo has already immediately signed the bill into law, even though it was past 11:00PM.  Now that's dedication!

The Governor gives a smile and a thumbs-up after the bill passes in the Senate

Archbishop fretting...but "not paranoid"

Former Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz is a busy man these days.  But he's not busy feeding the poor, visiting the sick, building shelters for homeless Filipinos, or going about other Christ-like works that could be of great help to his nation and his flock.

No, Cruz is busy worrying about and speaking out against women's right to reproductive health, and of course, fretting over the prospect of LGBT Filipinos some day being treated as equals before the law.

The prelate has "warned" that passing the RH bill would lead to bills calling for divorce legalization and same-sex marriage (as if those would be bad things).  He identifies the bill as part of a "tripod of social maladies," which includes abortion, divorce, and same-sex unions.  Funny, but I think the status quo is a tripod of social maladies:  treating sexual minorities like second-class citizens, forcing couples to remain together by the power of the state, and telling women what they can and cannot do with their own bodies.

Brazil says yes to same-sex unions

Think it can't happen in a majority-Catholic country?  Never lose optimism.  In Brazil, the largest Catholic country in the world, the Supreme Court issued a ruling this month (May 2011) that same-sex couples must be treated equally before the law.  The unanimous 10-0 decision makes same-sex civil unions the law of the land throughout Brazil.

The court ruled that the same rights and rules that apply to stable unions between heterosexual couples will apply to same-sex couples, including the right of joint declaration of income tax, pension, inheritance and property sharing, and also makes it much easier for same-sex couples to jointly adopt a child.  The ruling does not completely open up Brazil to full marriage equality, but rather leaves it up to individual judges whether to issue A) a marriage license or B) a civil union license to same-sex couples.

A civil union bill had been stalled in Brazilian Congress since 1995, which is why the Brazilian Supreme Court finally stepped in, deciding that gay and lesbian citizens cannot merely be denied their rights and forced to "wait and hope" forever. 

Brazil joins fellow South American nations Colombia, Uruguay, and Ecuador, which also have nationwide civil unions, and Argentina which has had full marriage equality since 2010.  A civil union bill is also currently pending in Venezuela, and just this week Chile's president, Sebastian Pinera, asked the Chilean congress to pass a civil union bill.  "We must safeguard the dignity of those couples," said Mr. Pinera, "whether of the opposite or even the same sex."

Update:  June 27, 2011.  A judge in Sao Paulo has ruled that two men in a civil union can convert their civil union into a marriage.  Brazil's Supreme Court decision on civil unions gives individual judges discretion as to whether a same-sex union will be registered as a "civil union" or a "marriage."  With this ruling, Sao Paulo became the home of Brazil's first official same-sex marriage.  Congrats!

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Congrats to Liechtenstein!

More good news out of Europe as the beautiful alpine nation of Liechtenstein, located between Switzerland and Austria, approved the Partnerschaftsgesetz, or Partnership Bill.

The bill, which confers the rights and benefits of civil unions to same-sex couples, passed parliament with unanimous approval on March 21st, and will take effect September 1, 2011. 

Liechtenstein is 80% Catholic.

Congrats to Liechtenstein!  We now look forward to seeing Luxembourg pass its same-sex marriage bill within this year.

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It's Okay to be Catholic and Liberal

I'm no fan of small-mindedness.  It's fine to be "traditional," but when someone is being blindly traditional (i.e. stubbornly and rigidly conservative while ignoring all modern science), it is entirely unacceptable -- whether that someone is a president, a mayor, a judge, or a cleric.

I realize that I've called out the Catholic Church more than a few times in this blog, particularly in their illogical stance on homosexuality and same-sex unions, and I stand by that.  I do not, however, want to give the impression that I dislike Catholics.  That's not the case at all.  I know many, many Catholics and I like them all, and many of them are even pro-marriage equality.  What I dislike are people whose brains are stuck in the middle ages, regardless of which faith they choose to follow.

Simply put, there is absolutely no excuse for stubborn irrationality in the year 2011.  No excuse.  That's why I call out the Catholic Church and many Protestant churches as well, because they're ridiculously stubborn.  They think they're right simply because they say they're right.

Bishops to Pinoy LGBTs: Be who you are, but accept that you're second-class... in your church and in your nation

In typically confusing Roman Catholic style, two Filipino Bishops of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) have said that they don't care about a person's sexuality, and that they only care about making sure anyone other than heterosexuals cannot have sex or form legal unions.  This all fits tragically in with what I wrote about in a previous post, "We accept you as long as you never find fulfillment."

Essentially the two bishops, Paciano Aniceto and Oscar Cruz, aren't saying anything new.  This has been the line of the Catholic Church for the past few decades.  Their reiteration comes in conjunction with the Philippine launch of a Catholic-sponsored book entitled Homosexuality and The Catholic Church.  The crux of their view is that it's okay for gays and lesbians to come out as gay and lesbian, but at the same time, if they choose to be in a relationship, form a household, or enter into a committed union with someone of the same sex, they then become sinners who need to be "corrected."

The book isn't anything new, actually.  It was first released in 2007 but wasn't released in the Philippines until March of 2011.  I actually had the opportunity to read it in 2009.  As a biologist, I give the author (Fr. John Harvey, who recently passed away) a thumbs-up for promoting tolerance, but a thumbs-down for a lack of scientific facts.  The book presents a view of sexuality that is straight out of the playbook of early 80s psychoanalysis, and as such promotes a type of pseudoscience (essentially saying that homosexuality is a sickness, but saying it with a compassionate smile), which is neither accurate nor beneficial to the discussion.

"We accept you...as long as you never find fulfillment"

I'm not a Catholic.  Like the majority of Scandinavians I'm a Protestant, a Lutheran to be exact.  The Evangelical Lutheran Church tends to be quite liberal compared to the Catholic Church.

(A warning:  if you're über-conservative you may not want to read the next two paragraphs unless you have your heart medication nearby.)

In the Lutheran Church we have female priests and bishops.  Yes, women are just as good as men.  We also have openly gay and lesbian priests and bishops.  What's more, we allow our priests to get married (both the straight ones and the gay ones); we don't get worked up over divorce; we think condoms are cool; and we don't have a sanctimonious tantrum if two people of the same sex want to get married.  This is evident by the picture above from a recent wedding in Oslo, Norway, where two men were married (gasp!) by a female priest (double gasp!) inside a church (asthmatic gasp!).

One of our bishops recently attended the opening of a Gay Pride Festival in one of Norway's biggest cities and delivered the closing speech as well, saying "The LGBT community has fought a hard fight the last 60 years.  At the core is the fact that the love between two people of the same sex is nothing to be ashamed of."  As you can see, homosexuality is not a "crisis issue" in Norwegian society or in Northern European societies as a whole, or in the Lutheran Church.  The popular governor of Norway's Vestfold county, for example, is openly gay and married to a Lutheran priest.  I'm no fan of intimacy between church and state (pun intended), but in the case of the priest and the governor I'll make an exception. ;)