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.

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.

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!

P.U.S.H. Pilipinas

700 Club Asia hosts Kata Inocencio and Peter Kairuz

Right out of the gate, allow me to say that I applaud CBN Asia (Christian Broadcasting Network) and its nightly show, 700 Club Asia, for the many good works that they do, such as Operation Blessing.  There are many decent, caring people involved in the organization, and I do not doubt that they love God.

Every so often, though, like their mother ship network CBN USA and its founder, Pat Robertson, 700 Club Asia chooses to jump on the crazy train.  This is what they did during their June 11, 2012, broadcast which aired on Philippine TV network GMA.

As part of their week-long P.U.S.H. Pilipinas specials (which stands for Pray Until Something Happens, Philippines), the opening salvo was entitled "Pamilyang Pilipino, Gaano Katatag?" (The Filipino Family, How Strong Is It?).

Dueling Messages From the Top

The past few weeks have been interesting ones.

I'm not an American, neither am I Filipino, but I've spent quite a bit of time in both the U.S. and the Philippines.  I've been fairly amazed by the recent contrary messages on marriage equality that have been sent from the White House on one side, and Malacañang on the other.

President Barack Obama has announced his full support for the right of same-sex couples to marry, sending a resounding message of equality around the world.

The shockwave hit the Philippines, too.  Within hours, it seemed, Malacañang was sadly distancing itself from the statements coming from the White House.

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).

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.

"Uphold Our Rights, But No One Else's"

Dashing in white.  So pretty.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is at it again.  They never cease to amaze.

In typical style, the CBCP is busy panicking over the prospect of all Filipinos being treated with equality.

Senate Bill 2814, the "Act Prohibiting Discrimination, Profiling, Violence and All Forms of Intolerance Against persons based on ethnicity, race, religion, belief, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, language, disability, or other status," is making the bishops grip their rosaries even more tightly than usual these days.  Their fear is that, if it passes, SB 2814 will open the Philippines up to same-sex marriage.  Oh how they love to push those religious fear buttons!