News: Homosexual found dead (Cebu)

Another hate crime against a member of the LGBT Community.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=757315&publicationSubCategoryId=107

Homosexual found dead By Ryan Christopher J. Sorote/MIT (The Freeman)

CEBU, Philippines - A homosexual was allegedly raped and later bludgeoned to death by unknown men in one of the mountain barangays of Cebu City last Friday afternoon.
Felix Alsalde Jr., 23, of Sitio Anahaw, Barangay Buhisan, Cebu City, was last seen with a group of youngsters at Sitio Olivo of the same barangay.
However, on Friday at around 3:30 p.m., the victim, who is also known as Luningning, was found dead, with his trousers pulled down and his brassiere exposed.
The victim was discovered lying on his back, by 16-year-old who was gathering wood on a bushy hill a few meters from where the victim was last seen alive.
He immediately reported the incident to the Barangay Hall whose staff sought police assistance.
Eulogio Bacarisas, 49, the victim’s best friend, said that he was drinking with the victim on Thursday at around 3:30 p.m., before he decided to leave after being drunk at around 1 p.m.
He distinctly remembered that he left his friend, who was singing on a videoke, with several young men.
Both homosexuals purposely visited the said place to attend the birthday party of a common friend.
“Gibiyaan aning informant (Bacarisas) ang biktima uban ang usa ka groupo sa mga lalaki ,” said Cebu City Police Office homicide investigator PO3 Geoffrey Gutual.
Gutual said that Alsalde sustained several contusions on his face which reportedly resulted to his death. “Napuno gyud iyang nawong sa bun-og,” he said.
Bacarisas likewise told Gutual that shortly before they started drinking, they were purposely searched for men in the said place.
“Kadtong mga bayot nangita gyud to sila og mga ‘ekal’,” Gutual told The FREEMAN.
He also said the victim was possibly sexually molested before he was killed.
They are currently waiting for the autopsy results to identify his cause of death, and if there are semen residues from the victim’s body. 
“Ato ra na ma-kompirmar once naa na ang result sa autopsy,” he said. (FREEMAN)  

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Fight against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity

December 10 is Human Rights Day. I still don't get it why the Catholic Church needs to block us from achieving the equal rights that we are fighting for when in fact, the United Nations has been very supportive of removing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The LGBT Community is still experiencing unequal treatment on employment, school, and in public establishment policies. There are still people who are being verbally and physically abused because of their gender. And worst, some were murdered (cases were collated and reported to the Philippine LGBT Hate Crime Watch).

This brings me to remember the speech of one of the icons in Philippine LGBT Human Rights activism, Ms. Sass Rogando Sasot to the United Nations last 2009. While watching this video, I felt the urge to still be an advocate.   

“Opposing grave human rights violations on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity”

ECOSOC Chamber, United Nations Headquarters, New York
Thursday, December 10th 2009 at 1.15 p.m. – 2.45 p.m

Let me begin by expressing my warmest gratitude to the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, France, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, and to the coalition of non-government organizations defending the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Thank you for making this event possible and for giving us this opportunity to contribute our voices to this ongoing conversation for change. Our esteemed participants, beautiful beings, and profound expressions of this Universe, a warm, vibrant, and dignified afternoon to each and every one of you!

Burned at stake. Strangled and hanged. Raped and shot and stabbed to death. Throats slashed. Left to bleed to death. These are just some of the ways transgender people were killed in different parts of the world, in different times in the history of humanity. These are just the tip, the violent tip, of the iceberg of our suffering. I can go on and on, reciting a litany of indignity upon indignity, but my time is not enough to name all the acts of atrocious cruelty that transgender people experience. But what is the point of counting the dead bodies of our fellow human beings, of narrating how we suffer, and of opposing violence against us if we don’t challenge the root of our oppression?

The sincerity of our intention to address the human rights violations against transgender people rests upon the depth of our appreciation of human diversity and the breadth of our understanding of why transgender people suffer these indignities.

The root of our oppression is the belief that there is only one and only one way to be male or female. And this starts from our birth. Upon a quick look on our genitals, we are assigned into either male or female. This declaration is more than just a statement of what’s between our legs. It is a prescription of how we should and must live our lives. It is a dictation of what we should think about ourselves, the roles we should play, the clothes we should wear, the way we should move, and the people with whom we should have romantic or erotic relationships. But the existence of people whose identities, bodies, and experiences do not conform to gender norms is a proof that this belief is wrong.

Nonetheless, even though the truth of human diversity is so evident and clear to us, we choose to hang on to our current beliefs about gender, a belief that rejects reality and forces people to live a lie. This is the belief that leads to attacks on our physical and mental integrity, to different forms of discrimination against us, and to our social marginalization. This is the belief that led to Joan of Arc to be burned at stake because she was cross-dressing. This is the belief that motivated the rape and murder of Brandon Teena on December 31, 1993. This is the belief that led to the stabbing to death of Ebru Soykan, a prominent transgender human rights activist in Turkey, on March 10, 2009. This is the belief that led to the arrest of 67 Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia for cross-dressing in June this year. This is the belief that keeps the list of transgender people being harassed, killed, and violated growing year after year. And it is very unfortunate that our legal systems, religions, and cultures are being used to justify, glorify, and sanctify the violent expressions of this belief.

So we question: Is human life less precious than this belief? Is our right to life, to dignified existence, to liberty, and pursuit of happiness subservient to gender norms? This doesn’t need a complicated answer. You want to be born, to live, and die with dignity – so do we! You want the freedom to express the uniqueness of the life force within you – so do we! You want to live with authenticity – so do we!

Now is the time that we realize that diversity does not diminish our humanity; that respecting diversity does not make us less human; that understanding and accepting our differences do not make us cruel. And in fact, history has shown us that denying and rejecting human variability is the one that has lead us to inflict indignity upon indignity towards each other.

We are human beings of transgender experience. We are your children, your partners, your friends, your siblings, your students, your teachers, your workers, your citizens.

Let our lives delight in the same freedom of expression that you enjoy as you manifest to the outside world your unique and graceful selves.

Let us live together in the fertile ground of our common humanity for this is the ground where religion is not a motivation to hate but a way to appreciate the profound beauty and mysteries of life;

for this is the ground where laws are not tools to eliminate those who are different from us but are there to facilitate our harmonious relationship with each other;

for this is the ground where culture is not a channel to express the brutality of our limited perception but a means to express the nobility of our souls;

for this is the ground where the promise of the universality of human rights can be fulfilled!

And we will be in this ground if we let the sanity of our desires, the tenacity of our compassion, and above all, the lucidity of our hearts to reign in our lives.

Thank you!

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Sass Rogando Sasot, transgender activist, Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP)

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The CBCP has done it again. Yes, the major source of bigotry, discrimination and heterosexism has released another statement againts the LGBT Community with regards to the law that we have been lobbying for years which would greatly lessen the oppression of the LGBT people in our country. They are the reason why we are marginalized. And can't they accept the fact the we did not choose to be who we are. The only option we had is to hide from the truth or express the real us.

With their type of logic, I might regard Harry Potter & Twilight as my source of moral standards. And again, can't they put their religion out of the picture when it comes to laws and human rights when in fact.

 from: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/106981/cbcp-wants-anti-discrimination-bill-cleansed-of-provisions-on-gay-rights

CBCP wants anti-discrimination bill cleansed of provisions on gay rights

By Niña Calleja
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is now training its guns on the anti-discrimination bill, saying the possible enactment of the bill into law would open the door for the legalization of same sex marriages.
Speaking at a weekly forum in Greenhills, San Juan City, on Wednesday, lawyers of the CBCP and a Catholic bishop hit the Senate for amending the previous version of the anti-discrimination bill or the Senate Bill 2814.
The Senate has recently passed on third reading the bill which is after penalizing all forms of discrimination.
The SB 2814, known as Anti-Ethnic, Racial or Religious Discrimination and Profiling Act of 2011, will be discussed by a bicameral conference committee tasked to harmonize the Senate bill with similar bills passed by the House.
Ronald Reyes, a lawyer of the CBCP, said they had no qualms about the bill before but became concerned when the bill was amended and “sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity” were included.
“It’s opening the door for same sex marriages, which our country doesn’t allow,” Reyes told reporters.
He said the Catholic church, which would not officiate same sex marriages, might be punished if the bill became law.
“This is alarming and it might change our society,” Reyes said.
Another CBCP lawyer Jo Imbong said the LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender) should not be considered the same as the elderly, the handicapped, and the poor.
“These people are disadvantaged not by their own choice. But the third sex, they choose this. How can you give protection to a choice like that?” Imbong said.
Imbong said the bill violated religious freedom and the “no prior restraint” accorded by the law to freedom of speech.
“The government may not penalize a religious organization for … excluding a person from Church responsibilities, for example, based upon that person’s moral behavior which could include the practice or promotion of homosexuality,” she said.
The bill would hinder the Church from teaching what it believed to be right or wrong, Imbong said.
The lawyer noted that under the bill, the priest who refused to officiate same sex marriages may be fined with P500,000 and jailed for 25 years.
Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes said the Episcopal Commission on Family and Life of the CBCP has been appealing to the Senate and the House of Representatives to exclude the LGBT from the bill.

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Dumaguete Pride March Year 1

The First Dumaguete Pride Parade is in line with the City Government's World Aids Day Campaign and the International Human Rights Day.

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BASIC INFORMATION:
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REGISTRATION AND ASSEMBLY: 3:00-3:45PM, 9 December 2011

PARADE START-OFF TIME: 4:00PM

ROUTE: Quezon Park -> Colon St. -> Real St. -> Silliman Ave. -> Perdices St. -> Quezon Park

MATERIALS TO BRING (optional):
-Groups are encouraged to bring materials on HIV/AIDS, LGBT Rights, and the like.
-Placards on HIV/AIDS awareness, LGBT Rights awareness (Please try to keep printed messages as 'love-filled' as possible. Love, after all, is the ultimate retaliation to hate and discrimination.)
* Please DO NOT bring RH Bill materials. As much as this is also our advocacy, this Parade is being funded by the City Government. We will organise another venue for RH Bill advocacy, should this be your advocacy too.
-Rainbow flags/flaglets

CLOTHING: From statement shirts to costumes with wings and scepters...it doesn't matter, really. Be loud and proud!

PARADE MARSHAL TO CONTACT FOR MORE INFORMATION: 09269626715 (Michael Victor Panuncillon)

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PARADE INFORMATION YOU SHOULD KNOW:

The Dumaguete Pride Parade is not a standalone parade. The City Health Office has allowed for a Pride Space in the City's annual World AIDS Day Awareness Walk. This has been negotiated with the City Health Office by Ladlad Negros Oriental Coordinator, Michael Panuncillon.

It is a wonderful start for Dumaguete's LGBTs to take to the streets and show WE ARE HERE AND WE WILL NEVER DISAPPEAR. Although the entire Parade is not exclusively ours, our visibility in the Parade will force the City Government and fellow Dumaguetenos to be confronted by our existence. Our visibility and our demands for equal rights and protection will hopefully surface the prejudice and discrimination we have all experienced. The Pride Parade will hopefully provide a venue for us to formally and informally negotiate Safe Spaces for us in the community and, perhaps, lead to negotiations on a City Ordinance on Anti-Discrimination based on SOGI.

Invite your straight allies (friends and families) to march with us on December 9! It takes courage to come out. It takes even greater courage to take our cause to the streets. We have lived with discrimination and prejudice in silence for too long. Courage is what it takes to start a revolution. Our first Pride Parade will be the start of bigger and grander Prides to come in Dumaguete.

Lesbian writer and activist Rita Mae Brown once declared in a speech, "No government has the right to tell its citizens when or whom to love. The only queer people are those who do not love anybody."

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LGBT Community, nagmartsa na naka-costume (Balitanghali: GMA News TV)

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Ladlad Party List and the Anti-Discrimination Bill

Ms. Bemz Benedito

Ladlad Party List has been with the campaign for the Anti-Discrimination Bill since the beginning. In 1998, Ladlad Chairman Emeritus Danton Remoto was one of our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender leaders who sat down every Wednesday night for two months running to write the bill and what would become the first Anti-Discrimination Bill in the whole of Asia.

Ladlad Party List believed that the bill should be packaged as a human rights bill, for nobody in his or her right mind would wage a fight against a human rights bill in the late 20th century. Ladlad Party List deemed that the focus is the favor of a whole, all-embracing bill that would center on equal rights in the access of public establishments, workplace and in the schools.

Ladlad Party List was clear in the beginning that the right to study and the right to work and to practice one's profession and business was and is paramount in the panoply of rights we want for all Filipino LGBTs. Education is the way to liberation of the self from bondage of the mind and of the socio-political circumstances of one's birth. Work affirms one's self and is a way for self-formation and forging of one's independent identity.

Thus, our party's platform has worked in parallel with the rights being prayed for by the ADB. We want equal rights for students not to be bullied by their homophobic classmates, teachers, and schools. We want equal rights for skilled workers and graduates who want to work in a place where they are qualified to do so.

Many stories of discrimination are happening still in our country -- of students being bullied, of transsexuals being barred from malls, restaurants and bars, of gays in banks not being trusted enough with high positions, because of the silly fear that they will just give the bank's money to their boyfriends, of lesbians not being hired because they are not "feminine enough", of bisexuals still hiding in the deepest, darkest part of the closet for fear of being found that they have a different love, a different life.

The journey for the passage of the ADB has been on the road for almost 13 years. It is a human rights bill that should find no difficulty being passed in a generally democratic and egalitarian Congress that have passed the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act, Magna Carta for Women, the Violence against Women and Children Law, and other such bills that gave equal footing to the marginalized among us.

It is time to give Filipino LGBTs their place under the sun, for we are also citizens of this country, we strive for productive lives and we are faithful taxpayers of the land, and we are all God's children living under the roof of His magnanimous love.

Thank you

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Rock Hard for RH with Carlos Celdran

Last November 26, 2011, I was asked to sit and be a part of the panel with Carlos Celdran and fellow Pro-RH Advocates Dr. Junice Melgar, Leloy Claudio, and Dr. Guy Claudio. There were different points that were given by me and my fellow guest speakers regarding the RH Bill. On my part, I focused more on the health of my fellow LGBT individuals that includes the increasing number of HIV cases in the Philippines, sexually transmitted infection and diseases, and reproductive health concerns. I wasn't prepared to answer the different questions, but I think I made my self clear with regards to why the RH Bill should be passed.

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