EDUC8, LIBER8, CELEBR8: The 8-Campus Rainbow Tour

I am happy to announce the start of EDUC8, LIBER8, CELEBR8: The 8-Campus Rainbow Tour, a free symposium on LGBT human rights (see poster above). It will have its first stop at the College of Saint Benilde (CSB) on 29 September 2010. Below is a write-up of this historical initiative.

TrueColors Publishing Inc., the makers of Ketchup Magazine, the only Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) magazine in the Philippines in keeping with its thrust to promote social awareness of LGBT issues, proudly presents Educ8, Liber8, Celebr8: The 8-Campus Rainbow Tour.

This Rainbow Tour brings together noted leaders of the LGBT community to conduct a free symposium targeting students in 8 colleges and universities in the Metro Manila area in an 8-month period from September 2010 to April 2011.

The symposium, which covers various issues including LGBT Politics, Spirituality and Sexuality, Gender Identity and Human Rights & Media Activism, is designed as a “crash course” on human rights and the Filipino LGBT community, their needs and concerns and the advocacy work they carry out in their pursuit of equality and dignity.

The symposium seeks to provide a venue where students can:
a) deepen their understanding of the human rights issues facing the LGBT community in the Philippines (EDUC8)
b) free themselves from damaging, stereotypical and incorrect notions about LGBT people & culture (LIBER8)
c) and affirm & respect the inherent dignity of all human beings including themselves (CELEBR8)

By hosting this symposium, colleges and universities bring themselves on par with leading higher education institutions in the world that advance human rights education. They also affirm their role as bastions of a truly international, liberal and liberative education by giving their students an opportunity to critically engage with pressing issues confronting civil society. As well, they take part in a change-making project to promote greater social equality and equity. The symposium also provides students, faculty and staff a venue to explore research ideas and interests.

The 8-Campus Rainbow Tour is organized by TrueColors Publishing in collaboration with 4 leading LGBT organizations. Speakers include representatives of Ang Ladlad Partylist, Metropolitan Community Church Quezon City (MCCQC), Vic Alba of Ketchup Magazine and Ms Naomi Fontanos.

Exciting times

At 10:30 am today, I exited the Barangay Village Park in UP Village which houses three clustered precincts of the Fourth District of Quezon City after casting my vote for the 2010 National Elections here. Yesterday was our workshop on transgender human rights advocacy and after the workshop, the girls talked excitedly about the elections happening today. The last thing we spoke about was waking up early to go to our respective polling places and making history by electing Ang Ladlad Partylist to Congress. Ang Ladlad is the only TLBG political party of its kind in the world and everyone is hopeful that it will get at least one seat in the partylist system. These are exciting times indeed!

I wanted to show pictures of the long queue in my polling precinct as I brought my camera to vote today. Just in case an emergency arose, I wanted to be armed with something to document it. The voting process was uneventful all in all save for the long lines that everyone should have expected. After being in line for 2 and half hours, I finally entered the station where the voting machine was. It took me under 15 minutes (the maximum time allowed per person to vote) to finally feed my ballot to the machine. I left the precinct right after and walked home. When I got home I took a picture of my right pointer finger still covered in indelible ink to show that I voted for evidence. Unfortunately, my laptop conked out on me. This new laptop I am using cannot seem to read my digital camera or its memory card. I have to figure that out in the coming days so I can show some pictures here.

In the meantime, I just want to let the whole world know that today history is being made in my country and I am honored to be part of it.

I'm moral

Yesterday, about a hundred people trooped to Plaza Roma in front of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to show their indignation over the COMELEC decision not to accredit Ang Ladlad into the partylist system. TLBG individuals and their friends and families attended the protest action yesterday to tell the COMELEC that "IM MORAL." The rally was of course called immoRALLY. Below are pictures taken from yesterday.



Protesters assembled in front of the nearby Manila Cathedral (see above pic). After the mass-up, the contingent made its way in front of the COMELEC a few yards away.



I co-hosted the short program of the rally which saw different representatives give messages in support of and solidarity with Ang Ladlad (see above).



After the rally, we took pictures.



We also had a Kodak moment with Danton Remoto (in the middle in black), Chair of Ang Ladlad (see pic above).



Of course the day would not have been complete without a picture of just the girls (above).

It was quite a successful protest action. I was there not only to protest the unconstitutional and persecutive decision of the COMELEC but because I care about my future and that of my children. This oppressive decision, at a micro level may be used later to bar TLBG people from joining politics and at a macro level to police and punish people's behavior. I will not stand for it. COMELEC needs to take back what it said and apologize to the whole nation for this travesty. If not, the protest actions will just continue and I hope in the future will become more and more massive. Hope to see you in the next one!

I am reposting below STRAP's statement on the whole COMELEC brouhaha.

BIGOTRY IS THE THREAT TO THE WELL-BEING OF HUMANITY
The Official Statement of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) on Comelec’s non-accreditation of Ang Ladlad LGBT Party List
“The greatness of every mighty organization
embodying an idea in this world
lies in the religious fanaticism and intolerance
with which, fanatically convinced of its own right,
it intolerantly imposes its will against all others."
- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf Vol. 1 Chapter 12

The Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) stands with courage and in solidarity with all those organizations and individuals who have been disheartened, disappointed, and dismayed by the unfavorable decision Ang Ladlad received from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

STRAP is among those who say: Yes! It’s a violation of the separation of Church and State; Yes! It breaches the ‘no religion test’ clause of our Constitution; Yes! It lays the case for our legal persecution; Yes! It’s a retrogressive way of thinking; Yes! It’s a violation of human rights. But above all this, STRAP says Yes! The bigotry of Comelec is a threat to the well-being of every human being.

In its 8-page decision, Comelec argued that should they allow Ang Ladlad to participate in the elections, “[the] youth would be exposed to an environment that does not conform to the teachings of [Christianity and Islam]”, implying that such exposure would cause the moral and spiritual degradation of the youth. "[They] are not condemning the LGBT," Comelec said, they just “cannot compromise the well-being of the greater number of our people, especially the youth.“ Protecting the well-being of everyone is a good intention. However, as history has shown us, the road to hell can be paved with bigotry masked as good intentions.

How many wars have been waged, people burned at stake, genocide committed, and bodies turned into bombs just to create an environment that blindly conforms to the teachings of a particular religion? How many such atrocities have happened just because of the refusal to acknowledge the humanity of those people who are simply different?

If we’re going to be honest in answering these questions, we’ll find out that our natural diversity in sexual orientation, gender identity and expression is not the threat to the well-being of humanity. The threat is bigotry.

So we further ask, Who is the real threat to the youth? An organization that seeks to promote respect for and deeper understanding of human diversity? Or those who wear bigotry as a badge of honor?

LGBT Filipinos, Unite! Attend the Ang Ladlad General Assembly on Saturday, 14 November 2009

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has just denied the petition for accreditation of Ang Ladlad Partylist to be able to take part in the 2010 elections and represent Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Filipinos in Congress. The COMELEC, in its 7-page decision, claims that Ang Ladlad advocates sexual immorality and thus the COMELEC is protecting the youth from “moral and spiritual degradation” by denying Ang Ladlad’s petition.

In light of this COMELEC decision, Ang Ladlad is calling all its members, allies, friends and supporters to a general assembly on 14 November 2009, Saturday, 9am-12nn at the Seminar Room 108 of the University Hotel, UP Diliman. For directions, call the University Hotel at landline 926.1975/926.1953 or mobile 0920.471.0111.

It’s time to get up and stand up for our rights!

Beautiful things

Last weekend I had the privilege of witnessing two beautiful things in action: youth and love. On Saturday, along with other officers of Ang Ladlad, the national organization of LGBT Filipinos, I braved the rains and went to the University Hotel inside the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman campus for Ang Ladlad's Meet & Greet with a youth social network, OneBacardi. OneBacardi is a group of gay and bisexual youth who set up mainly cultural and socio-civic activities aimed at bringing the local LGBT community together. They currently have almost 100 members from the Metro Manila area alone (see pic below). When I met them last Saturday, my heart just melted because they lived up to their claim of being a bold, brilliant and beautiful group of guys. They were all so good-looking and charming!



For some time now, OneBacardi, through its officers led by current head, Angelo "Gelo" Camaya, had been expressing their desire to partner with Ang Ladlad so that both organizations could support each other in its activities and endeavors. Last Saturday, Ang Ladlad and OneBacardi finally got the chance to meet and know each other a little more.

The program started with an invocation led by Ang Ladlad Secretary Bemz Benedito. After the prayer, Gelo, the president presented OneBacardi to the entire group (see pic below). OneBacardi also had new members coming in that night so the orientation was both for the representatives from Ang Ladlad and them. Gelo discussed OneBacardi's vision, mission and goals (VMG) and outlined their group's activities in the coming months. I was impressed when Gelo spoke about OneBacardi's three main advocacy goals for the coming year: a) promote unity within the LGBT community; b) educate the youth and its members about current social issues facing the LGBT community; and c) reach out to abandoned and financially-challenged LGBT elderly and youth. If that does not warm your heart, I do not know what will! :)



Next up was Danton Remoto (see pic below), the chair of Ang Ladlad who, like his counterpart Gelo, spoke about Ang Ladlad's VMG and various campaigns and involvements.



After Danton, it was my turn to talk about the Yogyakarta Principles (see pic below). I informed OneBacardi that last year Ang Ladlad was able to secure funding to popularize the Yogyakarta Principles (YyP), or the application of international human rights law to sexual orientation and gender identity in the country. Ang Ladlad has committed itself to bringing the message of the YyP to as many LGBT and non-LGBT organizations and individuals as possible including NGOs and government agencies in the Philippines. Hopefully in the future, Ang Ladlad can petition lawmakers to adopt the principles as a basis for implementing laws that recognize, uphold and protect the human rights of LGBT people in the Philippines. In the meantime, Ang Ladlad has had the Principles translated into Filipino already so that they could be more accessible to a greater number of people.



Lastly, Ms. Christian Joy Cruz, a researcher from the UP Population Institute presented on HIV/AIDS and its impact on Filipino LGBT youth (see pic below). OneBacardi requested Ang Ladlad to provide a speaker on a topic of their choice. They chose HIV/AIDS and fortunately Joy was available to give just what OneBacardi requested us to provide.



The meet and greet with OneBacardi was an amazing experience. Being surrounded by such a vibrant, smart, and young group lifted up my spirits. I really love OneBacardi. They touched my heart so deeply with their energy and dynamism and I left the University Hotel that night very inspired. :)

The next day, Sunday, I felt more than grateful to have been invited to attend the third year anniversary of the Metropolitan Community Church in Quezon City (MCCQC). Their new chapel along Mindanao avenue was filled to overflowing as that afternoon, MCCQC was not only celebrating their third year with a mass and program after but there was also going to be a surprise holy union in between!

I was so thrilled and excited when the ceremonial wedding between the Rev. CeeJay Agbayani and his long-time partner Marlon started. It was nothing short of a wonderful and utterly beautiful experience. CeeJay and Marlon exchanged vows and rings (see pic below) which they also sealed with a kiss! In between they were serenaded by love songs. Both of them were in white and the atmosphere in the MCCQC chapel just filled with love, affection and joy. Congratulations to Rev.CeeJay and Marlon! Married life has it ups and downs but I know that with faith both of them will be able to weather whatever challenges come their way.



It was quite a weekend, I would say. It reminded me of a quote from Longfellow who once said "Enjoy the Spring of Love and Youth, to some good angel leave the rest; For Time will teach thee soon the truth, there are no birds in last year's nest!" For me this means, live in the present, seize the day and do what you must. More importantly I think it means, while you are young, love! :)

Ang Ladlad-One Bacardi* meet and greet

Ang Ladlad, the national organization of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Filipinos, is holding a Meet and Greet with the bold, brilliant and beautiful clan, OneBacardi* (see their logo above).

WHEN: 12 September 2009, Saturday
WHERE: Seminar Room 104, University Hotel, UP Diliman, Quezon City
WHAT TIME: 6:30-10:30 pm

This event is part of Ang Ladlad’s Membership Renewal Campaign in the National Capital Region (NCR) and is open to all bona fide Ang Ladlad members who want to renew their membership for the year.

Come one! Come all! And let’s meet One Bacardi*!!!

_________________________________________________________
*ONEBACARDI is a dynamic social network organization whose aim is to strengthen the members’ awareness and involvement in LGBT issues, and promote unity and camaraderie within the entire LGBT community. They envision a community of socially mature individuals who are free-spirited, well-rounded and socially responsible. They provide their members a ready and expanding community of contacts to share extracurricular and social activities with.

For the past 3 years, OneBacardi has produced successful events and activities such as Revelation, Gods and Goddesses, Detention, OneBacardi Anniversary Parties, 1[heart]Christmas, OneBacardi Sportsfest and the recently concluded Bacardi Idol. Also, they have been actively participating in community development and social awareness programs such as OneBacardi Charity, Manila Pride March, and their partnership with Ang Ladlad.

August highlights

I just realized, based on my experience last month, that I am an overly-scheduled person. On top of work, I am also working on my Master's thesis at the University of the Philippines, attending Spanish classes every Saturday, running three times a week and going to the gym for the same number of days. Add to these doing advocacy work for the LGBT community. My life will probably look more hectic compared to the average person. No matter, I like it this way. I enjoy being busy and I hate being idle although I do feel sometimes that there are just too many things to do in so little time.

Last month alone I was in several activities involving the LGBT community. First I was a speaker at the Alternative Classroom Learning Experience (ACLE) forum on coming out (see pic above) of the University of the Philippines (UP) Babaylan, an LGBT students rights advocacy group in the UP system. I shared my coming out experience with the mainly student audience. I told them that in the past because I did not know any better and nobody told me otherwise, I identified and came out as gay to my family first. Later on as I tried to make sense of my experience however, I realized that even if I had a sexual preference for men, I saw myself largely as a woman. That's when I realized that I was not a gay man but a transsexual woman. Clarifying the difference required me to separate sexual orientation from gender identity and researching transgenderism and its attendant issues. At any rate, the experience required me to come out once again. This time, I proudly declared myself a Filipina of transgender experience.

Next I was invited to a meeting with the publisher and writers of Ketchup, the only remaining LGBT-oriented magazine on print in the Philippines. The people behind Ketchup wanted to meet with LGBT leaders to explore possible tie-ups in the future. They asked various organizations to attend a lunch at Dencio's Restaurant, located near the compound of a major TV network here, ABS-CBN to ask for support and any other kind of help we could extend them given the financial crisis and Ketchup's relative unfamiliarity in the community. I told them that I was willing to do my part and asked them to a meet-and-greet meeting with members of STRAP so that they could learn more about the experiences of trans-identified Filipino women. At the meeting was Hender Gercio, also a member of STRAP and the current chair of UP Babaylan (see pic below).



Last weekend, I flew to Cagayan De Oro (CDO) City which is also known as the City of Golden Friendship. To the younger set though it is just CDO. I was there to meet with an exclusively lesbian organization called People Like Us (PLUS) CDO (see pic below). Members of PLUS CDO met me at the airport where I gave them a tarp for Ang Ladlad, the national organization of LGBT Filipinos. PLUS CDO individual members have signed up to become members of Ang Ladlad and they assured me that they would do their best to spread the word about Ang Ladlad in their city. Already they have reached out to gay and transgender residents of CDO to talk about Ang Ladlad. Before I left back for Manila, they proposed a possible joint project between Ang Ladlad and PLUS CDO involving the gay and transgender communities there which so far have no organized groups yet. I am very excited about this future prospect.



That same day, members of the Gays, Bisexuals & Transgenders United for Peace & Solidarity (GUPS), an organized group in Iligan City, which is two hours away from CDO, picked me up to bring me to Iligan that night. GUPS founder, Bong Enriquez, a long-time member of Ang Ladlad, has been inviting Ang Ladlad officers to visit GUPS in Lanao Del Norte. GUPS members number close to a hundred and many of them are trans and so Bong was happy to have me in Iligan for the weekend. I went there to orient GUPS members on Ang Ladlad, give a Trans 101 lecture and talk about the Yogyakarta Principles (YyP). Before the day ended, all of the almost 20 members of GUPS who were there signed up to be part of Ang Ladlad (see pic below).



On Sunday, Bong and his partner JayR brought me back to CDO where they were having a staff training for their office. Members of PLUS CDO then fetched me at a mall to bring me to the house of their president, Norma Adecer, for lunch. It was a hearty meal of sweet and sour fish and shrimp. Over lunch the PLUS CDO members told me about their lives in CDO, their experience organizing in their city and their plans for the future. Like the people in Iligan, they touched my heart with their sincerity and their genuine desire for things to change for the better for them and for the generations to come. I hope that we will have a working relationship that will last a long time. After lunch, they graciously offered to take me back to the airport (see pic below) using Norma's amazing yellow jeep and I found it really sweet and touching. I will never forget the kindness, generosity and hospitality of the people in Iligan and CDO. They are truly a class of their own and I cannot wait to work with them and see them again soon.

Call for writer & translator

Below is the call for writer and translator of the Yogyakarta Principles (YyP) Project of Ang Ladlad, the national organization of LGBT Filipinos. One of Ang Ladlad's campaigns for the year is to popularize the Yogyakarta Principles, an international document that applies human rights standards to issues pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. After launching the YyP in the 2008 Manila Pride March and releasing a primer which I wrote and my friend Sass laid-out, now Ang Ladlad plans to translate the YyP into Filipino to make it more accessible to more people who want to know about LGBT human rights. The YyP translation is envisioned to contain cases of LGBT discrimination to demonstrate the 28 principles of the YyP. This is going to be an important document in LGBT civil rights advocacy in the Philippines and if you are or anyone you know is interested to be a part of it, please read the call below and submit the requirements to the email address specified. Thank you.

Job Title: Writer/ Translator

Project: Yogyakarta Principles

Duration: July 1-31, 2009

Job Description:
1. To summarize the key points of the Yogyakarta Principles in Filipino in a concise and readable manner;
2. To write the summary with the common, general reader in mind;
3. To provide examples of discrimination of LGBT Filipinos in the summary (can be sourced in the Ang Ladlad website);
4. To revise the summary and incorporate editorial suggestions of Ang Ladlad; and
5. To help in proofreading the text in layout form.

Requirements:
1. Submission of CV and Project Proposal;
2. The writer should have experience writing reports and summaries in Filipino;
3. The writer should be able to incorporate human-interest examples in the report;
4. The writer should be conversant with the issues and concerns of LGBT Filipinos; and
5. The writer should be able to meet deadlines and incorporate editorial suggestions.

Time Frame: Deadline for submission of CV and Project Proposal = June 24
Awarding of contract = June 29
Deadline for submission of first draft = July 21
Deadline for submission of second draft = July 31.

Supervisor: The Core Group of Ang Ladlad

Writer’s/Translator’s Fee: P25,000 net of taxes. Fifty percent down payment upon signing of the contract. Fifty percent final payment upon delivery of the report/summary in both hard and soft copies.

Please submit CV and Project Proposal to Ms. Bemz Benedito, Secretary of Ang Ladlad at her e-mail address: myinsidebemz@yahoo.com