Cheche Lazaro probes LGBT issues in docu

MANILA -- Veteran broadcast journalist Cheche Lazaro tackles homosexuality and its many permutations in a two-hour documentary that weaves the points of view of people with same-sex attraction, their families, and the sectors that either support or reject them.

According to study of two nationwide surveys eight years ago, one in every four Filipinos would not want to have lesbians and gay men as neighbors.

Twenty eight percent of the respondents also considered their sexuality as something "unjustifiable."

The following year, 2006, and three years later, 2009, a government institution gave flesh to the negative attitude of many Filipinos toward the gay community.
Gay CO
The Commission on Elections shut the door on the Filipino lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT) by denying the application for accreditation of the party-list group Ang Ladlad, the LGBT political party.

Ladlad was disqualified to run in the 2007 elections for failing to prove its nationwide membership, while their petition in 2010 was junked on grounds of immorality.

But the Supreme Court intervened and gave Ladlad the go-signal to join the 2010 elections. The LGBT political party, whose advocacy equal rights among all Filipinos, failed to make it.

Over the years, the Filipino perception of the gay community has found expression in a number of ways – discrimination in terms of employment, bullying in schools, harassment in work places, and in some cases, grisly murders.

Yet, despite the risks, a number of personalities have come out of the closet to be counted as part of a “growing” community in search of their own truths after years of living a lie.

In time with the an internationally observed National Coming Out Day this month, "Cheche Lazaro Presents" takes a deeper look into the world of the LGBTs and their struggle for acceptance in the special documentary, which airs on Sunday after "Gandang Gabi Vice" on ABS-CBN.

Former child star and singer Aiza Seguerra talks about her journey of acceptance, while gay comedian Ogie Diaz gives a peek into his 13-year blissful marriage that has produced four daughters.

A woman narrates how science has helped her own transformation into a man while her very conservative father looks back at how his family dealt with the situation.

A bisexual ordained as a minister and will be installed as a pastor, and a married lesbian couple share their views about love and family. Eight gay men way past their prime complete the tales of joys and pains of being “different.”

Joining the discourse are experts from various fields – a psychologist, geneticist, sex realignment doctor, human rights activist and priests.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Gay Pinoys in Holland impressed with movie ‘Boy’

HOLLAND – “Boy”, a Dutch film about the life of a homosexual Filipino houseboy, has gained a number of fans, particularly gays.

Screened at the recently concluded Netherlands Film Festival, “Boy” collected fans from the Pinoy gay community.

Arvin Quirante, who starred as the boyfriend of the Pinoy houseboy played by Gerald Gonzales, also gained a league of fans.



Quirante, a professional singer and certified voice teacher in The Netherlands, has no experience in film acting.

His experience in acting is on stage when he was cast as Thuy, the lead role in Miss Saigon in The Netherlands and also as the understudy Thuy in Miss Saigon Manila.

Quirante said he was able to hide his nervousness at several delicate scenes like his kissing scene with Gonzales.

“Kasi part yan ng buhay ng gay. Otherwise, I’m not telling the truth about the gay society…about buhay ng bakla,” Quirante said.

Many gays who attended the festival are proud of the film.

“Maganda. It’s nice to see it. To see also a Filipino speaking Dutch,” Godwin Yosalina said.

“If you compare it to a poem it’s like a stream of consciousness-like script. Very natural, very not forced,” Jamaica Salcedo said.

Even the foreigners were impressed at the movie that was shown in both Dutch and Tagalog.

“I like the movie 'Boy' very much. It’s nice to see Filipinos acting,” Goran Turnsek said.

Boy was among the 14 films in competition for the Golden Calf awards, the Dutch equivalent of the Oscars but it did not receive a nomination.

In December, Boy will be among eight films to be shown on Dutch channel Nederland2 as part of the “One Night Stand on TV.”

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Vietnam holds first gay pride parade

HANOI - Dozens of cyclists decorated with balloons and rainbow flags streamed through the Vietnamese capital Hanoi on Sunday for the first-ever gay pride parade in the communist state.

The event, organized by the city's small but growing Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, went ahead peacefully with no attempt by police to stop the colorful convoy of about 100 activists.

"It's time to eliminate discrimination against people of different sexuality. I am straight, but my cousin is a lesbian," said participant Kyle Tran, 19, wearing a red headband saying "I love LGBT".

Homosexuality remains largely taboo in communist Vietnam, where Confucian social mores -- with their emphasis on tradition and family -- still dominate.

Gays are routinely portrayed in the media as comical figures or as people suffering from a condition that can be treated.

But in a surprise move late last month, Justice Minister Ha Hung Cuong said that it might be time to consider a change in the law to recognize same-sex marriage.

Vietnam currently forbids same-sex unions. Any move to legalise gay marriage would make Vietnam the first nation in Asia to do so.

"There is a lot of attention on gay rights issues now," parade participant Le Minh, 21, told AFP as she attached a rainbow flag to her bicycle.

"There were (many) questions about gay marriage at the recent National Assembly session. It is really good for the community," she said.

Activists said they had modified the parade route after coming under pressure from police to avoid sensitive areas of the capital where anti-China demonstrations were taking place.

"We don't have permission for this and even if we had asked for official permission it would not have been possible," said participant Van Anh, 51.

"But we have a lot of support from Vietnamese society. Many people told me they want to attend the parade," she added.

source: interaksyon.com

Obama support for gay marriage influencing American attitudes - poll

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's declaration of support for gay marriage may have prompted some Americans, especially blacks and Hispanics, to reconsider their opposition to letting homosexuals wed, an analysis of Reuters/Ipsos online poll data showed on Friday.

On May 9, Obama became the first US president to say he believed same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.

His position was hailed by Democrats, gay rights groups and others as a benchmark for civil rights in the United States and criticized by Republican activists and conservative Christian leaders as a divisive campaign issue before the Nov. 6 election.

The poll data found that African-Americans in particular were less likely to oppose gay marriage after Obama's announcement than before. Before May 9, 34 percent of blacks opposed gay marriage. Afterward, 23 percent did.

The poll asked participants whether they opposed gay marriage, supported same-sex civil unions, supported gay marriage or were unsure.

Lower opposition by black Americans did not translate into support for gay marriage, according to the data.

Support by African-Americans for civil unions rose by 9 percentage points to 28 percent after Obama spoke, but support for gay marriage slipped by 2 points to 29 percent from 31 percent, and the percentage of African-Americans who were unsure rose 5 points to 21 percent.

"Black Americans are a critical constituency for the president looking forward to November, and this attitudinal shift is good news for Mr. Obama. If he is able to lead and push opinion, rather than only react to it, he will be able to more effectively govern if he wins a second term," Ipsos pollster Julia Clark said. Obama is America's first black president.

Hispanic support for gay marriage rose by 5 percentage points to 51 percent from 46 percent after Obama announced his new position. Hispanic opposition to gay marriage also shifted downward by 3 points to 20 percent from 23 percent.

White Americans' attitudes changed least. Whites' opposition to gay marriage slipped by just 2 points to 25 percent, and support for it rose, also by 2 points to 41 percent from 39 percent, the analysis found.

For the poll respondents overall, the percentage of people who opposed gay marriage dropped to 24 percent after Obama announced his shift, from 27 percent previously.

And the percentage who support marriage for same-sex couples rose to 41 percent from 39 percent.

Data were collected online via Ipsos' ongoing daily polling for Reuters. The data were taken from an aggregate analysis of all data collected so far since January 2012.

Questions on support for gay marriage as well as race have been in place since the beginning of the poll tracking. The data were cut so that all 'pre' figures predate Obama's announcement about his support for gay marriage, and all 'post' data follows the announcement.

The precision of Reuters/Ipsos online polling is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll had a credibility interval of plus or minus 0.7 percentage points for white Americans surveyed before May 9, and plus or minus 2.1 points for whites afterward.

For blacks surveyed before May 9, the credibility interval was plus or minus 1.7 points. It was plus or minus 5 points for blacks after May 9. For Hispanics, the interval was plus or minus 1.5 points for the "before" data and plus or minus 4.6 points for the "after."

source: interaksyon.com

Canada says marriages of foreign gays invalid

OTTAWA - The Canadian government is abruptly arguing that the same-sex marriages of many foreigners who wed in Canada are not valid, a move that stunned the gay community and could affect thousands of couples.

In 2005, Canada became one of the first nations in the world to formally legalize gay marriage. Same-sex couples have been marrying in their thousands in Canada, and lenient rules on residency requirements for those seeking a marriage license mean many of them are from abroad.

Ottawa now says many, if not all, the unions involving foreign residents are invalid. It made the argument in a case where two women, one from England and the other from Florida, sought a divorce after their 2005 Canadian marriage.

The government's position has prompted sharp questions about why Ottawa allowed so many foreign same-sex couples to get married for so long before deciding the unions were not valid.

"(This) is about to, if it hasn't already, make us look like fools on the international stage," said Martha McCarthy, a lawyer for the couple at the center of the furor.

"We're the leaders of gay marriage ... and the federal government is saying 'Oh, yes, sorry, we forgot to mention that for the last nine years we've been marrying people that we didn't think those were valid'," she told Reuters on Thursday.

Critics blamed the right-of-center Conservative government, which they say wants to roll back social rights such as gay marriage and abortion.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he was unaware of the case. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said in a statement he would be "looking at options to clarify the law so that marriages performed in Canada can be undone in Canada".

He gave no further details and did not make clear whether Ottawa would continue to argue that marriages that had already taken place could not be ended in Canada.

Activists estimate that around 7,500 same-sex couples have married in Canada since 2003, when some provinces first allowed gay marriages. About 2,500 involved were foreigners, many from countries and US states that do not recognize gay unions.

Ottawa says the 2005 marriage in the latest case "was not legally valid under Canadian law" because the women could not have lawfully wed in England or Florida. It also cited the Canada Divorce Act, which says any couple seeking to end a marriage in Canada must have lived there for a year.

McCarthy said her clients' message was: "We can't get divorced in our own jurisdictions because they don't recognize the validity of our marriage. You guys here in Canada married us so please give us a divorce because no one else will."

A Toronto judge will hear the case on Feb. 27 and 28 and decide whether the government's argument is valid, although the loser is bound to appeal any ruling.

The gay marriage surge was a boon for the tourist industry, which quickly offered wedding packages to US couples.

Evan Wolfson, president of New-York-based gay rights group Freedom to Marry, said it would be "extreme, absurd and cruel" to now declare the Canadian marriages invalid.

"This will come as giant shock not only to the couples but to the businesses, employers, banks and others who deal with them so hopefully they're going to walk back this preposterous undermining of families," he told Reuters.

The issue could become a political problem for Harper, who said he had no intention of reopening the gay marriage file.

Nick Bala, a professor and family law expert at Queen's University, said the case underlined existing problems with the way gay marriage works in Canada.

"There are good reasons why Canadian family courts are only going to take jurisdiction over relationships that have a significant (link) to Canada," he told Reuters.

Foreign gays who only came to Canada to marry and then returned to seek a divorce could have major problems if child custody were an issue, and there was little logic in asking Canadian courts to make decisions about children living elsewhere, he said.

"There are good reasons for Canada to be a marriage haven for same-sex couples. It's not clear that it should be a divorce haven for same-sex couples," Bala said. –Reuters

source:gmanetwork.com