Madayaw na Pag-abot sa Pro-Gay LGBT Conference sa Davao!

Madayaw na Pag-abot sa Pro-Gay LGBT Conference sa Davao!

LGBT rights in the Philippines got another boost from ProGay’s grassroots community development effort through its "In the Pink of Health", the ProGay LGBT
Leadership Conference.

On August 28-29, 2005, 36 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) leaders from the Visayas and Mindanao islands converged at the Mindanao Training Resource Center - Davao Medical School Foundation, Bajada, Davao City. The event was made possible with generous grants from the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Manila and the City Mayor of Davao.

The community represented was as diverse as the ethnic and tribal diversity of the host region – senior flaming queens of Davao’s IWAG gay group traded witty
barbs with unemployed urban poor youth, while out loud and proud butch lesbians from Davao’s LINK sat down beside nervous bisexual men from the Visayas.

Ms. Patricia Melizza Ruivivar, chief-of-staff of Hon.Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, waxed ecstatic over the presence of so many LGBTs in her welcoming remarks, noting that the confab augurs well with the LGU's efforts of creating an LGBT desk under the office of the city mayor.

Ms. Ruivivar is also the OIC of the city’s Integrated Gender Development Division, an agency that is tasked to mainstream the innovative city system along more gender-sensitive positions and program designs.

The conference consisted of discussion and capacity building workshops that helped the participants to identify the challenges and problems facing the LGBT
in their families and in relation to political and economic aspects.

In the workshop titled Family Life & Private Relationships, participants revealed the difficulties of being in Muslim and ethnic minority families whose cultures are patriarchal and very anti-LGBT. Some of the stories they shared resonated with the usual stories of trials and tribulations we experienced while growing up.

Ric, a son of a of a former military officer, felt that his role as breadwinner was imposed and even his relationship with his boyfriend is insecure. Boyet remembered he was embarrassed by his father with acts like being hanged upside down when he was young.

Every night he works in a club as a waitress in secret because his family cannot understand he has to do it to support them.

The lesbians reported that families are generally ashamed of their lesbian daughters, and lamented that they are afraid of establishing their own families because the law does not protect them.

During the workshop Participation in Social & Cultural Life, many of the gays were proud to proclaim that town fiestas, church activities and government administration were their specialty and that the community benefited greatly from their efforts. But in a surprising turnaround, when they asked themselves if they are satisfied about their social status, almost all of them complained that they are deeply
unsatisfied about how they are regarded by their townmates.

Gay and bisexual men expressed needs for the care of their emotional and mental health aside from HIV/AIDS issues during the Health Issues and Concerns workshop.
Valentin from Leyte said that health issues that bisexual and gay men face in rural areas go beyond health care delivery but must include advocacy targeted towards abusive media and church leaders who make it difficult for them to come out and seek health care.

Lesbians, on the other hand, need assistance for health problems such as arthritis, cysts, breast cancer, blood conditions, diabetes and urinary tract infections. However, most reveal they resort to self-medication in situations of illness and seek the help of peers rather than from the family. Both lesbians and gays pushed for establishing LGBT desks or point persons in hospitals in clinics so that they
can more confidently consult with health professionals with less feelings of shame and stigma.

During the workshop on Economic Opportunities and Hindrances, Nenet, a lesbian member of the women’s group Gabriela, said that lesbians complained of rampant discriminating attitudes of employers who insist on stereotyped feminine image of their employees. Some managers of formal lending institutions do not trust lesbians, whose most common source of of capital are informal lenders that lend money on very usurious terms.

They added that lesbians are stereotyped as good only for some types of jobs, but are generally paid less than heterosexuals for the same work. They recommended that there should be a strong advocacy targeted towards the departments of social development, labor and employment, the Cooperative Development Administration and NGOs.

The sharings were capped with a dialogue with government agencies, legal experts and supporters of LGBT rights. Gabriela Women’s Partylist President Luzviminda Ilagan presented the salient points of the proposed bill amending the Philippine HIV/AIDS laws.

Ms. Ellen Labrador of the Department of Social Welfare and Development presented a program of technical assistance and capability building among other
government offices and gave tips for LGBTs on how to access their programs on vulnerable and special sectors.

Davao City councilor Atty. Angela “Angging” Librado-Trinidad of Bayan Muna and Atty. Edgar Bernal shared their legal knowledge of how Philippine laws can be maximized to protect the human rights of LGBTs. Councilor Angging said that for LGBTs to effectively pass ordinances that protect them, LGBTs have to be ready to share their data of experiences in homophobia and discrimination.

The rich sharing experiences inspired the participants to call for ProGay to continue leading yearly consultations to deepen the understanding on the issue of LGBTs. One participant was so encouraged that he wanted to organize a Bangsamoro LGBT conference to tackle the issue of homophobia against the Bangsamoro LGBTs. There were also strong calls for children and the general public to be provided familiarization
efforts on LGBT issues.

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www.geocities.com/progayphilippines

Progay Philippines is a service and advocacy organization that provides counseling, training and education assistance to marginalized gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual Filipinos, especially the youth and the ageing sectors. ProGay initiated Pride traditions in the country when it led the first ever gay and lesbian Pride parade in the entire Asian region on 26 June 1994. For more information, log on to http://progayphilippines.blogspot.com

Posted by ProGay at 1:49 PM
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
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