ProGay LGBT Leadership Conference in Quezon City a great success!

In The Pink of Health - The ProGay LGBT Leadership Conference 2005

LESBIAN, gay, bisexual and transgender Filipinos are virtually invisible in government development planning.

There may be lots of celebrities in fashion and entertainment, but LGBTs are ignored when it comes to creating programs and policies that will benefit our sector. There are no efforts to find out what our real needs, our problems and the challenges that face us in a society that is discriminatory towards homosexuals and transgenders.

The stigma and oppression makes queer communities more vulnerable to physiological and mental health problems such as HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and other reproductive health difficulties.

Progay Philippines addresses this deficiency through its research and community development project In the Pink of Health – The ProGay LGBT Leadership Conferences that was successfully concluded at the Agricultural Training Institute, Quezon City on 26-27 September. The first stage was finished in Davao City on August 27-28 and was a great success in bringing out the issues of LGBTs in the Visayas and Mindanao region.

The conference was graced by Mr. Marcel van den Bogaard the Second Secretary for Political and Economic Affairs of the Royal Netherlands Embassy. He noted that the great strides in improving the conditions of the LGBTs in the Netherlands gave impetus for the official development assistance that his government extended to ProGay’s development efforts.

Also present to provide a framework for LGBT development was Ms Ruby Palma, executive director of the Quezon City Gender and Development Coordinating Office, who demonstrated the contributions done by Quezon City Mayor Hon. Feliciano Belmonte in establishing an anti-discrimination ordinance and providing lesbian and gay activities government funds. Ms Cristina Palabay, Gabriela Women’s Party secretary general, was present to gather the sentiments of the LGBTs who supported the parliamentary victory of the party in Congress.

The conference objectives were to assess the health situation of LGBT chapters of ProGay and other organization and to gather as much information as possible for a Philippine LGBT Situationer. The delegates came from Ilocos Sur, Benguet, Isabela, Metro Manila, Batangas, Laguna, Tarlac and migrant lesbian workers from Hongkong

Afterwards, the delegates were asked to develop a Plan of Action to address the issues and problems of the sector.

The conference was divided into sharing workshops where male and female representatives separately discussed their problems and situations. The gays, bisexual men and MTF transgenders complained about worksplace discriminatory practices by employers who demanded that males must appear masculine all the time.

Although drag queens are popularly sought after by mayors to bring in votes during beauty contests, gays and transgenders find it very difficult to participate in political processes. The class differences between elite masculine gays and the jobless effeminate queens also poses a challenge in forging a united front for gays.

Gay students report increasing anti-gay regulations by campus administrators such as in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and Far Eastern University. The same oppression is happening in some villages such as in Marawi City and Gen. Nakar, where the city councils have passed ordinances banning gays.

Mykel Falguera, ProGay secretary general, said that reports of hate crimes such as murders are increasing among gays and transexuals, and the perpetrators, usually heterosexual male sex workers, escape justice. Police are usually uncooperative and blame the gays for supposedly provoking the criminals into hurting them. ProGay noted an increase in suicides and cases of depression among gays who cannot reconcile their sexuality with the demands of the larger society.

The peer educators of the Men Having Sex with Men Project of ReachOut International Foundation reported that police in Quezon City harass gay sex workers almost every night, making it very difficult for them to provide safer sex education to vulnerable populations. Gays are forced to give their day’s earnings to corrupt police officers, and if they cannot produce cash, they are illegally detained without food, water or access to toilets. According to peer educator Francis, the police use the Anti-Vagrancy law to oppress gays.

The lesbians complained of double oppression because they also carry the brunt of society’s anti-women biases. Lesbians in the Baguio Export Processing Zone, according to Julie Palaganas of the group Lesbians for National Democracy (LesBond) are severely exploited because capitalists seek them out for their masculine strength for the same wages they give to heterosexual females. They are given multiple tasks such as driving and hauling heavy loads.

Lesbians also worry much about their relationships because same-sex partnerships are not recognized legally or culturally. They have no way of assuring that surviving partners can inherit their joint properties or if the widow still be accepted by the family of the departed partners. Lesbond reported there are many lesbians forced into marrying by their parents. They also complain of insensitivy of the health care system in the country which they feel do not address special needs of lesbians.

To solve these problems, the plenary session of both male and female delegates formed a set of Action Points:

 Massive education efforts among LGBTs and their families
 Localized data gathering of LGBT situation in different cities
 Organizing ng LGBT committees to advocate local LGBT-friendly ordinances
 Form a political party or increase advocacy in friendly political parties
 Support the Anti discrimination Bill in Congress
 Support the Divorce Bill to liberate gays and lesbians who are forced into marrying
 Adoption of the QC GAD initiatives in other Metro Manila cities.
 Study extending SSS, madicare, insurance benefits for same-sex partners
 Increase counseling and other support services for victims of homophobia
 Establish the broad alliance of LGBT and advocacy organizations Rainbows for Change
 Campaign to repeal the Anti-Vagrancy Law, curfews and checkpoints
 Increase Pride parades and other LGBT activities nationwide such as Gays in the Family Day

After the conference, the participants decided to demonstrate to the public the new unities raised in the workshops by staging a lightning Pride parade around the Quezon Memorial Circle, where in June 1994 the first gay pride march was led by ProGay.

As a contribution to the democratic sentiments of many social sectors against increasing government repression, the participating organizations also demanded the government to stop its plans to impose emergency rule and other oppressive measures against people’s protests. Activists proudly unfurled the giant rainbow flag and brandished signs calling for President Gloria Arroyo to cease its brutality on protest actions.

After the Pride parade, the leaders of the conference representatives proceeded to a dialogue between representatives of government agencies and the LGBT community. Present as guest of honor was Hon. Liza Largoza-Maza of the Gabriela Women’s Party List in Congress. The others were from the Quezon City GADRCO, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the Department of Health (DoH) and the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW). The dialogue was assisted by the National Anti-Poverty Commission Special Projects Office.

In the fruitful dialogue, ProGay president Oscar Atadero and Lesbond’s Julie Palaganas presented the workshop outputs, and then each government agency also presented their initial policies in regards to the LGBT problems.

Key issues that were highlighted were problems with police and health professionals who do not extend human rights and due courtesy to LGBT citizens who come to them for services. The government agencies responded by promising to continue the dialogue with LGBT groups and take up their demands such as creating special programs in their departments for LGBT issues.

The conference chalked up gains in creating new energies among the ranks of the previously voiceless LGBT sector. ProGay hopes that LGBT organizations in more cities of the Philippines will come out of the closet and demand that they be given an organized voice in city councils and provincial boards, in schools and workplace organizations.

The conference was a learning experience for many community leaders who exerted their political power as LGBTs for the first time in a formal setting. It also provided allies such as women and NGOs a chance to commit themselves to an agenda that especially caters to the focused issues of LGBTs, through the new coalition Rainbows for Change.

If you are interested in contributing to the gains of this conference and create justice and equal rights for all, please contact the Rainbows for Change secretariat, telephone 3743451 or 3673109 or mobile 0921-3398955. You can email progay@yahoo.com for more information.

Posted by ProGay at 1:33 PM
Monday, November 07, 2005
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