News about lgbtq philippines
Pope told off by learner for using anti-LGBTQ language
The forum, which was disseminate live on social media on Thursday, had the theme "Building Bridges" in a region of diverse religions and ethnicities. It brought together Catholic university students from across alternative countries.
The student from the Ateneo de Manila University told the Pope that he has been "outcasted and bullied due to my bisexuality, my gayness, my identity and being the son of a single parent".
He then called on him to: “Stop using offensive language against the LGBTQIA+ community."
Mr Rivera, who wore a rainbow-coloured sash over his traditional Filipino garment, also asked the Pope to "allow divorce in the Philippines".
Aside from the Vatican, the Philippines is the only country in the world where divorce is illegal. This is due to a strong lobby against it by the Roman Catholic Church.
The Pope waited for all three students in Mr Rivera's group to speak before giving his replies.
He did not address Mr Rivera's concerns specifically but he said through a translator that he was advising Mr Rivera to differentiate true love from deceptive love.
"Alwa
LGBTI rights in the Philippines are in limbo
Back to LGBTI Committee publications
Lloyd Nicholas Vergara
Supreme Court of the Philippines, Manila
lloydndv@gmail.com
The definitive case law in the Philippines on LGBTI issues is Ang Ladlad LGBT Party (Ladlad) v Commission of Elections (COMELEC).* Ladlad,[1] an organisation composed of men and women who identify themselves as lesbians, gays, bisexuals, or trans-gendered individuals (LGBTs), applied with the COMELEC to be registered as a party-list organisation in 2006. Its application was denied on the ground of lack of substantial membership found. In 2009, Ladlad applied again, yet this second, the COMELEC refused registration on moral grounds. COMELEC reasoned in part that ‘as a society, the Philippines cannot ignore its more than 500 years of Muslim and Christian upbringing, such that some moral precepts espoused by said religions have [seeped] into society and these are not publicly approved moral norms’.
The Supreme Court (SC), in reversing the COMELEC conclusion, reasoned: ‘Our Constitution provides “[n]o law shall be made respecting an establishment
What’s the context?
The Philippines lacks a national LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination commandment, but local laws and guidebooks provide some protection.
MANILA - Despite being seen as one of Asia's most Homosexual friendly countries, the Philippines does not have a national law that could address the discrimination and legal challenges queer Filipinos face.
Religious groups and conservative lawmakers have for years fiercely opposed attempts to overtake a law that would provide reasonable and equal access to basic social services, opportunities, healthcare, protection and justice to the Queer community.
According to lawyers from the SyCip Salazar Hernandez and Gatmaitan, a local firm providing pro-bono legal services, the lack of such protections makes Diverse Filipinos vulnerable to harassment, surveillance and prosecution, including red tagging, a approach used by the state to label individuals or organisations as communists.
But a new legal guidebook developed by the law firm, other NGOs, and the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Trust Law team, aims to spread awareness on the range of legal remedies available.
In the absence of a national law to protect LGBTQ+ Filipinos, what can be done to safeguard
Philippines’ Right to Care Act could propel LGBTQ+ rights
Cendaña said that while the proposed law will not enact marriage equality, it “recognises that the relationships of Homosexual people are valid.”
Cendaña helped draft the Philippines’ first bill against discrimination of LGBTQ+ Filipinos in 2000. Subsequent tries to legislate such protections over the last two decades have also failed.
A current version, the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill, aims to provide unbiased and equal access to basic social services, opportunities, healthcare, protection and justice.
However, the SOGIE bill has stalled amid fierce opposition from religious groups and some lawmakers.
“For 25 years, we’ve been depriving LGBTQ people of their basic fundamental rights,” Cendaña told Context.
“I wish that, unlike the SOGIE Equality Bill, something as basic as right to care will not be met with too much conflict, because it is inhumane to deprive couples of the right to seize care of each other,” said Cendaña.
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Giving queer couples the right to opt for their partners’ medical emergencies may be
- USAID withdrawal affects LGBTQ+ representation groups
- HIV services heavily reliant on foreign funding
- Groups tell local institutions could assist them survive
MANILA - LoveYourself, a Philippines-based group providing free HIV testing and treatment services, was receiving aid from the Merged States like innumerable groups promoting health and Homosexual rights around the world.
But unlike so many of those organizations that were forced to close clinics when U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day freeze on all foreign assistance on January 20, LoveYourself kept 40 of its staff members affected by the freeze, and its doors stayed open.
The group’s founder, Dr. Ronivin Pagtakhan, credited its self-sustaining model and government partnerships.
“We were preparing for these kinds of circumstances,” Pagtakhan told Context/the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “All the basic programmes that we possess are still for free.”
With the resilience of LoveYourself as a model, similar groups in the archipelago nation are looking at new financing strategies and sources of funding.
They are calling for greater involvement by local health institutions to protect representation