The Philippine Online Chronicles

The deadline has passed and, yet again, the hopes of Ang Ladlad to represent gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Filipinos in Philippine politics has once again been doused by the Comelec. In the 2007 elections, the poll body denied Ang Ladlad’s petition for party-list accreditation. This time, the second division of the Commission on Elections rejected the group’s appeal on the grounds of perceived immorality.

Despite the clamor and support expressed by various organizations and personalities worldwide for the cause of Ang Ladlad, the Comelec remained intractable.

The Comelec, through Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer and his cohorts, by citing the Bible and the Koran in its denial of Ang Ladlad’s bid to field party-list candidates in May 2010, has willfully violated the statute on the separation of Church and State. But that’s not all. This government body, which is supposed to be a stronghold of lawful equality and impartiality, is obviously demonstrating prejudice against a minority group, without any legal––or moral––basis. By its action, it has effectively ascribed an unwarranted label to Ang Ladlad by assuming that all homosexuals are depraved.

It is not within the Comelec’s purview to pass such sweeping judgements on anyone. As Fr. Roque Ferriols, S.J. momentously pronounced when I was still studying Philosophy in University, “Huwag ikahon ang tao.”

There are those who are afraid, especially among our more conservative Roman Catholic voters, that Ang Ladlad would push for the same-sex marriage law in Congress. There are those who are apprehensive of what gay men and women might do when invested with political wherewithal. Fear, mind you, is the product of the absence of knowledge. We tend to be angst-ridden over things that we don’t know or cannot grasp.

But there really is no need for such over-reactions. For one thing, not all gay men and women are in favor of same-sex marriage.

I’m not privy to Ang Ladlad’s political platform, but I believe I can say in confidence that their paramount objective is to champion the welfare––the social, political, civil, human rights––of the LGBT community. Many Filipinos are not aware of the extent of discrimination (e.g., the Comelec’s unbelievable reaction) and oppression of which gay men and women are victims. Due to social and family pressure, among other things, many opt not to come out, in order to avoid ridicule and diminished opportunities.

With the party-list option out the window, Danton Remoto, chairman of Ang Ladlad and a former associate professor of the Ateneo de Manila University, is now running for a Senate seat instead. It is possibly a more difficult challenge, but it is comendable in that Mr. Remoto is firm in his commitment to be the voice of an untapped Philippine resource.

Ang Ladlad yahoogroups logo uploaded by Loisy to Wikipilipinas.org. Use of this image is believed to be free under Philippine fair use law.