Dear Mr. President
LGBT Letters to President Benigno Simeon Aquino III
PUBLISHED: JANUARY 2011
The issue is deemed big enough to merit its own entry in Answers.com – i.e. on whether Philippine President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, still a bachelor (who lived with his mother, the late former President Corazon Aquino, until her death on August 1, 2009), is gay. That, however, is a non-issue – the asking merely highlighting the existence of homophobia, with the making of gender identity (in this case, homosexuality) as an issue that is not (and should not be) in qualifying to hold (any) office (as much as heterosexuality is/should be).
The real issue is on whether the President [dubbed with such corniness by the mainstream media as “PNoy”, a play on Noynoy (his nickname) being the President] is supportive of the LGBT Filipinos’ struggle for acceptance; and, as such, supports human rights for all.
Prior to his election, Aquino – interviewed by The Philippine Star (www.philstar.com) – was quoted as saying that he believes in equal treatment for LGBTs. At least to some extent.
To wit: “Gays shouldn't be discriminated against in terms of occupation and other aspects.”
Brief this answer may be, but better than the non-response to www.politicalarena.com; as well as the complete ignoring of requests to interview him then for the LGBT community by the LGBT media (and organizations that attempted to invite the presidentiables for forum, et cetera).
Aquino added, however, that while LGBTs shouldn’t be discriminated against, “I'm not prepared to support (gay marriage).”
Interviewed in The View, Australian Portia de Rossi Degeneres (partner of American celebrity Ellen) best expounded on the importance of marriage for all (same sex or heterosexual) – i.e. for as long as “marriage” is only for the heterosexual-identifying, there is no real equality because this supposes that the non-heterosexual identifying people (read: LGBTs) do not deserve what heterosexuals get. Basically (and to stress), when one group of people are given what the others are deprived of, that is not equality put in practice – this is nothing but discrimination packaged into something more palatable (a case of “I support you, but…”). And discrimination, by any other name, is still discrimination.
Nonetheless, despite Aquino’s limited support of LGBTs, Filipino LGBT political party Ang Ladlad, while vying for a seat in the Lower House of Philippine Congress in the May 2010 national elections, threw its support to then Liberal Party standard bearer Aquino (and then Puwersa ng Masasang Pilipino vice presidential candidate and former Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay – who, himself, has issues concerning LGBTs)
Speaking to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Danton Remoto, former chairperson of Ang Ladlad, said that the support for Aquino came from their consideration of him as the “Mr. Clean of Philippine politics.” “Walang bahid, walang mantsa. Hindi mo na kailangang magkuskos at magkula pa. (He has no mark. He has no stain. You won’t need to scrub and rinse anymore),” Remoto was quoted as saying.
Thus far, though, the walang bahid (i.e. untarnished or, more literally, “marklessness”) is defining Aquino’s presidency – and not in a good way. While it may still be too early (way too early) to tell, but with nary a grand move (not even acknowledgment) made re LGBT Filipinos, LGBTs seem to be bound to remain at the outskirts of everything Filipino.
Hope continues to float, though.
And with this the messages from LGBTs on efforts for LGBT Filipinos by the Aquino administration. |
