RAQUEL S. GACHO
Board Member, GALANG Inc.
Unit Manager, GMA Network Inc.
Giving Back to the Community
By Mikee dela Cruz
PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 2009

"I've attended a number of exclusive parties that made me think and assess what I can do to give back more to the community than the simple P150 that I spend for the entrance fee. I have been blessed, and I figured it's about time to pay it forward and reach out to a group that would take in a newbie like me.” ROCKY S. GACHO

FACING CHALLENGES

For Gacho, as far as advocating LGBT issues are concerned, “the major challenge would be finding people to believe in GALANG's cause, enough for them to give us funding for us to execute our projects,” she says, adding that “we've had  a number of fund raising activities, and have sent proposals to organizations abroad – but if push comes to shove, we become the funders ourselves and try to make do with what we can provide.”

It doesn’t help that “if I am to give one (thing that is disappointing in the LGBT community, it) would be the issues that members of the community have against one another.  This makes working together difficult, (yet) exciting at the same time,” she adds.

Gacho is, nonetheless, “very optimistic that we will pull this off and get things done in no time.  The focus and passion that most of the people in the community have in achieving goals that we set which makes existing issues and differences trivial.”

For the activist, many LGBT activists have already done a lot to better the LGBT community’s status.  “Most groups in the LGBT community have done, and still continue to do projects to educate, empower, and inspire. For me, access to a support group such as this is more than enough to better our situation.  The rest of course is up to the individual,” Gacho says.

ONGOING STRUGGLE

Gacho believes that the LGBT community still has to “get our LGBT act together nationwide for us to be recognized.  We may be big in numbers but if we don’t work towards a common goal, it's useless.”

This unity is most important in pushing for legal recognition, because “we can go to the streets all we want, hold as many gatherings as we can, but without legalities, we do not exist,” Gacho says.  “Sad to say that our government is busy with a lot of things, which are important, as well.  But until laws are drafted by an LGBT for the LGBT community, it's only then I can say that I am recognized and accepted.”

Gacho adds: “I'd say we still have a very long way to go mainly because in some countries, laws already exist that support LGBTs; here in the Philippines, we have yet to exist in law.  Being heard is a major step that would lead to acceptance and, eventually, gender equality.”

The focus now, for Gacho, as it ought to be for the LGBT community as a whole, is to “take one day at a time,” she says. “Stay focused and never stop learning ways in giving more back to our community.”