I am sharing with you the latest statement of the Catholic bishops regarding divorce in the Philippines. Nothing new, but...
I am a clinical psychologist. I believe in therapy. I believe in seeking causes and addressing the needs of the partners, and "re-programming" if possible, and bringing about reconciliation in a relationship. (If the Coronas and Basas can do it, why can't everybody?)
I have written a full length book on "how-to" enhance, make happier, a same-sex relationship. I believe in making relationships better. I encourage couples to work on their relationship, to get help in counseling, to do all they can, and often help them do so.
I have not researched the "reasons" divorce advocates give for trying to legalize divorce. Seemingly these arguments have been succesful in every country in the world -- except the Philippines.
My own common sense approach is that sometimes people like Senator Escudero and Senator Pimentel (...not the parents. I know them. They were my neighbor, and we were in Mass together every day, and they will be together forever) -- find that their marriage is "irreconcilable" -- and every government in the world recognizes that -- except the Congress of the Republic of the Philippines.
It is the only legislative body among all the 200 plus countries of the world which bases the continuation of the unworkable relationship on the religious arguments alluded to in this Inquirer article. It is called NO NO NO, sex-negative theology. I say it over and over, sex-negative theology does not come from the Bible or from Jesus.
The article reminds us again of the power of the Catholic bishops in this country -- where the Congress makes laws out of fear of the power of the bishops. As a result they deny people of every religion and non-religion a human right that people of every other country can use for their quality of of life.
Church remains firm against divorce—CBCP
Philippine Daily Inquirer
5:57 am | Friday, May 25th, 2012
The Roman Catholic Church remained opposed to divorce, a Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines official declared Thursday as he reminded married couples that marriage was a life-long commitment.
Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, issued the statement in reaction to Senator Pia Cayetano’s call for renewed deliberations on the pending divorce bill.
“We should protect the sanctity of marriage, as marriage is a life-long commitment. Any marital problem cannot be solved by divorce. What will solve it is finding the root cause of the problem,” Castro told reporters.
Cayetano had said that it was “high time” that discussions on the divorce bill were restarted following public disclosures by two fellow senators, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Francis “Chiz” Escudero, that they had ended their marriages.
Castro, however, said there was no need to legislate or enact a law on divorce. He pointed out that the state, under the Constitution, was mandated to protect marriage, which means that the government should “strengthen” the institution.
Castro advised couples undergoing a marital crisis: “Seek perfection in marriage. Do not seek a perfect husband nor wife nor a perfect marriage.” Jerome Aning
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Packo Whacko
The news item from the Inquirer below about Manny Pacquiao's senseless anti-LGBT condemnation speaks for itself. The article is rather lengthy, but only covers a fraction of why Manny is Whacky. (Remember they used to call Michael Jackson, Jacko Whacho? Now we got Packo Whacko.)
First of all, it's just one more example of the in-club moral slavery grip that sex-negative theology strangles good (LGBT) people with -- passed on prejudice and handed down hatred.
And on and on. My question to my former boxing idol is: if God told you to stop boxing because you hurt people (and you did not stop), does God tell you to hurt innocent LGBT people by clobbering them with Bible verses neither you nor your boxing gloves understand?
Pacquiao faces new foes: Gays, lesbians
By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
12:14 am | Thursday, May 17th, 2012
Who knew that Manny Pacquiao’s toughest opponent wasn’t Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Timothy Bradley, but the entire lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender (LGBT) community?
As far as gay-rights advocates are concerned, it’s a knockout.
The consensus on the Net is that the Filipino boxing champion has fallen from grace because of his rant against gay marriage. It has also ignited an online petition for Nike to drop Pacquiao as endorser. An Internet report claimed Pacquiao is now barred from The Grove, a shopping mall in Los Angeles, where the TV show “Extra” is taped, because of his “bigotry.”
In a recent interview in the US newspaper National Conservative Examiner, Pacquiao likened gay marriage to “Sodom and Gomorrah” and quoted a biblical passage that said “gays should be put to death.”
Pacquiao denied saying that in a statement read on the network news in Manila last night. He also said he did not know the text in Leviticus that prescribes death for homosexuality.
But earlier in the day, his website quoted him as standing by what he said.
Gay activists have weighed in and found Pacquiao wanting.
Anna Leah Sarabia, anthropologist and gender and development specialist, told the Inquirer: “He has lost many fans, unfortunately, and gained many critics. He is trying to make up for lack of knowledge on social issues by being self-righteous and quoting the Bible out of context, and parroting the brainless statements of homophobic and misogynist priests and politicians.”
Danton Remoto, chair of the Ladlad LGBT political party, also told the Inquirer: “Like Miriam Quiambao, Pacquiao speaks with the zeal of the newly converted about things he knows nothing about. His reading of Christian teachings is narrow-minded, bigoted and, I am sorry to say, ignorant.”
(Quiambao, a former beauty queen, also got in trouble after posting on Twitter that homosexuality is a “lie from the devil.” She later apologized.)
After expressing his sentiments against same-sex marriage in the Examiner, Pacquiao has been deluged with criticisms in the American media and on social networking sites frequented by his countrymen.
Not a few Filipino fans have pointed out: From national hero, he has become a national heel.
It’s an “embarrassment,” said a netizen on Facebook. “Not our proudest moment,” said another.
Another netizen wrote: “I think philandering husbands who flaunt their mistresses and then spout words from the Bible are the ones who deserve to be put to death.”
Another was more straightforward: “Manny needs to worry about his own marriage first before he meddles into everyone else’s.”
It’s rumored that Pacquiao’s marriage to Jinkee Pacquiao is constantly tested by persistent rumors of his womanizing.
Online petition
The Courage Campaign website described Pacquiao as “homophobic” and launched an online petition for Nike to drop him as endorser.
The online campaign read: “Kids all over the world look up to Pacquiao as a role model. Nike earned a 100-percent rating in the 2012 Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index as a pro-LGBT company. Will they live up to it? Sign our petition and tell Nike: ‘Do not tarnish your brand. Stand with millions of LGBT and fair-minded people the world over. Drop Pacquiao now. Hatred surely does not equal Nike.’”
According to LA Weekly, Rick Jacobs, founder and chair of Courage Campaign, said: “American sponsors are going to have to look very carefully … whether they [will] continue to pour money into his apparently empty soul.”
Sarabia, who’s also the editor of the anthology “Tibok: Heartbeat of the Filipino Lesbian,” remarked: “There is a call from LGBT ranks to Nike and other companies to cancel his endorsement contracts because of what he said. There is basis for the call and it would be good to see how these companies will respond.”
Apart from Nike, Pacquiao has scored lucrative deals with international companies like Hewlett-Packard and Hennessy, too.
Banned at Grove
According to online reports, “Extra” host Mario Lopez announced on Twitter that Pacquiao was set to guest today (May 17) on his show, which is taped at The Grove.
The mall eventually issued this statement, published by LA Weekly on its website: “Based on news reports of statements made by Mr. Pacquiao, we have made it be known that he is not welcome at The Grove and will not be interviewed here now or in the future. The Grove is a gathering place for all Angelenos and not a place for intolerance.”
Pacquiao is in Los Angeles, training for his fight with Bradley to be held on June 9 in Las Vegas.
Village Voice parody
Village Voice ran a parody about 10 gays, both real and fictional, who can “beat up … pipsqueak Pacman.” The list includes American basketball bad boy Dennis Rodman and openly gay celebrities like British rugby player Ian Roberts, American football star Esera Tuaolo, singer Clay Aiken and comedian Rosie O’Donnell.
In the humor piece, Village Voice pointed out: “There’s no question that Pacquiao is a tough little guy. But he’s still a little guy (5-foot-6 and 144 pounds) and killing off gays one-by-one might be a slightly more difficult task than the feisty Filipino might think.”
The website of Advocate, a respected gay publication, carried the story with the headline: “Pacquiao compares marriage equality to Sodom and Gomorrah,” referring to the Old Testament cities that God destroyed because of their people’s immorality.
The Examiner interview mainly focused on Pacquiao’s reactions to US President Barack Obama’s recent support of gay marriage. Pacquiao told the Examiner: “America should be the model of morality for other countries to emulate and must have the responsibility to uphold the Scripture to the highest order of God’s command.”
Leviticus 20:13
Advocate reported that Pacquiao quoted the Bible, specifically Leviticus 20:13.
(Leviticus 20:13 reads: “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their heads.”)
In another Village Voice story, Pacquiao was put to task for quoting Leviticus 20:13. “Pacquiao apparently missed church the day they explained the Golden Rule.”
Village Voice also noted that the “boxer and congressman … is a devout Roman Catholic who recently talked about giving up boxing to focus on his religion. Considering how badly he seems to interpret the ‘good book,’ maybe that’s not such a bad idea.”
Local celebs’ ire
Pacman, as the boxer is known in the biz, earned the ire of local celebrities as well.
Filmmaker Jose Javier Reyes told the Inquirer: “Instead of a reply, I have two questions: Does the Bible endorse the infliction of violence against your fellow man in the name of sportsmanship and to accrue millions so as to further gain a feeling of righteousness? What is the saying again about a little knowledge? Let me check Leviticus … OMG, it says it’s also a sin to have tattoos.”
Pacquiao is as famous for his tattoos as for his killer punch.
Screenwriter and actor Rody Vera told the Inquirer: “Pacquiao may be the world’s best boxer. The funny and fallacious thing is that he seems to believe this translates to being a great politician, great thinker and great person. He’s only a winner in the boxing ring. How awfully small and confining that space is. It aptly signifies his narrow-mindedness and blind fanaticism.”
Sarabia took note of Pacquiao’s statement: “God only expects man and woman to be together and to be legally married, only if they are in love with each other.”
Sarabia asked rhetorically: “I wonder if Pacman (Pacquiao) understands what he said, if he was quoted correctly. His statement seems to be an endorsement for divorce.”
Below the belt
Comedian Jon Santos, who made news for marrying an American man, was clearly not amused.
Santos told the Inquirer: “Life is too short to be spent unhappy. What happens in the bedroom is too private to be subjected to other people’s judgment. God is too good to prevent people who love each other from staying together.”
But stand-up comic Willie Nepomuceno has a hilarious take on the controversy: “I haven’t paid much attention to him since he became the spokesperson of God. Tsk, tsk. Perhaps he has taken too many blows to the head? But, my goodness, now he’s hitting below the belt.”
First of all, it's just one more example of the in-club moral slavery grip that sex-negative theology strangles good (LGBT) people with -- passed on prejudice and handed down hatred.
And on and on. My question to my former boxing idol is: if God told you to stop boxing because you hurt people (and you did not stop), does God tell you to hurt innocent LGBT people by clobbering them with Bible verses neither you nor your boxing gloves understand?
Pacquiao faces new foes: Gays, lesbians
By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
12:14 am | Thursday, May 17th, 2012
Who knew that Manny Pacquiao’s toughest opponent wasn’t Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Timothy Bradley, but the entire lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender (LGBT) community?
As far as gay-rights advocates are concerned, it’s a knockout.
The consensus on the Net is that the Filipino boxing champion has fallen from grace because of his rant against gay marriage. It has also ignited an online petition for Nike to drop Pacquiao as endorser. An Internet report claimed Pacquiao is now barred from The Grove, a shopping mall in Los Angeles, where the TV show “Extra” is taped, because of his “bigotry.”
In a recent interview in the US newspaper National Conservative Examiner, Pacquiao likened gay marriage to “Sodom and Gomorrah” and quoted a biblical passage that said “gays should be put to death.”
Pacquiao denied saying that in a statement read on the network news in Manila last night. He also said he did not know the text in Leviticus that prescribes death for homosexuality.
But earlier in the day, his website quoted him as standing by what he said.
Gay activists have weighed in and found Pacquiao wanting.
Anna Leah Sarabia, anthropologist and gender and development specialist, told the Inquirer: “He has lost many fans, unfortunately, and gained many critics. He is trying to make up for lack of knowledge on social issues by being self-righteous and quoting the Bible out of context, and parroting the brainless statements of homophobic and misogynist priests and politicians.”
Danton Remoto, chair of the Ladlad LGBT political party, also told the Inquirer: “Like Miriam Quiambao, Pacquiao speaks with the zeal of the newly converted about things he knows nothing about. His reading of Christian teachings is narrow-minded, bigoted and, I am sorry to say, ignorant.”
(Quiambao, a former beauty queen, also got in trouble after posting on Twitter that homosexuality is a “lie from the devil.” She later apologized.)
After expressing his sentiments against same-sex marriage in the Examiner, Pacquiao has been deluged with criticisms in the American media and on social networking sites frequented by his countrymen.
Not a few Filipino fans have pointed out: From national hero, he has become a national heel.
It’s an “embarrassment,” said a netizen on Facebook. “Not our proudest moment,” said another.
Another netizen wrote: “I think philandering husbands who flaunt their mistresses and then spout words from the Bible are the ones who deserve to be put to death.”
Another was more straightforward: “Manny needs to worry about his own marriage first before he meddles into everyone else’s.”
It’s rumored that Pacquiao’s marriage to Jinkee Pacquiao is constantly tested by persistent rumors of his womanizing.
Online petition
The Courage Campaign website described Pacquiao as “homophobic” and launched an online petition for Nike to drop him as endorser.
The online campaign read: “Kids all over the world look up to Pacquiao as a role model. Nike earned a 100-percent rating in the 2012 Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index as a pro-LGBT company. Will they live up to it? Sign our petition and tell Nike: ‘Do not tarnish your brand. Stand with millions of LGBT and fair-minded people the world over. Drop Pacquiao now. Hatred surely does not equal Nike.’”
According to LA Weekly, Rick Jacobs, founder and chair of Courage Campaign, said: “American sponsors are going to have to look very carefully … whether they [will] continue to pour money into his apparently empty soul.”
Sarabia, who’s also the editor of the anthology “Tibok: Heartbeat of the Filipino Lesbian,” remarked: “There is a call from LGBT ranks to Nike and other companies to cancel his endorsement contracts because of what he said. There is basis for the call and it would be good to see how these companies will respond.”
Apart from Nike, Pacquiao has scored lucrative deals with international companies like Hewlett-Packard and Hennessy, too.
Banned at Grove
According to online reports, “Extra” host Mario Lopez announced on Twitter that Pacquiao was set to guest today (May 17) on his show, which is taped at The Grove.
The mall eventually issued this statement, published by LA Weekly on its website: “Based on news reports of statements made by Mr. Pacquiao, we have made it be known that he is not welcome at The Grove and will not be interviewed here now or in the future. The Grove is a gathering place for all Angelenos and not a place for intolerance.”
Pacquiao is in Los Angeles, training for his fight with Bradley to be held on June 9 in Las Vegas.
Village Voice parody
Village Voice ran a parody about 10 gays, both real and fictional, who can “beat up … pipsqueak Pacman.” The list includes American basketball bad boy Dennis Rodman and openly gay celebrities like British rugby player Ian Roberts, American football star Esera Tuaolo, singer Clay Aiken and comedian Rosie O’Donnell.
In the humor piece, Village Voice pointed out: “There’s no question that Pacquiao is a tough little guy. But he’s still a little guy (5-foot-6 and 144 pounds) and killing off gays one-by-one might be a slightly more difficult task than the feisty Filipino might think.”
The website of Advocate, a respected gay publication, carried the story with the headline: “Pacquiao compares marriage equality to Sodom and Gomorrah,” referring to the Old Testament cities that God destroyed because of their people’s immorality.
The Examiner interview mainly focused on Pacquiao’s reactions to US President Barack Obama’s recent support of gay marriage. Pacquiao told the Examiner: “America should be the model of morality for other countries to emulate and must have the responsibility to uphold the Scripture to the highest order of God’s command.”
Leviticus 20:13
Advocate reported that Pacquiao quoted the Bible, specifically Leviticus 20:13.
(Leviticus 20:13 reads: “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their heads.”)
In another Village Voice story, Pacquiao was put to task for quoting Leviticus 20:13. “Pacquiao apparently missed church the day they explained the Golden Rule.”
Village Voice also noted that the “boxer and congressman … is a devout Roman Catholic who recently talked about giving up boxing to focus on his religion. Considering how badly he seems to interpret the ‘good book,’ maybe that’s not such a bad idea.”
Local celebs’ ire
Pacman, as the boxer is known in the biz, earned the ire of local celebrities as well.
Filmmaker Jose Javier Reyes told the Inquirer: “Instead of a reply, I have two questions: Does the Bible endorse the infliction of violence against your fellow man in the name of sportsmanship and to accrue millions so as to further gain a feeling of righteousness? What is the saying again about a little knowledge? Let me check Leviticus … OMG, it says it’s also a sin to have tattoos.”
Pacquiao is as famous for his tattoos as for his killer punch.
Screenwriter and actor Rody Vera told the Inquirer: “Pacquiao may be the world’s best boxer. The funny and fallacious thing is that he seems to believe this translates to being a great politician, great thinker and great person. He’s only a winner in the boxing ring. How awfully small and confining that space is. It aptly signifies his narrow-mindedness and blind fanaticism.”
Sarabia took note of Pacquiao’s statement: “God only expects man and woman to be together and to be legally married, only if they are in love with each other.”
Sarabia asked rhetorically: “I wonder if Pacman (Pacquiao) understands what he said, if he was quoted correctly. His statement seems to be an endorsement for divorce.”
Below the belt
Comedian Jon Santos, who made news for marrying an American man, was clearly not amused.
Santos told the Inquirer: “Life is too short to be spent unhappy. What happens in the bedroom is too private to be subjected to other people’s judgment. God is too good to prevent people who love each other from staying together.”
But stand-up comic Willie Nepomuceno has a hilarious take on the controversy: “I haven’t paid much attention to him since he became the spokesperson of God. Tsk, tsk. Perhaps he has taken too many blows to the head? But, my goodness, now he’s hitting below the belt.”
Obama backs same-sex marriage
First of all, Barack Obama is not the pope. So his opinion about same-sex marriage won't have any effect on the forever hateful prejudice of the Roman Catholic Church.
But I did like how he "evolved" his endorsement of gay and lesbian (LGBT) marriage. He consulted his wife, who reminded him about the fine American citizens who were gay and lesbian and friends of theirs. He consulted his children. They said they had classmates in school who had same-sex parents and they were fine classmates. He had hoped to kinda side-strep the issue by saying each state should decide for their own state. But immigration and other matters are national matters, and even if all 50 states approve same-sex marrige there are some country-wide issues still not solved. In the long run he announced the decision out of personal integrity.
The list of prominent Americans who take the same stand as their president is a long and impressive list. Six states do have equal marriage. But President Obama's personal opinion does not create or change the national law -- any more than President Aquino's approval of the RH Bill changes the Roman Catholic resistance or passes the law in the Philippines.
Of course, justice and equality under the law makes it clear that all people should have the right to marry the person they love -- in the United States and in the Philippines. One commentator observed that the government should not be in the business of deciding who a person should love and marry. Sadly, the government stance on marriage is controlled by church teachings and church power.
In Catholic Spain where the Catholic bishops do not enjoy the persuasive power they have in the Philippines, the citizens of the country have two rights that Filipino citizens do not have. The right to divorce from a person with whom one is in an impossible marriage, and the right to marry the one a person loves without censorship or "gender test."
But, one more time, in the only country in the world where the church has the power to prevent its citizens of all religions and non religions to divorce, they are not about to allow the citizens the right to marry the person they love.
Following is the coverage on President Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage in the Inquirer's May 11, 2012 issue.
Obama backs same-sex marriage
Agence France-Presse
5:15 am | Thursday, May 10th, 2012
WASHINGTON – Barack Obama became the first US president Wednesday to say publicly he was in favor of same-sex marriage, in a high-stakes intervention in a pre-election debate roiling American politics.
In what supporters will hail as a historic moment in civil rights history, Obama changed his stance, after previously saying he was “evolving” on gay marriage, a fiercely divisive issue in US politics.
“I’ve just concluded, for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama said in an interview with ABC News.
Obama, who had previously backed strong protections for gay and lesbian couples, said his position had evolved partly after talking to his two daughters Malia and Sasha who had some friends who had same-sex parents.
“It wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective,” Obama said in the interview.
Obama came under increasing political pressure on gay marriage after Vice President Joe Biden said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that he was “absolutely comfortable” with same-sex marriage.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan said this week that he was also in favor of the concept.
Some political analysts have warned that Obama could be entering a political minefield, with some key voting blocs in swing states that he hopes to court in November’s election opposing gay marriage.
On Tuesday, voters in North Carolina, a state Obama narrowly carried in the 2008 election, approved a state constitutional amendment forbidding gay marriages, civil unions and domestic partnerships.
The measure was passed by 61 percent to 39 percent after similar state constitutional amendments have been approved in some 30 US states.
The amendment solidifies and expands already enacted North Carolina law forbidding same-sex marriage.
Obama came to the position he elucidated on Wednesday through a long period of reflection and following pressure from his political base, which includes gay and lesbian groups.
In 2004, he said for religious reasons that he believed that “marriage is between a man and a woman,” but added that he favored a “bundle” of civil rights for gays and lesbians.
“What I believe in my faith … a man and a woman when they get married are performing something before God.”
In 2010, Obama said “my feelings are constantly evolving” on gay marriage, and said he was in favor of civil unions for gays and lesbians that have strong civil protections.
In 2011, Obama said he was “still working on it.”
But I did like how he "evolved" his endorsement of gay and lesbian (LGBT) marriage. He consulted his wife, who reminded him about the fine American citizens who were gay and lesbian and friends of theirs. He consulted his children. They said they had classmates in school who had same-sex parents and they were fine classmates. He had hoped to kinda side-strep the issue by saying each state should decide for their own state. But immigration and other matters are national matters, and even if all 50 states approve same-sex marrige there are some country-wide issues still not solved. In the long run he announced the decision out of personal integrity.
The list of prominent Americans who take the same stand as their president is a long and impressive list. Six states do have equal marriage. But President Obama's personal opinion does not create or change the national law -- any more than President Aquino's approval of the RH Bill changes the Roman Catholic resistance or passes the law in the Philippines.
Of course, justice and equality under the law makes it clear that all people should have the right to marry the person they love -- in the United States and in the Philippines. One commentator observed that the government should not be in the business of deciding who a person should love and marry. Sadly, the government stance on marriage is controlled by church teachings and church power.
In Catholic Spain where the Catholic bishops do not enjoy the persuasive power they have in the Philippines, the citizens of the country have two rights that Filipino citizens do not have. The right to divorce from a person with whom one is in an impossible marriage, and the right to marry the one a person loves without censorship or "gender test."
But, one more time, in the only country in the world where the church has the power to prevent its citizens of all religions and non religions to divorce, they are not about to allow the citizens the right to marry the person they love.
Following is the coverage on President Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage in the Inquirer's May 11, 2012 issue.
Obama backs same-sex marriage
Agence France-Presse
5:15 am | Thursday, May 10th, 2012
WASHINGTON – Barack Obama became the first US president Wednesday to say publicly he was in favor of same-sex marriage, in a high-stakes intervention in a pre-election debate roiling American politics.
In what supporters will hail as a historic moment in civil rights history, Obama changed his stance, after previously saying he was “evolving” on gay marriage, a fiercely divisive issue in US politics.
“I’ve just concluded, for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama said in an interview with ABC News.
Obama, who had previously backed strong protections for gay and lesbian couples, said his position had evolved partly after talking to his two daughters Malia and Sasha who had some friends who had same-sex parents.
“It wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective,” Obama said in the interview.
Obama came under increasing political pressure on gay marriage after Vice President Joe Biden said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that he was “absolutely comfortable” with same-sex marriage.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan said this week that he was also in favor of the concept.
Some political analysts have warned that Obama could be entering a political minefield, with some key voting blocs in swing states that he hopes to court in November’s election opposing gay marriage.
On Tuesday, voters in North Carolina, a state Obama narrowly carried in the 2008 election, approved a state constitutional amendment forbidding gay marriages, civil unions and domestic partnerships.
The measure was passed by 61 percent to 39 percent after similar state constitutional amendments have been approved in some 30 US states.
The amendment solidifies and expands already enacted North Carolina law forbidding same-sex marriage.
Obama came to the position he elucidated on Wednesday through a long period of reflection and following pressure from his political base, which includes gay and lesbian groups.
In 2004, he said for religious reasons that he believed that “marriage is between a man and a woman,” but added that he favored a “bundle” of civil rights for gays and lesbians.
“What I believe in my faith … a man and a woman when they get married are performing something before God.”
In 2010, Obama said “my feelings are constantly evolving” on gay marriage, and said he was in favor of civil unions for gays and lesbians that have strong civil protections.
In 2011, Obama said he was “still working on it.”
Monday, December 5, 2011
2011 LGBT Pride March in Manila
As we made the turn off Roxas Boulevard (service road) onto Pedro Gil, a woman came running toward our contingent. I could not believe it was my long-time friend Margie Holmes who was hugging me – and all the gays and lesbians in Father Regen Luna’s church were chanting, “Margie! Margie!” No doubt they were thinking, as I was, of all the hope and affirmation so many thousands of gays and lesbians felt over the years upon reading Margie’s books before anyone else was so publicly and beautifully affirming them.
At the same time in Australia the ruling party was approving same-sex marriage – and the government of Nigeria was approving anti-gay laws. And the US military acceptance of gay and lesbian people into the service was working smoothly. In many ways the world was the same as in 1994; in other ways there was much progress. The protestors were seemingly pleasant this year with their smiles while insulting us with their posters.
Here we were in our little niche of the world – in Manila, Philippines – marching along the bay by the thousand in the 17th year of the observance of the type of LGBT Pride March that started in 1970 a year after the Stonewall riots – and 25 years later started in Manila in 1994.
It was a large and colorful parade, with 75 organizations represented, rather hastily put together by Raffy Aquino and fellow TFP members. Well can I remember the days when Danton and Malu and Cris and Ging and Angie and Germaine and Babaylan and Anne, Venir, Bruce, Giney, Mike, Jack, and I (and I will be in trouble for not mentioning a dozen more names) – when in the early years of Task Force Pride we met and planned and raised money and worried and networked for six to eight months or a year each year to prepare for the annual Pride March.
2011 was a good parade. Eye-catching and ear-catching were the sights and sounds of the hyperactive flashy red-uniformed band who set the pace. The program was fast moving and snappy, no speeches, lots of music and dancing, lines of history inserted in between. Oscar and I were introduced in one of the intervals as the ones who started it all.
Along the parade route, I had photo-ops with Margie, Danton, Oscar, and Bemz and so many beautiful people, including the honorary gay mayor of Davao, Father Regen Luna and his congregation, and my old friend, Reggie. I missed my friends Neil Garcia and Ricky Lee this year. I awoke the next morning to find photos already posted on Facebook by Outrage Magazine and others.
My lesbian friend, Chris Salvatierra, took me under her wing and kept coming over bringing me water, flavored mineral water, sandwiches. Bless you, Chris.
The weather was perfect. And to think that the next day it rained all day!
Great Parade! And program! Thanks to you, Raffy and all you young workers of Task Force Pride. Thank you. Thank you.
I was surfing today and accidentally searched OnespiritCatholic.org.richardmickley – and discovered an interview with me at the 2009 Manila Parade. A team from New York, Project Walk with Pride, she – a journalist-blogger, he – a photographer, attended our parade and interviewed me. (They are documenting Pride Marches around the world. In 2011 they are in Moscow.) This is what I found today on Internet.
http://wwpproject.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/wwp-media-kit2.pdf
Interview with Fr. Richard Mickley,
retired MCC minister
Posted on December 27, 2009
Helping people sign up at the 2009 Manila Pride March, Fr. Richard Mickley continues to show his support for the LGBT movement, as he has done for the last 40 some years.
With first-hand experience of the founding of MCC Philippines, along with memories of starting the first Manila Pride March in 1994, Fr. Richard took the time to share these reflections and others with me recently concerning his involvement with MCC.
1. Can you tell us about the history of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) in the Philippines? What do you believe makes the ministry different from others?
Well, now there are four MCC churches in the Philippines. I am so proud that each of them is pastored by a fine Christian young man (in this case). MCC Philippines (Manila, Makati) with Pastor Art, MCC Quezon City, with Pastor Ceejay, MCC Dasmarinas with Pastor Regen, and MCC GB (Greater Baguio) with Pastor Myke. All have websites and Facebook listings with photos.
I was pastor of MCC Auckland in New Zealand in 1991, and had a thriving church with several capable ministers on staff, and the Lord kept telling me to check out the Philippines because the word got to me that gay and lesbian people in the Philippines were hurting — with no one to publicly tell them God loves them unconditionally; God welcomes them into the full embrace of God’s friendship; that nobody can take God’s love away from them.
Yet, of course, such a supposed separation from God is what gays and lesbians perceive to happen in a church which rejects them, in a church which does not welcome them (at all, or fully as the case may be). And since the Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, the well-known prejudice of the Catholic Church prevailed everywhere to the detriment of the mental, spiritual health of Filipino LGBT people.
So in May, June, and early July 1991, I scraped up some money for an exploratory visit to the Philippines. I did not know a single person here. I came and began to network. On June 26, 1991, at the high altar of the Cathedral of the Holy Child, 50 people gathered for the first ever full-blown public Gay and Lesbian Pride Mass in the Philippines, I preached of how Rev. Troy Perry started MCC and how MCC was spreading around the world with the message of God’s love for LGBT people.
When I left July 5, 1991, I was carrying a petition signed by 43 gay and lesbian people for me to come back and begin an MCC ministry here. I took the petition to MCC headquarters in Los Angeles. The Elders and officers were thrilled that the people of the Philippines wanted a church. But they sadly informed me there was no budget at that time. Then I remembered I was old enough to begin collecting US Social Security benefits, and would be able to support myself and my ministry. My mission to the Philippines was approved.
On September 7, 1991, I conducted the first official MCC service (after approval by the headquarters). I had gone back to New Zealand, resigned as pastor, gave up my house, my car, my salary, and came here where the people had promised a bed and at least a bowl of soup every day.
I kept the ministry going on my Social Security income (and later occasional supplements from headquarters) until I reached (surpassed) the MCC mandatory retirement age in 1995.
In 1995 I founded The Order of St. Aelred to supplement the work of MCC, but never replace it. I never offered a “parish,” (as MCC is), but if anybody, and many did, came to me for parish services, I referred them to MCC. Even today, many of the MCC leadership are those whom I referred or encouraged to worship in MCC.
2. How many pride parades have you participated in? And, what was your role in this year’s parade?
All of them. So, today, at 81, I am a retired MCC minister, and an ordinary member, invited from time to time to preach or celebrate the worship service in one of the four MCC churches.
In 1994, one of the gay activist board members of MCC, Oscar Atadero, and I discussed that it was the 25th anniversary of Stonewall and high time for a Pride March in the Philippines. On June 26, 1994, His “other” organization where he was an officer, ProGay Philippines, and MCC co-sponsored the first Gay and Lesbian Pride March in the Philippines. We later learned that it was the first Gay and lesbian Pride March in Asia. It was a rainy day, but 50 some brave and proud LGBT people immortalized the first march from EDSA along Quezon Avenue to Quezon Memorial Circle where I celebrated a Pride Mass and spoke, and Oscar was MC (master of ceremonies) for the Pride Rally and Program. There are still photos floating around of this historic occasion.
3. What were your thoughts on this year’s Manila Pride Parade? How did it compare to past marches?
I was filled with pride, even before the march, when I talked with your husband, looked around the big Remedios Circle (the march gathering area), and saw such a huge crowd assembling.
I could not avoid thinking back to the first march in 1994, especially as I hugged Oscar Atadero, and I am sure we both felt a tinge of pride as we a shed a little tear of wonder and gratitude and pride.
I marched with the MCC contingent. The MCC contingent was larger than the entire number of marchers in the first Pride March. Praise the Lord.
There have been big and bigger Pride Marches over the years. One of the biggest was in 1998, under the leadership of Jomar Fleras and Reachout AIDS Foundation, when the Gay and Lesbian Pride March was part of the Centennial celebration of the Republic of the Philippines. There was a huge People’s Parade, and the Gay and Lesbian Pride March was invited to march in front of the President of the Republic (along with thousands of others). As far as we know that was history also as the first Pride March in the world scheduled to march in front of a Head of State.
From 1999 onwards, the Task Force Pride, a coalition of Gay and Lesbian organizations and our friends planned and carried out the annual celebration. This year the Task Force was headed by Great Ancheta, coordinating the work of many organizations and individuals. (These organizations have expanded to dozens since MCC was founded in 1991 as the first openly gay and lesbian organization in the country.)
4. What were your feelings at seeing protesters using religion to put down the marchers?
This is nothing new to me. I attended some of the earliest marches after Stonewall in the early 1970’s. In LA as early as 1972 and 1973, the same religious bigots were there with the same signs. I actually thought I was having a flash back this year in Manila. Some of us tried to bring them to their senses by asking them if Jesus would discriminate? But, actually they continued their bigotry, can I say, good naturedly? (As in holding a sign with a very hateful message on it, while keeping a smile on their face) which in a way makes it more palatable (if that is possible), but more inexplicable.
What I have learned in my ministry over these nearly forty years in LGBT work is it is counter productive to argue or try to reason with prejudiced people. They have already judged (prejudged = prejudice), and it is a waste of time to exchange shouts with them. Some bigots are converted; some atheists are converted, but in a setting quite different from a Gay and Lesbian Pride March.
5. Do you think in the future mainstream churches will become more inclusive towards the gay community?
It is interesting that you use the expression “mainstream” churches. I am sure the definition varies from locale to locale. Ever since the beginning of MCC, Rev. Perry and the leaders (and even I as a teacher in the MCC seminary in the early years) consistently claimed that MCC is a mainstream church. By that we mean we uphold the historic Apostles Creed and the Nicean Creed, for example (which sets us apart from Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons which have quite different sets of beliefs).
So, “mainstream” puts us side by side with Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Independent Church of the Philippines, Methodists, Lutherans, and United Church of Christ in the Philippines (and their counterparts in other countries). Some of these “mainstream churches have adopted an “understanding” attitude, which is only slightly different from “tolerant.” Some are outright intolerant.
The next question about your question is: what do you mean by “more inclusive”? It’s a good question. But to hope for full “inclusiveness” of LGBT people in some “mainstream” churches is as hopeless, for example, as hoping for the ordination of women in the Roman Catholic Church.
The Unitarian Universalist Church in the Philippines (and in the world) is visibly “inclusive,” (as they even participated in the Pride March in the Philippines this year and last year). (But, frankly, you cannot legitimately call them “mainstream” as defined above.)
In a church like the Roman Catholic Church where the “doctrine” comes from an international headquarters (Rome), it seems very unlikely that church “doctrine” would accept “inclusively” LGBT people.
On the other hand, there are interesting handwritings on the walls of history. One example, in a country, described as a Catholic country, Spain, the government has approved same-sex marriage along with divorce and contraceptives. (Of course we are not speaking of a change in church attitude there. We, to be honest, are noting the diminished influence of the church.)
In the Philippines, on the other hand, also described as a Catholic country, the government, the congress, the policy makers are so much under the domination of the Catholic bishops (who dominate volumes of votes), that there is neither divorce (the only country in the world besides Malta), nor approval of contraceptives, nor same-sex marriage (God forbid!).
The answer to your question is a flat no in the Philippines for the Roman Catholic Church. I see it as open to the movement of the Holy Spirit in the other mainstream churches.
Thank you Fr. Richard!
http://wwpproject.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/wwp-media-kit2.pdf
Project Walk with Pride founders are Charles “Chad” Meachem (photographer) and Sarah Baxter (journalist-blogger).
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Some thoughts at 83 after 20 years sa PH
As I looked around at LeAP’s magnificent Giting Awards dinner party, I realized that among the LGBT Who’s Who in that magnificent restaurant, Adarna Food and Culture, I was the one most gifted by the Creator with years, but there before me was the whole array of those younger warriors who have given gifts of themselves in some wonderful ways for the good of the LGBT people in the Philippines.
Attached (below) is a photo of one table of many tables full of the pillars of the Philippine LGBT Who’s Who (see photo description) myself, easily recognizable as the one with the most gray years.
At beautiful Adarna Food and Culture, 29th October 2011, at the Giting Awards from Lesbian Activism Project, Inc. (LeAP!).
From left seated: Malu Marin, long-time activist, founding member of Task Force Pride (TFP), Lagablab, Ladlad; Jack Hernandez, long-time activist with us here in Manila, now active for Ladlad in the province; Bemz Benedito, current chairperson of Ladlad Party List; Edmond Osorio, executive secretary of Ladlad; Danton Remoto, founder of Ladlad Party List, founding member of Task Force Pride (TFP), Lagablab, author, journalist, inspiration to LGBT people; myself. Background right: Giney Villar, long-time activist, founding member of Task Force Pride (TFP), Lagablab, Ladlad, chef and owner of Adarna Food and Culture with partner, Beth Angsioco.
Honestly when I opened the first openly gay and lesbian LGBT organization in Manila on September 7, 1991, my vision was limited. I could not have imagined that on this memorable day in October in 2011 I would be a pebble on the beach amidst such a multitude of those who now openly help our LGBT people towards that kalayaan and “better life” we are all working for, and among whom I was nominated for a Giting Award.
Of course I did not know what God had in store for me when I was still a farm boy milking cows and making hay in the hills of Danville, Ohio. I suppose my parents had a clue: when most gay boys of 12 would be dressing up in their mother’s finery, I was making paper Mass vestments and dressing like a priest. I still did not know even when I was lying in a tent or foxhole 5000 yards from the enemy line in the war in Korea. Even when I was a Latin teacher winning a scholarship to study Latin and archeology in Rome (after publishing the results of “The Mickley Survey,” a survey I did of the status of Latin teaching in 1500 schools in Ohio), it was still far away from my ultimate calling. When I was a successful businessman, owning two restaurants, two cars, and a big house, I thought I had arrived.
I saw on Facebook the other day Germaine’s question, “We know what Ladlad has done. What has been done for the religious good of the LGBT people of the Philippines?”
From the day my work officially began here 20 years ago to this day (the beginning of my 84th year) I have worked, araw-araw, for the LGBTiq people of the Philippines. In that LGBT assemblage in one of the top restaurants in the country closely linked to our movement, I saw the new hope of our movement and our people in this land which is still dominated by the Fr. Damasos and modern day “friars,” so powerfully lamented by our national hero. I knew that I did not need validation or even remembrance. My work from the start has been the work of the Holy Spirit. The real “Giting” is seen in LeAP, Ladlad, MCC, Rainbow Rights and the numerous individuals and organizations who are tackling head-on various aspects of the LGBT drive for equality.
It surely was God who motivated Michael Santos of San Juan to write that letter that brought me here in 1991. “When is MCC coming to the Philippines? There is no one here helping us gays and lesbians when people and churches are persecuting us.”
That did it. I borrowed money and I came to check it out, not knowing one person in the country. Within six weeks 43 LGBT people signed a petition for me to come here. I gave up my job, my house, my car, my salary – and came, September 7, 1991 – with none of the above. I came because I knew that was what God wanted me to do, what God was empowering me to do, build a community dedicated to announcing God’s unconditional love for LGBT people. That was the beginning of the first openly gay and lesbian organization in Manila.
The following year Oscar Atadero got ProGay started, and he became a member of the Administrative Board of MCC Manila. Together MCC and ProGay set up the first Gay and Lesbian Pride March in Asia on June 26, 1994 culminating in the Quezon Memorial Circle where I gave the keynote speech and led a Queer Pride Mass. (I had celebrated the first Pride Mass in the Philippines on June 26, 1991 with a speech about the world-wide work of MCC in the Cathedral of the Holy Child with Jomar Fleras assisting, 50 people in attendance, and a Methodist pastor and an Aglipayan priest concelebrating.) The media coverage of that First Pride March in 1994 was far-reaching – from Mel and Jay to a tabloid newspaper that would not stop putting MCC on page 1 with exaggerations –until I marched down to their offices and demanded an end to the lies – four more priests coming from LA to help with all the gay marriages, etc.
I started same-sex weddings in the Philippines in 1991, never claiming they were same-sex marriage or using the term. Since then 1000’s have expressed vows in a Holy Union and experienced the wedding they always dreamed of – but were always denied (because of the power of the Catholic bishops over the Congress). If it’s meaningful to their relationship and their commitment, so what’s the harm? There is a lot of good and joy.
In mid October 2011, MCC Quezon City, founded by Rev. Ceejay Agbayani, celebrated its fifth anniversary with a solemn Mass and an awards ceremony in which I was awarded the Gawad Dangal Bahaghari (award) for Lifetime Achievement “for his life’s work and invaluable contribution to the LGBT Community in the Philippines.” When a person is in their 80’s, a recitation of even their resume can be very long, so they started their reciting from 1991 for this award. Hehehe If you want the earlier part, the first 60 years, some of it is listed with photos on the LGBT Religious Archive: http://www.lgbtran.org/Profile.aspx?ID=247
Some of the things they included for the lifetime achievement award for the Philippine 20 years are given here in brief.
In 1999 I joined Malu, Danton, Ging and other LGBT leaders in forming Task Force Pride to keep the annual Pride Marches going after Jomar Fleras and Reachout Foundation staged the marches for three years (culminating in the first, and, as far as we know, only Gay and Lesbian Pride March in the world which marched past a head of state – in the 1998 Centennial Parade.)
I was one of the first to join Lagablab and later among the first to join Ang Ladlad, and let it be said, that I was excited that the situation of the first openly LGBT organization that I started in 1991 had blossomed and bloomed and ballooned to many organizations and a political party, now Ladlad Partylist, for our political and human rights. And for that I compliment its founder, Prof. Dr. Danton Remoto – and all those who have continued to work with him, Bemz Benedicto, the current chairperson, and all the others up and down the archipelago, including Jack Hernandez who worked with us here in Manila for so many years.
After many years as MCC pastor in the United Sates and New Zealand, I was led to heed the call to bring MCC to the Philippines. The purpose of the church was to have a church community where LGBT people were not rejected, but on the contrary, were welcomed as God’s own children, loved in God’s unconditional love. But it had to be an authentic church, a church which based its Creed on the historic Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed of the Christian church, but it also must be an all-around church of prayer, study, and action. Of course, I look with some pride on the work that the four churches are doing that are carrying on that mission now. MCC in Makati with Pastor Egay and Val, MCC in Quezon City with Pastor Ceejay Agbayani and Marlon, and MCC in Baguio with Pastor Myke Sotero, and CUC/CDOS Pastor Regen Luna and Arlan in Dasmarinas, with works starting in Marikina with Jayson Masaganda, and other works in the offing.
After I passed the MCC retirement age by two years, I founded the Gay Mens’ Support Group which ran without interruption for a dozen years, bringing hundreds of gay men to a richer appreciation of themselves as gay men and their life in the community. We started every meeting for 12 years with “Our Prayer.” “God, lead us all from falsehood to truth; lead us from despair to hope, from fear to trust. Lead us all from hate to love, from prejudice to understanding. Let us build one world of justice for all. Let each of us and all of us together be instruments of your peace and healing.”
We instituted the Pink Feather Awards to recognize each year people, straight (for example, Rep. Etta Rosales) and LGBT (for example Danton Remoto and Ging Cristobal) for outstanding contributions to building a better world for LGBT people.
I spoke at universities and organizations throughout Metro Manila on human rights for LGBT people. I was invited repeatedly to popular TV talk shows – from Mel and Jay to Mel and Joey, Debate, Dong Puno, Chris Aquino, and all the others – to emphasize that the human rights of LGBT people include religious rights, to which Rizal himself made reference.
Some of the most fulfilling work is done in private. You don’t look for or make headlines, win awards, or gain recognition when a very upset young man rings your doorbell, comes in, and with deep emotion tells you, “I am HIV positive. My life is over. What do I do now? Don’t tell anybody.” Too often I heard that story. That is one place where I use directive counseling. I tell them where to go to the Department of Health to get into the best program that will overcome the symptoms and the effects of the virus and let a fulfilling life go on and on.
In Los Angeles I saw 50 of my friends die, with months of caring and care from us, their friends, before any of us knew what was causing it (before the virus was discovered in 1983). Now we know, and we know what to do. I spoke at a national conference of the AIDS Foundation of the Philippines. I headed an Inter-Faith Committee for compassionate care to persons with HIV, and over the years counseled persons with HIV and AIDS, and occasionally, conducted funerals. As the years go by, I urge people to get into the right programs and living-with-HIV lifestyle – and there will be no more funerals.
Some of my published works pointed to the negative effects of sex-negative theology (no masturbation, no condoms, no sex ever) and its resulting in more low self-esteem, driving gay men underground with more HIV. On one occasion an emissary of the Vatican, a Monsignor in the Vatican bureaucracy, approached me after reading some of my writings, And said, “Father Mickley, you are rather hard on the church.” I replied, “Monsignor, I respect the Mass and the Sacraments and the Creeds of the Church. What I denounce is the sex-negative teachings which have subjected gay men to the traumas caused by homophobia and rejection, and driven gay people out of the church and away from the loving arms of God, to the underground secretive sex which has resulted in HIV. That’s what I renounce – the harm that homophobia and prejudice continue to cause.” And he went back to the unchanging Vatican with that unheard message denouncing the unbiblical, un-Jesuslike teachings so blasphemously inflicted in the name of our Loving God of unconditional love.
I offered public seminars, workshops, and retreats on such topics as Self-Esteem for LGBT People, Friendship, How to Be Attractive, How to Know God’s Love, LGBT People Can Be Spiritual Too, Lesbian Spirituality, Sexuality and Personhood and many other topics. Many couples find beneficial my “Sharing and growing, Committed Couples Seminar.” I had written my Masters in Counseling Psychology thesis on that theme, and researched it for my doctoral dissertation, and after our work with several couples’ seminars here, I expanded the book with Filipino input to cover ways and means and exercises for enhancing the relationship in 12 crucial areas of relating. Many found the group and the book helpful for building the strong relationship they always wanted.
One memorable seminar was a day-long event at UP Diliman with many students and professors in attendance, entitled “God, Gays, and the Gospel.” I continue that work in cyber seminars now.
At the conclusion of our Sex-Positive Theology Seminar, it is our prayer that these all-too-short studies and experiences with their refreshing positive and uplifting ambience, will result in enhanced informational competency and polished spiritual acumen – for the battle of life in the battlefield of homophobia, strengthened to serve as certified positive counselors for the betterment of all LGBT people.
On several occasions I joined with other LGBT leaders to speak with members of the Congress (House and Senate) about LGBT rights, initially the Anti Discrimination Bill which Rep. Etta Rosales championed so many years (to be trumped by homophobic power) and now is valiantly carried on by Rep. Teddy Casino. On one such occasion in the House, I politely reminded the members of Congress of the courageous stand of the Parliament of Spain in opposition to the Catholic bishops there – not only approving divorce for the people of Spain, but approving same-sex marriage for the LGBT people of Spain. [Oh how I wanted to mention the unbelievable power of the Catholic bishops to hold and force all Filipino people of all religions and non-religions to observe Catholic teachings on divorce, condoms, and marriage. But, of course, I was too polite to tell them that, that they were spineless to vote their conscience in opposition to the vote-controlling power of the bishops. Of course, I would not do that.]
I was honored for the sake of the religious LGBT people of the Philippines to be ordained by Bishop Jim Burch as the first openly gay Catholic bishop with apostolic succession in order to be able to ordain openly LGBT Filipinos for ministry as deacons and priests to bring sex-positive theology and its healing merits to the LGBT Christians of this country. Fr. Regen Luna was the first openly gay priest ordained for this ministry in the Catholic Diocese of One Spirit in the Philippines. More to follow.
Among the works I had an opportunity to do for our people was to serve as first editor of the LGBT news and information magazine published by Bayani Santos, ManilaOUT, along with Simon Arias as co-editor with journalism credentials from the University of the Philippines. We did full length features on outstanding LGBT leaders like Malou and Danton. Also along with Simon Arias we managed the first full scale commercial LGBT bookstore in the Philippines.
As soon as I heard about Jose Rizal, I began reading, buying all the books on him I could find. I went to the historical Institute and got all his writings, letters, etc. It was an obsession. I began telling everyone, “Here is a man of integrity, a man wh0 deserves to be our national hero -- even if he had not died for us, just because of his character, integrity, and wisdom. I sat down and wrote a full length historical novel on his life. I mentioned him, his views, his patriotism, his insights in my speeches and blogs. I am not finished yet.
For 20 years in my new homeland, the beloved homeland of Rizal, I have done what I have been led to do by the Spirit. When I made mistakes, or hurt people, or was considered bad or unethical, it was when I did it my way, and did not follow Rizal or the Spirit of God. I don’t ask for awards for validation of the call to do what I do, pursuing with unswerving focus and purpose what I have been sent to do. The focus and purpose has always been to build a better world for LGBTqi people.
I am grateful for the awards I have received – for the sake of the work. And I say without hesitation the greatest awarded honor I have received in the Philippines was given to me in 2003. After 12 years as a missionary (with a missionary visa) I found out that a person is eligible to apply to be a Filipino with Permanent Residence after 8 years as a missionary. So I innocently applied to be a Filipino with Permanent Residence. Lo and behold! My Board of Directors was summoned to the Immigration offices by a young woman immigration lawyer. She told them I must leave the country within days because I was conducting illegal marriages. She had read my website, and that website must be removed!
Immediately my Board set about contacting LGBT community leaders, friends and congresspersons who were friends. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of letters of appeal and description of my work were sent to the Commissioner of Immigration. Many people sent copies to us. I was humbled by the outpouring of support from the entire community of LGBT people and friends. That was indeed an honor in itself.
Before long, I received a letter from the Commissioner of Immigration informing me that I was not being deported, but was indeed being made a Filipino Permanent Resident for the “beneficial work you have been doing and are doing for the Filipino people.” That to me was indisputably a high honor. Filipino na ako; Pilipinas kong mahal.
I know it’s best to be realistic. The Catholic Order I belonged to for so many of my younger years has an amazing and wonderful alumni organization of all the former priest-members of the Order, and other members, and we all get all the mailings, prayer requests, and death notices that current members get. Another priest, one of my few remaining classmates was the subject of a death notice the other day. I did not know I was gay then, but now I know I must have had a crush on him. But his passing is one more reminder to keep on working while the Lord gives me strength. The work is never done.
In my retirement, day by day, I continue my mission, counseling, speaking, teaching, officiating at same-sex weddings, and teaching sex-positive thinking seminars, one on one, free, by email (saintaelred@gmail.com). And I might say, in accordance with my mission, I have never charged for a wedding, a house blessing, business blessing, seminar, or other ministry in the twenty years I have been called here. That has always seemed contrary to the mission for me to require payment for what the Holy Spirit has guided and empowered me to do.
Before I knew I was gay, my focus from age 13 was to bring all people within the boundaries of my (future) ministry to know, love, and serve God. When God made it clear that my ministry was with LGBTqi people, I did not swerve. It is no less than the focus of Jesus who said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it fully.”
My only regret is that it took me away from the immediate attention I should have given my own beloved offspring.
A church can be no less than a community finding and knowing and sharing a God of boundless unconditional love and acceptance – our model for being a people of unbounded love and acceptance (and encouragement) for all people around us. And for us, that’s the beloved LGBTqi people who are the beloved LGBTqi people of God.
Those are some of the thoughts I am pondering as I enter my 84th year. My grown children lost their wonderful mother to cancer this year. My regret is that I am so far away and cannot ever fill the tremendous loss they are feeling from that irreplaceable loss.
I am grateful to everyone who has shown me the proverbial Filipino hospitality for these 20 years. It is meaningful to me when those with whom I have had a chance to share a precious moment express their gratitude, as this one did the other day, “You’re appreciated so much for what you have done. It is comforting to know your heart was in it. You never stop caring or making a difference. With your generosity you lift spirits and make smiles appear. Your kindness will always be remembered.”
That’s the Lord’s way. I can do no less. It is the Lord’s work. It is the Lord’s power. Who am I to claim credit? Before my retirement, that was my calling to lead a church in that same mission. As bishop now, I encourage my fellow priests to pursue that same mission with focus and purpose, always keeping our eyes on Jesus. And, so, Germaine, that’s the start of an answer to your question.
And another great honor came my way the other day. I was having a ministry training meeting with a group of protégés. One of them, speaking for the group, said, “Bishop, sometimes you speak of the day when your active ministry will come to an end. We want you to know that your ministry will never end. We will continue your legacy. We will continue the work you have begun for the religious good of the LGBT people of this country.” Wow. What an honor.
Attached (below) is a photo of one table of many tables full of the pillars of the Philippine LGBT Who’s Who (see photo description) myself, easily recognizable as the one with the most gray years.
At beautiful Adarna Food and Culture, 29th October 2011, at the Giting Awards from Lesbian Activism Project, Inc. (LeAP!).
From left seated: Malu Marin, long-time activist, founding member of Task Force Pride (TFP), Lagablab, Ladlad; Jack Hernandez, long-time activist with us here in Manila, now active for Ladlad in the province; Bemz Benedito, current chairperson of Ladlad Party List; Edmond Osorio, executive secretary of Ladlad; Danton Remoto, founder of Ladlad Party List, founding member of Task Force Pride (TFP), Lagablab, author, journalist, inspiration to LGBT people; myself. Background right: Giney Villar, long-time activist, founding member of Task Force Pride (TFP), Lagablab, Ladlad, chef and owner of Adarna Food and Culture with partner, Beth Angsioco.
Honestly when I opened the first openly gay and lesbian LGBT organization in Manila on September 7, 1991, my vision was limited. I could not have imagined that on this memorable day in October in 2011 I would be a pebble on the beach amidst such a multitude of those who now openly help our LGBT people towards that kalayaan and “better life” we are all working for, and among whom I was nominated for a Giting Award.
Of course I did not know what God had in store for me when I was still a farm boy milking cows and making hay in the hills of Danville, Ohio. I suppose my parents had a clue: when most gay boys of 12 would be dressing up in their mother’s finery, I was making paper Mass vestments and dressing like a priest. I still did not know even when I was lying in a tent or foxhole 5000 yards from the enemy line in the war in Korea. Even when I was a Latin teacher winning a scholarship to study Latin and archeology in Rome (after publishing the results of “The Mickley Survey,” a survey I did of the status of Latin teaching in 1500 schools in Ohio), it was still far away from my ultimate calling. When I was a successful businessman, owning two restaurants, two cars, and a big house, I thought I had arrived.
I saw on Facebook the other day Germaine’s question, “We know what Ladlad has done. What has been done for the religious good of the LGBT people of the Philippines?”
From the day my work officially began here 20 years ago to this day (the beginning of my 84th year) I have worked, araw-araw, for the LGBTiq people of the Philippines. In that LGBT assemblage in one of the top restaurants in the country closely linked to our movement, I saw the new hope of our movement and our people in this land which is still dominated by the Fr. Damasos and modern day “friars,” so powerfully lamented by our national hero. I knew that I did not need validation or even remembrance. My work from the start has been the work of the Holy Spirit. The real “Giting” is seen in LeAP, Ladlad, MCC, Rainbow Rights and the numerous individuals and organizations who are tackling head-on various aspects of the LGBT drive for equality.
It surely was God who motivated Michael Santos of San Juan to write that letter that brought me here in 1991. “When is MCC coming to the Philippines? There is no one here helping us gays and lesbians when people and churches are persecuting us.”
That did it. I borrowed money and I came to check it out, not knowing one person in the country. Within six weeks 43 LGBT people signed a petition for me to come here. I gave up my job, my house, my car, my salary – and came, September 7, 1991 – with none of the above. I came because I knew that was what God wanted me to do, what God was empowering me to do, build a community dedicated to announcing God’s unconditional love for LGBT people. That was the beginning of the first openly gay and lesbian organization in Manila.
The following year Oscar Atadero got ProGay started, and he became a member of the Administrative Board of MCC Manila. Together MCC and ProGay set up the first Gay and Lesbian Pride March in Asia on June 26, 1994 culminating in the Quezon Memorial Circle where I gave the keynote speech and led a Queer Pride Mass. (I had celebrated the first Pride Mass in the Philippines on June 26, 1991 with a speech about the world-wide work of MCC in the Cathedral of the Holy Child with Jomar Fleras assisting, 50 people in attendance, and a Methodist pastor and an Aglipayan priest concelebrating.) The media coverage of that First Pride March in 1994 was far-reaching – from Mel and Jay to a tabloid newspaper that would not stop putting MCC on page 1 with exaggerations –until I marched down to their offices and demanded an end to the lies – four more priests coming from LA to help with all the gay marriages, etc.
I started same-sex weddings in the Philippines in 1991, never claiming they were same-sex marriage or using the term. Since then 1000’s have expressed vows in a Holy Union and experienced the wedding they always dreamed of – but were always denied (because of the power of the Catholic bishops over the Congress). If it’s meaningful to their relationship and their commitment, so what’s the harm? There is a lot of good and joy.
In mid October 2011, MCC Quezon City, founded by Rev. Ceejay Agbayani, celebrated its fifth anniversary with a solemn Mass and an awards ceremony in which I was awarded the Gawad Dangal Bahaghari (award) for Lifetime Achievement “for his life’s work and invaluable contribution to the LGBT Community in the Philippines.” When a person is in their 80’s, a recitation of even their resume can be very long, so they started their reciting from 1991 for this award. Hehehe If you want the earlier part, the first 60 years, some of it is listed with photos on the LGBT Religious Archive: http://www.lgbtran.org/Profile.aspx?ID=247
Some of the things they included for the lifetime achievement award for the Philippine 20 years are given here in brief.
In 1999 I joined Malu, Danton, Ging and other LGBT leaders in forming Task Force Pride to keep the annual Pride Marches going after Jomar Fleras and Reachout Foundation staged the marches for three years (culminating in the first, and, as far as we know, only Gay and Lesbian Pride March in the world which marched past a head of state – in the 1998 Centennial Parade.)
I was one of the first to join Lagablab and later among the first to join Ang Ladlad, and let it be said, that I was excited that the situation of the first openly LGBT organization that I started in 1991 had blossomed and bloomed and ballooned to many organizations and a political party, now Ladlad Partylist, for our political and human rights. And for that I compliment its founder, Prof. Dr. Danton Remoto – and all those who have continued to work with him, Bemz Benedicto, the current chairperson, and all the others up and down the archipelago, including Jack Hernandez who worked with us here in Manila for so many years.
After many years as MCC pastor in the United Sates and New Zealand, I was led to heed the call to bring MCC to the Philippines. The purpose of the church was to have a church community where LGBT people were not rejected, but on the contrary, were welcomed as God’s own children, loved in God’s unconditional love. But it had to be an authentic church, a church which based its Creed on the historic Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed of the Christian church, but it also must be an all-around church of prayer, study, and action. Of course, I look with some pride on the work that the four churches are doing that are carrying on that mission now. MCC in Makati with Pastor Egay and Val, MCC in Quezon City with Pastor Ceejay Agbayani and Marlon, and MCC in Baguio with Pastor Myke Sotero, and CUC/CDOS Pastor Regen Luna and Arlan in Dasmarinas, with works starting in Marikina with Jayson Masaganda, and other works in the offing.
After I passed the MCC retirement age by two years, I founded the Gay Mens’ Support Group which ran without interruption for a dozen years, bringing hundreds of gay men to a richer appreciation of themselves as gay men and their life in the community. We started every meeting for 12 years with “Our Prayer.” “God, lead us all from falsehood to truth; lead us from despair to hope, from fear to trust. Lead us all from hate to love, from prejudice to understanding. Let us build one world of justice for all. Let each of us and all of us together be instruments of your peace and healing.”
We instituted the Pink Feather Awards to recognize each year people, straight (for example, Rep. Etta Rosales) and LGBT (for example Danton Remoto and Ging Cristobal) for outstanding contributions to building a better world for LGBT people.
I spoke at universities and organizations throughout Metro Manila on human rights for LGBT people. I was invited repeatedly to popular TV talk shows – from Mel and Jay to Mel and Joey, Debate, Dong Puno, Chris Aquino, and all the others – to emphasize that the human rights of LGBT people include religious rights, to which Rizal himself made reference.
Some of the most fulfilling work is done in private. You don’t look for or make headlines, win awards, or gain recognition when a very upset young man rings your doorbell, comes in, and with deep emotion tells you, “I am HIV positive. My life is over. What do I do now? Don’t tell anybody.” Too often I heard that story. That is one place where I use directive counseling. I tell them where to go to the Department of Health to get into the best program that will overcome the symptoms and the effects of the virus and let a fulfilling life go on and on.
In Los Angeles I saw 50 of my friends die, with months of caring and care from us, their friends, before any of us knew what was causing it (before the virus was discovered in 1983). Now we know, and we know what to do. I spoke at a national conference of the AIDS Foundation of the Philippines. I headed an Inter-Faith Committee for compassionate care to persons with HIV, and over the years counseled persons with HIV and AIDS, and occasionally, conducted funerals. As the years go by, I urge people to get into the right programs and living-with-HIV lifestyle – and there will be no more funerals.
Some of my published works pointed to the negative effects of sex-negative theology (no masturbation, no condoms, no sex ever) and its resulting in more low self-esteem, driving gay men underground with more HIV. On one occasion an emissary of the Vatican, a Monsignor in the Vatican bureaucracy, approached me after reading some of my writings, And said, “Father Mickley, you are rather hard on the church.” I replied, “Monsignor, I respect the Mass and the Sacraments and the Creeds of the Church. What I denounce is the sex-negative teachings which have subjected gay men to the traumas caused by homophobia and rejection, and driven gay people out of the church and away from the loving arms of God, to the underground secretive sex which has resulted in HIV. That’s what I renounce – the harm that homophobia and prejudice continue to cause.” And he went back to the unchanging Vatican with that unheard message denouncing the unbiblical, un-Jesuslike teachings so blasphemously inflicted in the name of our Loving God of unconditional love.
I offered public seminars, workshops, and retreats on such topics as Self-Esteem for LGBT People, Friendship, How to Be Attractive, How to Know God’s Love, LGBT People Can Be Spiritual Too, Lesbian Spirituality, Sexuality and Personhood and many other topics. Many couples find beneficial my “Sharing and growing, Committed Couples Seminar.” I had written my Masters in Counseling Psychology thesis on that theme, and researched it for my doctoral dissertation, and after our work with several couples’ seminars here, I expanded the book with Filipino input to cover ways and means and exercises for enhancing the relationship in 12 crucial areas of relating. Many found the group and the book helpful for building the strong relationship they always wanted.
One memorable seminar was a day-long event at UP Diliman with many students and professors in attendance, entitled “God, Gays, and the Gospel.” I continue that work in cyber seminars now.
At the conclusion of our Sex-Positive Theology Seminar, it is our prayer that these all-too-short studies and experiences with their refreshing positive and uplifting ambience, will result in enhanced informational competency and polished spiritual acumen – for the battle of life in the battlefield of homophobia, strengthened to serve as certified positive counselors for the betterment of all LGBT people.
On several occasions I joined with other LGBT leaders to speak with members of the Congress (House and Senate) about LGBT rights, initially the Anti Discrimination Bill which Rep. Etta Rosales championed so many years (to be trumped by homophobic power) and now is valiantly carried on by Rep. Teddy Casino. On one such occasion in the House, I politely reminded the members of Congress of the courageous stand of the Parliament of Spain in opposition to the Catholic bishops there – not only approving divorce for the people of Spain, but approving same-sex marriage for the LGBT people of Spain. [Oh how I wanted to mention the unbelievable power of the Catholic bishops to hold and force all Filipino people of all religions and non-religions to observe Catholic teachings on divorce, condoms, and marriage. But, of course, I was too polite to tell them that, that they were spineless to vote their conscience in opposition to the vote-controlling power of the bishops. Of course, I would not do that.]
I was honored for the sake of the religious LGBT people of the Philippines to be ordained by Bishop Jim Burch as the first openly gay Catholic bishop with apostolic succession in order to be able to ordain openly LGBT Filipinos for ministry as deacons and priests to bring sex-positive theology and its healing merits to the LGBT Christians of this country. Fr. Regen Luna was the first openly gay priest ordained for this ministry in the Catholic Diocese of One Spirit in the Philippines. More to follow.
Among the works I had an opportunity to do for our people was to serve as first editor of the LGBT news and information magazine published by Bayani Santos, ManilaOUT, along with Simon Arias as co-editor with journalism credentials from the University of the Philippines. We did full length features on outstanding LGBT leaders like Malou and Danton. Also along with Simon Arias we managed the first full scale commercial LGBT bookstore in the Philippines.
As soon as I heard about Jose Rizal, I began reading, buying all the books on him I could find. I went to the historical Institute and got all his writings, letters, etc. It was an obsession. I began telling everyone, “Here is a man of integrity, a man wh0 deserves to be our national hero -- even if he had not died for us, just because of his character, integrity, and wisdom. I sat down and wrote a full length historical novel on his life. I mentioned him, his views, his patriotism, his insights in my speeches and blogs. I am not finished yet.
For 20 years in my new homeland, the beloved homeland of Rizal, I have done what I have been led to do by the Spirit. When I made mistakes, or hurt people, or was considered bad or unethical, it was when I did it my way, and did not follow Rizal or the Spirit of God. I don’t ask for awards for validation of the call to do what I do, pursuing with unswerving focus and purpose what I have been sent to do. The focus and purpose has always been to build a better world for LGBTqi people.
I am grateful for the awards I have received – for the sake of the work. And I say without hesitation the greatest awarded honor I have received in the Philippines was given to me in 2003. After 12 years as a missionary (with a missionary visa) I found out that a person is eligible to apply to be a Filipino with Permanent Residence after 8 years as a missionary. So I innocently applied to be a Filipino with Permanent Residence. Lo and behold! My Board of Directors was summoned to the Immigration offices by a young woman immigration lawyer. She told them I must leave the country within days because I was conducting illegal marriages. She had read my website, and that website must be removed!
Immediately my Board set about contacting LGBT community leaders, friends and congresspersons who were friends. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of letters of appeal and description of my work were sent to the Commissioner of Immigration. Many people sent copies to us. I was humbled by the outpouring of support from the entire community of LGBT people and friends. That was indeed an honor in itself.
Before long, I received a letter from the Commissioner of Immigration informing me that I was not being deported, but was indeed being made a Filipino Permanent Resident for the “beneficial work you have been doing and are doing for the Filipino people.” That to me was indisputably a high honor. Filipino na ako; Pilipinas kong mahal.
I know it’s best to be realistic. The Catholic Order I belonged to for so many of my younger years has an amazing and wonderful alumni organization of all the former priest-members of the Order, and other members, and we all get all the mailings, prayer requests, and death notices that current members get. Another priest, one of my few remaining classmates was the subject of a death notice the other day. I did not know I was gay then, but now I know I must have had a crush on him. But his passing is one more reminder to keep on working while the Lord gives me strength. The work is never done.
In my retirement, day by day, I continue my mission, counseling, speaking, teaching, officiating at same-sex weddings, and teaching sex-positive thinking seminars, one on one, free, by email (saintaelred@gmail.com). And I might say, in accordance with my mission, I have never charged for a wedding, a house blessing, business blessing, seminar, or other ministry in the twenty years I have been called here. That has always seemed contrary to the mission for me to require payment for what the Holy Spirit has guided and empowered me to do.
Before I knew I was gay, my focus from age 13 was to bring all people within the boundaries of my (future) ministry to know, love, and serve God. When God made it clear that my ministry was with LGBTqi people, I did not swerve. It is no less than the focus of Jesus who said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it fully.”
My only regret is that it took me away from the immediate attention I should have given my own beloved offspring.
A church can be no less than a community finding and knowing and sharing a God of boundless unconditional love and acceptance – our model for being a people of unbounded love and acceptance (and encouragement) for all people around us. And for us, that’s the beloved LGBTqi people who are the beloved LGBTqi people of God.
Those are some of the thoughts I am pondering as I enter my 84th year. My grown children lost their wonderful mother to cancer this year. My regret is that I am so far away and cannot ever fill the tremendous loss they are feeling from that irreplaceable loss.
I am grateful to everyone who has shown me the proverbial Filipino hospitality for these 20 years. It is meaningful to me when those with whom I have had a chance to share a precious moment express their gratitude, as this one did the other day, “You’re appreciated so much for what you have done. It is comforting to know your heart was in it. You never stop caring or making a difference. With your generosity you lift spirits and make smiles appear. Your kindness will always be remembered.”
That’s the Lord’s way. I can do no less. It is the Lord’s work. It is the Lord’s power. Who am I to claim credit? Before my retirement, that was my calling to lead a church in that same mission. As bishop now, I encourage my fellow priests to pursue that same mission with focus and purpose, always keeping our eyes on Jesus. And, so, Germaine, that’s the start of an answer to your question.
And another great honor came my way the other day. I was having a ministry training meeting with a group of protégés. One of them, speaking for the group, said, “Bishop, sometimes you speak of the day when your active ministry will come to an end. We want you to know that your ministry will never end. We will continue your legacy. We will continue the work you have begun for the religious good of the LGBT people of this country.” Wow. What an honor.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Ladlad, a Competent Fighter at Eight
By Fr. Richard R. Mickley, C.D.O.S., Ph.D.
The eighth anniversary of Ladlad is a significant milestone in Philippine LGBT history. The celebration was carried out in style at the classy Astoria Hotel off Shaw Blvd. near the Ladlad national headquarters.
The well-attended (250 by my count) event is well documented on the Ladlad website.
I want to ponder for a moment the significance of Ladlad and its strong showing on its eighth anniversary. The post-midnight magnificent speech by Boy Abunda told it all — along with his personal inspiring testimony. I sure hope it was taped to be transcribed and preserved for posterity. It was a masterpiece — with no visible signs of a manuscript.
Looking back for perspective, when Rizal marched between two Jesuits to his execution, we realize he had no way of knowing how and when his beloved patria (homeland) would be free — politically. We all know it happened — boosted by his initiative and martyrdom. But the freedom he dreamed of is still not complete. He assertively told Blumentritt “the friars are the cause” of all the suffering and tears of the Filipinos. That’s a strong statement, and today we can see clearly that it was true.
Rizal did not know all the ramifications of sex-negative theology imposed by the friars. He had heard of NO masturbation, NO pre-marital sex, NO divorce, but some NOs which bug us today — such as NO condoms, NO love for the one you love if the one you love is one of the same sex, NO marriage ever if you and your partner are LGBTq — were not a subject of common cogitation in his day, probably not even for a such a great thinker as Rizal. But those things also descend from the friars whom he bemoaned.
Sadly, despite the Constitution, today the distinction between what is religious and what is political is blurred. This is because the political rights, the human rights of the Filipino people are influenced, abridged, and denied by the power of the modern-day hierarchical “friars” who wield such unbelievable power over the members of Congress — a phenomenon not found in any other non-Islamic country in the world. Yes, that’s what our “friar power” and an “Islamic republic” have in common.
In short, friar power and the imposition of what Rizal called “false religion” did not end when the Spanish lost control of the government. The effects of sex-negative theology, brought by the friars are perpetuated by the hierarchies of today. They continue on two fronts — on the religious front and in the political front (which can be readily observed in the intimidation of the members of Congress).
The leader of today’s sex-negative theology hierarchy, Pope Benedict XVI, recently visited his homeland of Germany. The protests he experienced there boldly proclaim to us that some people in some countries no longer kowtow to sex-negative false religion, including LGBTq rights. The media pointedly commented that people formerly associated with this religion are staying away in droves.
So where does Ladlad come into the picture? LGBTq people here are denied freedoms which have been taken away in the political arena because of the power of the peddlers of sex-negative theology over the people who make the laws (Congress). Ladlad surely will aim to become one voice, one positive influence in Congress to counteract this negative influence. They fight for us alongside Teddy Casino and Akbayan (as Etta Rosales did all the years she was fighting for us in Congress) and the few brave warriors who always fight for us. Now we have Ladlad. Now we can win membership in Congress and fight the battle right there in the halls of power. Thank God, the battle is carried on with competence and dedication by Ladlad, by Bemz Benedito. Danton Remoto, Boy Abunda, and all the officers and members throughout the archipelago.
In the meantime there is the second battlefront — the religious one. Unfortunately, Rizal was right in his day, and he’s still right today. The source of all our troubles arises from the teachings of a religion which has the power to impose its “way” (No, No, No. You know the NOs — you’ve had to live without them all your life). Even worse, they thrust them on not only you and me, but on every person of every religion, every believer and non-believer in the country. (Not just Catholics are denied the right to divorce; all citizens are.)
MCC in the Philippines celebrated its twentieth anniversary in early September.
As little as Rizal could have guessed on that somber December morning in 1896 that some great things were going to happen in his beloved country — likewise as little could we have guessed on September 7, 1991 that on the religious and political front great things would happen in our beloved country for the LGBTq people. When the first openly gay and lesbian organization began to openly welcome people, we knew we had a job to do, but we did not foresee that ProGay would come along in 1992, that MCC and ProGay would sponsor the first Pride march in Asia in 1994, that dozens of LGBTq organizations and LGBTq-friendly groups would rally to the LGBTq cause, culminating in the work of Danton Remoto to set up Ang Ladlad eight years ago.
Now MCC has three congregations (with pastors Ceejay, Myke, and Egay) and the Christian United Church has come along (with pastor Regen), and I do my little part, and we have to do the battle on the religious front. The bottom line is: sex-negative theology is the problem. It must be replaced with sex-positive theology. I teach the subject in free on-line seminars. MCC and CUC are out there on the front lines bringing new hope and peace and joy to lives battered by sex-negative theology.
The solution:
On the political front — Ladlad leads the battle. It would be the beginning of the solution, as they strategize with Boy Abunda and work from the office (with Edmund Osorio) to the nationwide field — if they could free Congress members from the power of the sex-negative hierarchy.
On the religious front — the sex-positive religious organizations, MCC and CUC, could liberate people with a new-found — but always guaranteed as a basic religious and human right — freedom to follow one’s informed conscience to know and do what is right, not what is imposed by sex-negative theology.
September 27, 2011
Fr. Richard R. Mickley, C.D.O.S., Ph.D.
saintaelred@gmail.com
The eighth anniversary of Ladlad is a significant milestone in Philippine LGBT history. The celebration was carried out in style at the classy Astoria Hotel off Shaw Blvd. near the Ladlad national headquarters.
The well-attended (250 by my count) event is well documented on the Ladlad website.
I want to ponder for a moment the significance of Ladlad and its strong showing on its eighth anniversary. The post-midnight magnificent speech by Boy Abunda told it all — along with his personal inspiring testimony. I sure hope it was taped to be transcribed and preserved for posterity. It was a masterpiece — with no visible signs of a manuscript.
Looking back for perspective, when Rizal marched between two Jesuits to his execution, we realize he had no way of knowing how and when his beloved patria (homeland) would be free — politically. We all know it happened — boosted by his initiative and martyrdom. But the freedom he dreamed of is still not complete. He assertively told Blumentritt “the friars are the cause” of all the suffering and tears of the Filipinos. That’s a strong statement, and today we can see clearly that it was true.
Rizal did not know all the ramifications of sex-negative theology imposed by the friars. He had heard of NO masturbation, NO pre-marital sex, NO divorce, but some NOs which bug us today — such as NO condoms, NO love for the one you love if the one you love is one of the same sex, NO marriage ever if you and your partner are LGBTq — were not a subject of common cogitation in his day, probably not even for a such a great thinker as Rizal. But those things also descend from the friars whom he bemoaned.
Sadly, despite the Constitution, today the distinction between what is religious and what is political is blurred. This is because the political rights, the human rights of the Filipino people are influenced, abridged, and denied by the power of the modern-day hierarchical “friars” who wield such unbelievable power over the members of Congress — a phenomenon not found in any other non-Islamic country in the world. Yes, that’s what our “friar power” and an “Islamic republic” have in common.
In short, friar power and the imposition of what Rizal called “false religion” did not end when the Spanish lost control of the government. The effects of sex-negative theology, brought by the friars are perpetuated by the hierarchies of today. They continue on two fronts — on the religious front and in the political front (which can be readily observed in the intimidation of the members of Congress).
The leader of today’s sex-negative theology hierarchy, Pope Benedict XVI, recently visited his homeland of Germany. The protests he experienced there boldly proclaim to us that some people in some countries no longer kowtow to sex-negative false religion, including LGBTq rights. The media pointedly commented that people formerly associated with this religion are staying away in droves.
So where does Ladlad come into the picture? LGBTq people here are denied freedoms which have been taken away in the political arena because of the power of the peddlers of sex-negative theology over the people who make the laws (Congress). Ladlad surely will aim to become one voice, one positive influence in Congress to counteract this negative influence. They fight for us alongside Teddy Casino and Akbayan (as Etta Rosales did all the years she was fighting for us in Congress) and the few brave warriors who always fight for us. Now we have Ladlad. Now we can win membership in Congress and fight the battle right there in the halls of power. Thank God, the battle is carried on with competence and dedication by Ladlad, by Bemz Benedito. Danton Remoto, Boy Abunda, and all the officers and members throughout the archipelago.
In the meantime there is the second battlefront — the religious one. Unfortunately, Rizal was right in his day, and he’s still right today. The source of all our troubles arises from the teachings of a religion which has the power to impose its “way” (No, No, No. You know the NOs — you’ve had to live without them all your life). Even worse, they thrust them on not only you and me, but on every person of every religion, every believer and non-believer in the country. (Not just Catholics are denied the right to divorce; all citizens are.)
MCC in the Philippines celebrated its twentieth anniversary in early September.
As little as Rizal could have guessed on that somber December morning in 1896 that some great things were going to happen in his beloved country — likewise as little could we have guessed on September 7, 1991 that on the religious and political front great things would happen in our beloved country for the LGBTq people. When the first openly gay and lesbian organization began to openly welcome people, we knew we had a job to do, but we did not foresee that ProGay would come along in 1992, that MCC and ProGay would sponsor the first Pride march in Asia in 1994, that dozens of LGBTq organizations and LGBTq-friendly groups would rally to the LGBTq cause, culminating in the work of Danton Remoto to set up Ang Ladlad eight years ago.
Now MCC has three congregations (with pastors Ceejay, Myke, and Egay) and the Christian United Church has come along (with pastor Regen), and I do my little part, and we have to do the battle on the religious front. The bottom line is: sex-negative theology is the problem. It must be replaced with sex-positive theology. I teach the subject in free on-line seminars. MCC and CUC are out there on the front lines bringing new hope and peace and joy to lives battered by sex-negative theology.
The solution:
On the political front — Ladlad leads the battle. It would be the beginning of the solution, as they strategize with Boy Abunda and work from the office (with Edmund Osorio) to the nationwide field — if they could free Congress members from the power of the sex-negative hierarchy.
On the religious front — the sex-positive religious organizations, MCC and CUC, could liberate people with a new-found — but always guaranteed as a basic religious and human right — freedom to follow one’s informed conscience to know and do what is right, not what is imposed by sex-negative theology.
September 27, 2011
Fr. Richard R. Mickley, C.D.O.S., Ph.D.
saintaelred@gmail.com
Friday, September 23, 2011
Comment: Rizal and the Friars
By Father Richard R. Mickley, C.D.O.S., Ph.D.
In reply to feedback and questions which have come to me by email since my blog about Rizal, 9/11, and modern-day terrorism, I offer the following comments.
I was restrained in that blog. I did not use Rizal’s stronger criticism of the friars. I chose to quote a mild comment by Rizal calling for respect for other people’s (religious) views.
But because I have been challenged to show more specifically how Rizal’s attitude is similar to and a springboard for my sex-positive attitude, I am writing more and quoting his stronger statement.
I use the word attitude because Rizal never heard of suicide bombings or suicide airplane crashes. The issues are different, but the attitude is comparable.
Therefore I call your attention to this very explicit criticism of the abuses of the friars of his time. He clearly is using the word “religion” here in the same way we use “religious extremism” today.
He was not condemning the whole religion. He was fighting the religious extremism of the friars that was causing “all the suffering and tears” of the Filipino people. He was not against the religion, but he was vehemently against the abuses.
He respected and got along well with the Jesuit missionaries, but the abuses of others were his target. (One Jesuit, in fact, asked him why he called the “Noli” a novel when it was a true to life description of things as they actually were.)
The last four years of his life he attended Mass regularly with the Jesuits in Dapitan. Two Jesuits, from his Ateneo days and his Dapitan days, accompanied him to his execution.
Likewise, if I may say, I pray the Mass everyday and respect and believe the teachings of the church which are not un-Biblical and unlike (contradictory to) Jesus’ life and message of love.
This assessment by Rizal of the friars of his time resonates with my assessment of the modern-day friars who are not brown or black-robed friars but colorfully-robed hierarchy in purple and red.
Everything that Rizal combats can easily be applied to my attitude toward their control of the lives of people today (of all faiths and non-faiths) with regard to such things as divorce, condoms, same-sex love, and justice for women.
Rizal about the Friars
“The friars utilize religion not only as a shield but also as a weapon… I was forced to attack their false and superstitious religion, to fight the enemy that hid behind it!...
God ought not to be utilized as a shield and protector of abuses, and less to use religion for such a purpose.
If the friars really had more respect for their religion, they would not use so often its sacred name and would not expose it to the most dangerous situations.
What is happening in the Philippines is horrible. They abuse the name of religion for a few pesos. They hawk religion to enrich their treasuries. [Imagine] Religion to perturb the peace of marriage and the family, if not to dishonor the wife!
Why should I should I not combat this religion with all my strength when it is the primary cause of all our sufferings and tears? The responsibility falls on those who abuse the name of religion!
Christ did the same to the religion of his country, to the Pharisees who had abused so much. (Letter to Blumentritt 1890)
In reply to feedback and questions which have come to me by email since my blog about Rizal, 9/11, and modern-day terrorism, I offer the following comments.
I was restrained in that blog. I did not use Rizal’s stronger criticism of the friars. I chose to quote a mild comment by Rizal calling for respect for other people’s (religious) views.
But because I have been challenged to show more specifically how Rizal’s attitude is similar to and a springboard for my sex-positive attitude, I am writing more and quoting his stronger statement.
I use the word attitude because Rizal never heard of suicide bombings or suicide airplane crashes. The issues are different, but the attitude is comparable.
Therefore I call your attention to this very explicit criticism of the abuses of the friars of his time. He clearly is using the word “religion” here in the same way we use “religious extremism” today.
He was not condemning the whole religion. He was fighting the religious extremism of the friars that was causing “all the suffering and tears” of the Filipino people. He was not against the religion, but he was vehemently against the abuses.
He respected and got along well with the Jesuit missionaries, but the abuses of others were his target. (One Jesuit, in fact, asked him why he called the “Noli” a novel when it was a true to life description of things as they actually were.)
The last four years of his life he attended Mass regularly with the Jesuits in Dapitan. Two Jesuits, from his Ateneo days and his Dapitan days, accompanied him to his execution.
Likewise, if I may say, I pray the Mass everyday and respect and believe the teachings of the church which are not un-Biblical and unlike (contradictory to) Jesus’ life and message of love.
This assessment by Rizal of the friars of his time resonates with my assessment of the modern-day friars who are not brown or black-robed friars but colorfully-robed hierarchy in purple and red.
Everything that Rizal combats can easily be applied to my attitude toward their control of the lives of people today (of all faiths and non-faiths) with regard to such things as divorce, condoms, same-sex love, and justice for women.
Rizal about the Friars
“The friars utilize religion not only as a shield but also as a weapon… I was forced to attack their false and superstitious religion, to fight the enemy that hid behind it!...
God ought not to be utilized as a shield and protector of abuses, and less to use religion for such a purpose.
If the friars really had more respect for their religion, they would not use so often its sacred name and would not expose it to the most dangerous situations.
What is happening in the Philippines is horrible. They abuse the name of religion for a few pesos. They hawk religion to enrich their treasuries. [Imagine] Religion to perturb the peace of marriage and the family, if not to dishonor the wife!
Why should I should I not combat this religion with all my strength when it is the primary cause of all our sufferings and tears? The responsibility falls on those who abuse the name of religion!
Christ did the same to the religion of his country, to the Pharisees who had abused so much. (Letter to Blumentritt 1890)
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