That Controversial RA 9994

During the press conference at the signing of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 9994, Congressman Zialcita revealed that his inspiration for filing all these laws benefiting senior citizens was his own lola, who raised him and cared for him when he was younger.

For me, my friends would say it is quite understandable to be working for another marginalized sector like the elderly since I seem to have a penchant for supporting "underdogs" ever since. My passion for the law was fueled, and sustained, by my volunteer work with women, children, and sexual minorities. When I moved to the DSWD's Policy Development and Planning Bureau, it was no surprise I easily adapted to working on elderly concerns and issues of People with Disabilities (PWDs).

But like Rep. Zialcita, I too have a more personal reason for advocating senior citizens rights. My own mother is a senior citizen; still gracious at 70-something years. She takes advantage of her senior citizen's discount privilege regularly and reports to me "violators" of the law. I had a better appreciation of the gaps and problems in the implementation through her own experiences with various businesses. She was my inspiration for drafting a better and more comprehensive IRR that would clarify everything for senior citizens and private establishments alike.

When I first started as a focal person for senior citizens in 2007, I was getting it from all sides - angry lolos and lolas and complaining corporations who were tired of all the vagueness and ambiguity of the law. Meanwhile, most government agencies tasked with the senior citizens law's implementation were at a lost too and clueless about their respective responsibilities. It took a lot of special meetings and dialogues, several NCBM resolutions, and an amendment to the law itself to settle things once and for all.

But with the new law came "new" provisions as well - expanded benefits and additional privileges for our Filipino elderly. It also required a unique talent for balancing the interest of all concerned. By carefully bringing together the private sector, government agencies and senior citizens themselves, they began to understand each other better and even agreed for compromises to happen.

Behind it all, I never lost perspective on what is meant to be achieved by this law and its rules. I think about my mom and her concerns, and everything is contextualized for me again. I always say government work is a thankless job, but I hope we made some senior citizens happy somehow...especially my own mother.

Out of the Country: My 1st Trip Abroad

My first trip abroad was an advance graduation gift from my parents in 1990. My cousin, Edlyn and I were sent to enjoy Hong Kong and Bangkok with her Abaya cousins and Tita Azon as official chaperone.

Besides learning about passports and traveler’s cheques, I became acquainted with immigration and customs procedures as well as basic airline etiquette. Mama accompanied me to DFA at Roxas Blvd. to apply for my first passport and then to Cocobank to get some traveler’s cheques. But she wasn’t there anymore as I learned how to operate the airline foldable table for meals, or the aircraft lavatory’s sliding door. The seatbelt was easy enough because it wasn’t my first time on a plane after all, having flown to Bacolod before with Ate Marie to meet her future in-laws. When the stewardess handed us some earphones, I also figured out where to plug it for some music. On the other hand, Edlyn complained that her earphones didn’t work, until I saw that they weren’t plugged in yet.

Immigration and customs are always such a hassle. You need to bring out your passport to check if the data you’re putting are correct. The same goes for your flight details – airline and flight number, country of origin and airport of destination. You have to be so careful with the information you put in, or risk further hassle at the immigration counter.

This became evident when after a day trip to Macau, Schenzen and Guangzhou, Edlyn and I were stopped at the Hong Kong immigration counter and detained for some intensive interviews. There was possibly two reasons for this: one, because this was right after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and Chinese authorities were on a look-out for students who were all trying to escape to HK; and two, because the beginnings of human trafficking of Filipinas was fast gaining ground. Although I doubt it that doting, conservative Tita Azon would ever be mistaken for a Mama-San.

To prove my point, once we got to Bangkok, that city known for its skin trade, Tita Azon promptly complained about the location of our hotel as being in the red light district. Heck, we were on a budget tour, you can’t really complain much about accommodations, but complain she did. She even asked her only son in Manila to badger the family travel agent to move us to different lodgings. Not getting what she wanted, she would proceed to rant and rave about our “unacceptable” lodgings.

After our dinner at the hotel, the waiter politely asked if we liked our meal. She blurted out, “No, it wasn’t good. I cannot eat it.” Embarrassed, the waiter asked again, “Was it too spicy for you?” But she was already walking away and shaking her head, clearly a discontented customer. When we got to the elevators, we found that one of them was under repair, and only one was functioning. Looking down at the dark and dangerous shaft, she expressed panic again, saying “Ano ba naman ito, papatayin tayo dito!”

But that wasn’t all I remembered about that trip. South East Asian tours are generally associated with shopping sprees, and shop we did. While bargaining for a lower price is allowed, once you touch the item and bargain for it, be sure you will buy it or the vendor will get very mad at you. In Macau, the sales clerk was so incensed with Tita Azon’s “negotiations”. Our Chinese-Portuguese tour guide intervened and said, “These are Filipinos, you HAVE to let them bargain…” In Hong Kong’s Mongkok district, I made the mistake of bargaining for an early edition Walkman and then changed my mind about purchasing it. The Chinese guy was so mad at me for wasting his time and blurted out a bunch of Cantonese words which I presume would be foul and blasphemous on my account.

One other thing I learned about traveling abroad is one begins to appreciate what she takes for granted in her own homeland. My first concern is always about food and knowing where to eat. In HK, the real Chinese restaurants were so expensive and the menus were all in Chinese you can’t decipher them. So we ended up eating at all the possible McDonald’s branches in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island for our meals. In Bangkok, we were also at a lost half the time at the incomprehensible offerings in the menu, but at least they had pictures so we just pointed at what we wanted to eat.

That’s another thing – language. In Hong Kong, the non-English speaking Chinese were so rude up to the point of shooing us out of their stores so they won’t have to deal with us. In Thailand, while more often than not the Thai people we encountered didn’t speak a word of English, they simply smile when we come to a communication impasse. So that’s something to remember: just because we Filipinos speak perfect, American-twanged English, it doesn’t mean we’ll be understood everywhere else in the world. Better get over that Americanized-ego of yours and learn some basic terms for your country of destination.

Finally, we forgot that something as culturally-imbedded as the exercise of religion could be so complicated once you’re abroad. To Tita Azon’s chagrin, Catholic churches are not at every block or street corner in Hong Kong unlike in the Philippines. We had to ask around whether there was a parish somewhere in either HK Island, Kowloon or Aberdeen where we could hear Sunday mass. We did find one; a very small Catholic chapel where most of the church-goers were also Filipinos, mostly overseas workers.

All in all, I had fun with that first trip abroad. In HK, we got to go to Victoria’s Peak, rubbed that Buddha’s tummy, saw the Ocean Park aquarium and rode the Crazy Galleon and ‘The Dragon” roller coaster. In Macau, we saw the contrast and combination of Chinese and Portuguese culture and bought jade for luck. Guangzhou and Schenzen were just like any rustic Asian countryside, even with the real 12-course Chinese meal and authentic Chinese beer we had at its popular tourist restaurant. While Bangkok is best remembered for its shopping opportunities, I liked our tour of the Rose Garden where the orchid exhibits and the elephant show were the highlights of the visit. (I found some of their native dances appeared too similar to our own Philippine “tinikling”). Thus, from that time on, every trip abroad is simply a reminder of what I miss about the Philippines - because there really is no place like home.

Stories of AngLadlad

From the very beginning, the idea of AngLadlad as a representative of the Filipino LGBT Community was a controversial one. Even when it was first conceptualized by Danton as “Lunduyan”, there was some feedback that certain members of the LGBT Advocacy Movement did not support it. Ironic that they didn’t seem keen on an LGBT Party List back then, even when LGBT activists already realized the importance of legislative advocacy and lobbying as a tool for promoting LGBT rights.

In fairness to Danton, he consulted the LGBT Community several times and offered them this opportunity for greater political participation. He went to the organized LGBT groups whose members were also veteran NGO workers in their own right, and had sufficient experience working for marginalized sectors. However, most of them were already affiliated with other political parties or party lists. This, we did not begrudge them of course, since for some, this political connection was also their source of livelihood.

Lunduyan’s Constitution was revised exhaustively prior to its being finalized. It was the basis for the organizational structure and composition of the different committees and designated officers, as well as the organization’s future platform. Upon being told that “Lunduyan” was being confused with a child rights’ NGO and does not really “sound” LGBT, Danton asked us for a term that would have better “recall”.

It was at a party at Malu’s place that I pointed out to him, “Danton, you are best known for your books…the Ladlad series. That word clearly identifies as LGBT.” “But that starts with “L”, Danton replied. “We would be listed further down the ballot that people won’t see us. It should start with an “A”, he insisted. I answered, “So put “Ang” before Ladlad, so it is more empowering. It will sound like we are claiming the right “to unfurl” ourselves as the Filipino LGBT Community.” “Oo nga, ano,” Danton said. I didn’t realize then that he would take me so seriously, just as I didn’t think Malu and the rest of LEAP would consider my suggestion to call our community/social support group as “LEAPunan” before.

From then on, Danton and the rest of the gang, Bemz included, proceeded to get the organization registered with the SEC. It’s first national convention in 2006 in anticipation of the 2007 elections, was held in UP Diliman and was well-attended by LGBT advocates albeit the very limited funds. While Angie labored over our petition for partylist accreditation, we didn’t expect the outright denial the COMELEC would give us on the basis of some technicality – that we failed to prove national membership or enough regional representation. (In truth, this was because we refused and failed to give the amount which was required of us of some powers that be.)

Yet we took this in stride, waited for another three years and proceeded to do some groundwork at the provincial level. We contacted old friends in the LGBT network and reconnected with them. We sought the new and emerging LGBT groups around the country to help us build chapters. Through it all, some people left us while others joined in. It was fortunate that for those who remained steadfast in their beliefs, they continued to be the true “anchors” of AngLadlad.

For me, the vision is very clear. AngLadlad sought partylist accreditation to get recognition that the Filipino LGBT Community is a marginalized sector deserving of better political participation. AngLadlad seeks to represent the Filipino LGBTs in Congress because it realizes the significance of having one’s own voice in political arena, because only then can we influence laws and policies that will affect us. AngLadlad knows that this is an opportunity for the LGBT Advocacy Movement for promoting LGBT rights and achieving the equality and respect we have yearned for so long already.

I can only hope that other Filipino LGBTs see these reasons as clearly as we do.

A Few Disclaimers

In the midst of the controversies surrounding AngLadlad, a few categorical statements were required of us as a way of clarifying issues. While I personally think it is unnecessary since I believe a truly intelligent person would know the difference, we acquiesced to some friends’ requests and told them what they needed to hear.

The first issue concerns questions about AngLadlad’s leadership. A few of our supporters and friends were getting confused with personalities and what the organization stands for. So we explained to them the history of AngLadlad and the necessary processes we had to go through. We also had to reassure everyone that AngLadlad is in very capable hands.As such, I took exception to some criticisms being lodged against us and the decisions that were made. I have always emphasized that we never lost track of the bigger picture and that is to look out for the interest of the LGBT Community.

Others pointed out to speculations about our political affiliations. So while we are thankful for all the support we have been getting for our LGBT causes, we had to clarify that we are not in any way connected with any partylist, politician or political group, unlike some “bogus” partylists who will now be representatives in Congress. We have been judged as “left-leaning”, “right-leaning” and being “too moderate” at some point. Be that as it may, AngLadlad is not as naïve as some people may think. It’s loyalty remains with the Filipino LGBT Community.

Some were also mistakenly affiliated with AngLadlad or were inadvertently invited to vote for AngLadlad in the last elections. For this, we apologize if this caused some inconvenience for some LGBT groups or individuals. We respect your choice for not helping out, but rest assured that we shall continue fighting for every Filipino LGBTs’ rights whether you support us or not.

Finally, we would like to disavow the notion that AngLadlad only pushes for the “gay agenda”, that lesbians are “mere passengers being taken for a ride and just being used”, and that we do not carry the transgenders’ concerns. Note that the chosen nominees were representative of the different LGBT “sectors”, and AngLadlad has always stated its desire to represent the WHOLE LGBT Community and carry ALL its causes. The insinuations that it only seeks to represent gays, or that there is a “hidden” lesbian agenda, is both malicious and divisive. AngLadlad will not tolerate such misrepresentations because we need to project a unified front. We already get negative vibes from other people; it will do us no good to cultivate in-fighting amongst ourselves.

We can only hope that a few of these disclaimers produces the goodwill we sought to generate from others. Know that AngLadlad is very grateful for the friendship, the good faith and the continuing support you have shown us. Happy Pride Month to us all!

The Turning of the Tide: A Reflection on my nephew, Tudoy

This month, some of us in my family will be celebrating our respective birthdays. But the clan’s milestones are not limited to celebrations of our natal days. There is a wedding in the family that Ate Marie once again has found a reason to make her annual visit Manila. Tudoy, my oldest nephew, is getting married to his girlfriend, Hani this May 2010.

Unlike Gayle, (and probably the rest of the Titas, including ninang Edlyn) I didn’t get a chance to get emotional during the wedding proper. I was too busy being hot and uncomfortable in my new Barong, or was too caught up taking photos with Giselle’s newest high-tech camera. But going home after dropping off Ate Annette and her family last night, the long drive to Fairview made me realize the swift passing of the days.

Not long ago, Lolo Teofing’s pride and joy was his first grandson, Tudoy – the promised bearer of his great Leonin surname. For almost three years, Manong Butch himself was under so much pressure to produce the necessary “heir”. After all, he was Daddy’s only chance at propagating his lineage. Tudoy’s arrival brought great happiness, and relief, to both Grandfathers. The result, there would be a perpetual “tug-of-war” on who gets to spend quality time with the favorite grandson.

It had Daddy driving (and almost getting lost) to far-off Pasig, back when it wasn’t as densely populated as it is now. Later, Tudoy would be brought to Kamias with his yaya Salve to spend some days with us. Around this time, Manong Butch was also being sent to Vienna, Austria and Tennessee, USA to undergo some long-term training. There was even a time that both parents were away with Ate Rhoda visiting Manong Butch in the USA, and Tudoy was shuttled between his grandparents.

Yaya Salve was quite handy being around during the early years, but Tudoy wasn’t particularly difficult to care for anyway. Even when he broke both forearms playing on the monkeybars at the playground, and both arms were in casts, he wasn’t difficult to bathe or dress. Came the day when he didn’t need to have a yaya, his Titas and the platoon of maids at Kamias were enough to watch over him. But even then, he would just play with Che and the rest of the kids at the compound, tinker with some high-tech stuff and figure out our Japanese telephone with an answering service function, or simply watch TV when told to stay indoors, and lay quietly to sleep on his designated mattress in the room Giselle and I shared with him come bedtime.

On summers when the maids would be away on their respective vacations, the Titas would be left with the household chores. As our resident ward, Tudoy would also share in the duties. He would sometimes help me clean the house and feed our 12 dogs. He would have his own apron to wear in the kitchen, and help prepare the family meals. Yes, believe or not, even at a young age, Tudoy was comfortable, and safe, in the kitchen. Never did he hurt his finger cutting up vegetables. He would help stir the casserole in the pan while standing on a beer or softdrink case, and never would he have an accident. Once, after the few vacation times spent with us, he quipped, “Tita Germaine, I always learn something new around you”.

Tudoy’s growing up years was also a chronicle of our lives. He was there when Albert, Gayle’s then persistent suitor, got caught in a rainstorm while visiting Kamias. Gayle was frying some tocino for dinner when a blackout occurred. Under the light of a few candles, Gayle couldn’t see that the meat was getting overcooked. Later, as we ate the burnt tocino, Tudoy commented insightfully about Albert, “Tita Gayle, mahal ka nga talaga niya…kinakain yung tocinong niluto mo e, …kahit sunog.”

If you are also wondering where Tudoy’s presence of mind during the Ondoy floods came from, it was also because of his exposure to the annual flooding in Kamias every rainy season. And of his computer gaming skills, heck…he introduced us to the first generation computer games like “Pacman”, “Family Feud” and “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?” back when computer monitors were green and data were stored in 5.25 floppy disks!

I would say, Gayle had every right to get teary-eyed at the ceremony and reception. She and Tudoy had a lot of bonding time after school when they were young since their buildings were quite near each other in UP Diliman - Gayle at the College of Home Economics and Tudoy at the UP Integrated School. Sometimes, they would even pick me up at the College of Law before going home to Kamias.

All these would pass too quickly, as Tudoy got accepted to Philippine Science High School and we would see less and less of him. Though once he was in college already, I would occasionally come across him at the Faculty Center or AS while I am on my way to my own MA class.

Soon after his graduation, with his new job at Shell in Batangas, the whole family came for a visit one Halloween weekend. It was just a day trip after all, but we all had a glimpse of Tudoy’s new life and his prospectively bright future.

Hani’s introduction to the rest of the family a few years later, only signaled yet another phase in Tudoy’s young life. As Hani’s now legendary waistline slowly became a perennial standard of measurement for the Titas, it was evident to us that Hani was here to stay.

Tudoy’s vows to Hani at the Church, and Roy’s very engaging toast as the Best Man at the reception, would make Lolo Teofing very proud of his grandsons had he lived to see this day.

Congratulations to the newly-weds, Tudoy and Hani! Long Live Teofilo’s Tribe!

Aftermath: The Future for AngLadlad

By and large, I believe AngLadlad and the Filipino LGBT Community won a great battle in this past elections. While AngLadlad’s real story began in 2006 (when it first applied for partylist accreditation and got denied by COMELEC for failing to show its national membership), it was the last six months prior to the May 10, 2010 elections which proved most significant to its ultimate aspiration of respect and equality for Filipino LGBTs.

AngLadlad had always played by the rules. It relied on clear Constitutional mandates for marginalized sectors and took advantage of the opportunity that the Philippines’ Party List System provided. AngLadlad gathered its LGBT membership from all around the Philippines and documented its relevant activities, as well as the required qualifications of a Party List under the law. However, certain “powers that be” in the COMELEC chose to be more obvious with their biases and homophobia to outrightly deny AngLadlad’s application.

Everyone saw through the blatant injustice being done to AngLadlad, since various “bogus” organizations claiming to represent certain sectors were getting accredited at the snap of a finger by simply forking over a couple of hundred thousand pesos. These supposed sectoral organizations did not even fall within the same category of similarly disadvantaged groups enumerated by the Constitution and the Party List law. I mean, honestly, “sabungeros” or cockfighters and LPG-users as a marginalized sector? Give me a break! And maybe balut-vendors, security guards and tricycle drivers may fall within the contemplation of the economically-marginalized “informal industry or underground economy”, but to have the Presidential sister-in-law and a Presidential son represent such sectors as its intended nominees? Come on! They should have been the first to be disqualified.

But as is our wont, in the LGBT Community, we took everything in stride. We are used to these types of prejudice after all. The only difference is, we are no longer so willing to endure it. AngLadlad challenged the COMELEC and sought the judicious guidance of the Supreme Court in the name of human rights. With the fiasco surrounding COMELEC’s erroneous decision, the everyday discrimination Pinoy LGBTs actually experience in their lives became more real for other people in the straight world. Our own families and friends, or even mere acquaintances came to understand our plight better.

Fortunately, the Highest Court in the land showed incredible progressiveness and upheld our basic rights under the law. Quoting the Solicitor-General’s own Comment to the petition, it practically chastised the COMELEC Commissioners for their gross ignorance of the law. I personally think that, had it not been a critical election year, these as..h..les should have been impeached already!

While we in AngLadlad just grinned and bore it, unbeknownst to us, there were more people supporting us and declaring themselves as our allies. They may not be as vocal since they do not completely understand our struggle, but instinctively, Filipinos knew something was not right and it was not fair to LGBTs. Touted as an underdog, the sympathy generated for AngLadlad ultimately worked in our favor. Apathetic and indifferent LGBTs finally came out in solidarity to speak in behalf of LGBT rights.

But the greater revelation came on election day when we realized our own families and relatives, classmates and workmates all came out to vote for AngLadlad. Just when we thought our parents and siblings would never come to accept or understand us, they came out in full force to make their votes count even with the long queues under the sun, risking heatstroke as they did so. We were so surprised – shocked even! We were so overwhelmed by the support they showed us, most of us were driven to tears.

In my case, my own sisters and very religious mother (who would never challenge Catholic dogma), donated some stickers as AngLadlad campaign materials. My youngest sister and cousin hung AngLadlad tarpaulins at their homes even when they never fully understood my advocacy. As a result, our whole parish in Kamias came to know about AngLadlad so that neighbors were enjoined to vote for us. My mom could have been arrested for electioneering when she continued to campaign on election day within the polling areas!

The total votes we eventually got, albeit lacking to garner us a seat in Congress, was a decent number. Our ranking was considerably dignified compared to other partylists which had greater resources. Given the late release of the SC decision, we had a mere three (count that 3!) weeks to campaign formally. Thus, all five nominees, including Danton himself, were simultaneously deployed around the Philippines to campaign – Bemz to North Luzon, Danton to the Bicol region, Cris in Mindanao proper, Dex in Leyte and Samar, and I was sent to Cebu and Davao. We alternated with press duties – giving various interviews to TV, radio and print media. Meanwhile, we had Edmond, Gelo, Patrick, and Naomi holding the fort in Manila. Malu, Ging and the rest of the lesbians from LEAP, together with Ceejay and MCC-QC pulled off three weekends’ worth of mini-motorcades around the Metro, including an LGBT Flores de Mayo.

Within this very short time, I know many others from the LGBT Community were also working, doing whatever they can do to help out. From Cagayan de Oro (c/o Norms, Louie and the rest of PLUS) to Cebu (c/o Tisha, Jubelle, and Orly), Davao (c/o Pidot and Shielfa) to Laguna (c/o Kearse and Bron), our LGBT networks and friends were hooking us up with local media and providing us whatever exposure is available.

And sorry if I will fail to mention all of you due to memory gap, (I know Marlon went to Dumaguete, Abra and Pangasinan to campaign, as well LIKHAAN within their communities), but I believe this genuine unified effort for AngLadlad galvanized something within the LGBT Advocacy Movement - a great achievement in itself! Besides the true solidarity these different LGBT groups around the country showed us, we were amazed by the support local politicians in the provinces gave us. If people are still wondering whether Abalos was correct in calling us “phantom voters”, the clear visibility we displayed proved this disgraced ex-COMELEC chairman was so wrong about us.

We must remember that we also didn’t have enough financial resources and relied mostly on donations from friends and supporters. We welcomed and are thankful for all the support we got from different people, national and local candidates alike. And while tough choices had to be made, the leadership assured everyone that final decisions were made without losing focus on our main goal – and that is, to do everything it takes to represent Pinoy LGBTs in Congress.

Yet criticisms still abound, differences and misunderstandings will continue long after this election is over. But all I can say is, Filipino LGBTs should know where their loyalties should lie because no one else can do this better than a fellow LGBT. We may all have our political leanings, but after everything is said and done, this option has already been presented to you, that your own marginalized sector should be recognized in the political realm – will you stand by and simply watch when what we are fighting for are your own rights?

This early, there is a clamor for more LGBT groups in different parts of the country for AngLadlad to visit them for proper orientations on the partylist’s goals and plans. There is also an expressed desire to organize themselves better so they can serve as better campaign mechanisms in the future. Well-off LGBTs don’t seem so complacent anymore and entrepreneurs have shown interest in helping out with fundraisings. Our families and friends have become stronger allies and supporters. Already I feel Philippine society has already changed significantly and it gives me goosebumps.

Danton Remoto’s dream for AngLadlad and of greater political participation for Filipino LGBTs will continue. On the eve of the Philippine LGBT Advocacy Movement’s 15th year this June 2010, we celebrate our diversity and remain steadfast in our desire for equality and respect. Mabuhay tayong lahat, mga kapatid!

What the Filipino LGBT Community Has Alrdy Gained

Whatever the results of the May 10 national elections would be for AngLadlad, I believe the Filipino LGBT Community has already gained so much in the last few months of the COMELEC controversy.

When AngLadlad was disqualified yet again by the COMELEC from being an accredited partylist, there was a resounding uproar from the whole country. Long labeled as "phantom voters" by Abalos, LGBTs around the Philippines all came out to denounce such fanatical religious pronouncements by the COMELEC Commissioners of the 2nd Division. LGBT organizations in the different regions came out with their own press releases expressing their dismay. Media covered these independent and simultaneous events and show of support. This proved once and for all that LGBTS are indeed all over the country. And not only did they exist, LGBTs are organized as concrete groups and established within their own communities. Long alienated from "Imperial Manila" and isolated from each other, Filipino LGBT groups in the provinces finally acknowledged their common plight and learned to work together again. After so many years, the different LGBT organizations finally became unified.

It was also an eye-opener for many apathetic and indifferent LGBTs. Young LGBTs now benefitting from years of struggle, have become too complacent and take for granted the unique "freedom" they now enjoy. Well-off LGBTs who are already "comfortable" where they are, also thought they were "immune" from homophobia. COMELEC's statements ultimately changed their minds.

The greatest thing that came out of this whole hulabaloo was the support shown by the "Straight" Community. People in professions you never expected to show such enlightenment, suddenly stood up for us. We found allies and friends in the most unusual places. You can still feel it in the air because when the Supreme Court finally issued its decision in favor of AngLadlad, the LGBT Community was not alone in its celebration.

If AngLadlad wins a seat(s) in Congress, that would be just an icing on the cake for me. The unity and seeming acceptance we could not achieve in 15 years worth of advocacy happened in just a few months. I believe Filipinos, LGBTs and straights alike, would want AngLadlad to win because it is an honest to goodness representative of a marginalized sector. I think the Filipino people would not want to deny anyone his/her human rights or his rightful place in society..in the midst of adversity, we are a happy people after all.