Gays,
Lesbians Hit Gov’t Inaction on Killings
“June has always been a ‘pride month’ for gays and lesbians all over the
world, but this time around, Filipino lesbians and gays cannot afford to
be celebratory when our freedom-loving brothers and sisters are facing
threats of murder and state terrorism,” Julie Palaganas of the Lesbians
for National Democracy (Lesbond) said.
BY NORTHERN DISPATCH
Posted by Bulatlat
NO TO KILLINGS:
Militant gays and lesbians in Baguio City stage a die-in protest
against human rights abuses, June 28
NORDIS PHOTO |
BAGUIO CITY —
Lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBTs) in Baguio City (246 kms
north of Manila) are protesting political killings all over the country,
saying these are ultimately violations of their civil and political rights
and even their gender rights.
Clad in black with
their faces painted in the colors of the rainbow, progressive LGBT groups
in Baguio City marched through Session Road on June 28 protesting
political killings all over the country as LGBT communities worldwide
celebrated Stonewall Uprising’s 37th anniversary.
|
In a joint manifesto,
different LGBT organizations here hit the Arroyo administration for
failing to address political assassinations and repression. They also
criticized President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s all-out-war policy, saying
it is not the solution to the country’s present crisis.
Since the imposition
of martial law, there has been no such blatant and outright display of
brutal force against government critics, the LGBT groups stated in their
manifesto. “The killings and persecution has a strong effect on the
recognition and exercise of our basic political and civil rights as
lesbians and gays. It reinforces the culture of violence which denies us
of our rights to express our opinions and freely organize and assemble,”
the manifesto read.
“June has always been
a ‘pride month’ for gays and lesbians all over the world, but this time
around, Filipino lesbians and gays cannot afford to be celebratory when
our freedom-loving brothers and sisters are facing threats of murder and
state terrorism,” Julie Palaganas of the Lesbians for National Democracy (Lesbond)
said.
Palaganas also urged
local and international human rights groups to look into the political
repression and the murder of political activists.
The LGBT groups
stated that during the Stonewall Uprising on June 27, 1969, some 2,000
lesbians and gays fought around 400 police after a series of raids in gay
bars in the Greenwich Village in New York. After this, LGBTs actively
organized and participated in militant activism denouncing not only
discrimination and homophobia in the United States but also unemployment,
violence and war.
Members of Lesbond,
Progressive Gays of the Philippines (Pro Gay), Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP),
Bisexuals for National Democracy (Bind) under the Gays and Lesbians for
the Immediate Tsugi of Gloria (Galit-Gloria), Men in Purple (MIP),
Gabriela Youth (GY) and some advocates joined the said protest action.
Meanwhile, lesbian
and gay organizations and individuals in premier cities as Quezon, Davao,
Baguio and Cotabato, launched a signature campaign calling on all gays and
lesbians to join the bandwagon condemning the disturbing political
killings in the country. Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat
BACK TO
TOP ■
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION ■
COMMENT
© 2006 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Media Center
Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided
its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
