The Bakla’s answers to our questions
Managed to nag Danton into answering our questions; he only managed a few before he was dragged away for another interview. Hopefully we will get more answers in the days to come.
Newsflash: Ang Ladlad has just announced that they are supporting Noynoy Aquino for President and Jejomar Binay for Vice President. Does this alter your opinion of Ang Ladlad?
Jessica: Darling, why do we need a gay party list? Aren’t gay people already in power? One might argue that people aren’t oppressed for being gay, they’re oppressed for being poor.
Danton: The poverty of the LGBTs (lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgendered) reflects the poverty of most Filipinos. This was also asked of me in Comelec. Hairdressers don’t get the minimum wage. They get a pittance, and make money mostly from tips. Same goes for casual LGBT salesclerks who are the last to become permanent workers, if at all, in our department stores.
There are no anti-homosexual laws in the Philippines, but the Labor Code is silent on violations of LGBTs in hiring and firing in the workplace. There are other similar legal codes that do not protect LGBTs from discrimination in the schools, workplace and getting of licenses to work or to practice a profession.
Jessica: Why should we vote for Ang Ladlad when you’re not their nominee? Explain again why you’re no longer eligible to sit as congressgay?
Danton: I cannot run for party list because I lost in my bid for Congressman in May of 2007. The Party List Law, or Republic Act 7941, forbids a person who has lost in a previous election from being a party list representative. So I can only run in 2013.
Continued in Comments.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
April 20th, 2010 at 09:50
Jessica: Do you think closeted gays and eskaparate queens (gays living in glass closets) should be outed? They have no right to privacy?
Danton: We also have straight people in our membership roster. But we also have closeted ones who have signed up and asked us to keep their names off the official list. We have to respect this choice, because some of them might lose their inheritance, or not be promoted in their jobs (as they claim) if they are known as out homosexuals.
Asoroleon: …and let’s never forget the brilliant Carlo argument in favor of re-repressing homos because, as he puts it: “If gays are no longer persecuted and ostracized, then aren’t we ushering in the era of mediocre homosexuals who are no longer pressured to excel and stand out as a way of overcompensating for how society looks down on them.” Mustn’t we all join Carlo’s chant to “Persecute the homos! Pahirapan ang mga bading upang muli silang magmagaling!”
Wltrrbls: Asoroleon, the age of the mediocre homosexual is here. They’re all hanging out in Starbucks after their call center shifts and before they hit Fitness First. You can see them wearing Bench Fix haircuts and the latest cuts of Folded and Hung singlets. You can’t avoid hearing their loud American accents.
Momelia: You can’t be any more spot on than that, wltrrbls. Really, these homos are giving the rest of us fags-to-the-core a bad name. Seriously. I do technical support as some kinky night job, but I don’t do none of these social climbing shit.
Danton: Mediocrity — as well as excellence — is found everywhere. Well, there must be more mediocrity now because people read less and, therefore, think less. That is why one of our projects is to set up centers in key cities that would contain a library and information storehouse on HIV-AIDS and LGBT issues as well as gay and lesbian literature.
Curvy: I had thought Danton Remoto was Ladlad’s nominee. Tell us about Benedito Leonin Lopera.
Danton: Our nominees are Bemz Benedito, MA Sociology graduate of Ateneo; Germaine Leonin, UP Law School graduate; Cris Lopera, HIV-AIDS and NOG leader in Mindanao; Naomi Fontanos, MA Education, UP Diliman; and Dexter Macaldo, media officer from the Visayas.
Keanoidd: Danton, if you are not the one running, what will be your role in Ang Ladlad when it wins in Congress? Will you have significant influence in the decision-making process of Benedito, Leonin, and Lopera?
Nastypen: If there’s a victory, what will you do on the first year in office?
Lavalounge: Tell us about the priority bills that ang ladlad would file in congress for its first 100 days…
Danton: I am the Chairman of Ang Ladlad. I will be the Officer-in-Charge of our congressmen/women. We are bound to follow our platform, which is equal rights for all. The five programs are:
a. Re-file the Anti-Discrimination Bill that criminalizes oppression of LGBTs i n the workplace, schools and getting of licenses to work or start a business;
b. Set up Homes for the Golden Gays, or Elderly Gays, in the key cities of the country to provide them with medical care, housing, and care;
April 20th, 2010 at 09:51
c. Set up centers for information on HIV-AIDS, legal aid, counseling, and library/audio-visual centers for LGBT issues;
d. Set up micro-finance and livelihood projects for poor and physically handicapped LGBTs;
e. Support LGBT-friendly businesses and initiatives; and
f. Repeal the Anti-Vagrancy Law that some authorities use to extort money from gay and bisexual men.
Jeg: Are you going to push for your pork barrel funds? If yes, how would you use them?
Danton: The pork barrel funds will go to the abovementioned projects.
Nastypen: What has been the reception of Ang Ladlad from the people that you met during your campaign?
Danton: My straight friends are correct when they said that Philippine media’s coverage of Ang Ladlad vs. Comelec was sober, serious and objective. That is the direction I wanted it to be, that is why in our media interviews, we always talked about facts, documentation, statistics, the law. Of course, some media people would throw these statements out of the editing table, and just retain the delicious, short sound-bites that we also have to say to make the interview alive and spontaneous.
Alan: Danton, ako, ang aking misis at ang aming anak ay boboto ng Ang Ladlad para sa party list. Pero, wala ‘ata kaming naririnig na suporta mula sa mga sikat na tulad nina Kuya Germs, Boy Abunda, Ricky Reyes, Pitoy, Aiza, Lady Valerie atbp? Sana makuha ang kanilang endorsement para sigurado ang panalo.
Danton: Boy Abunda and the other entertainment people cannot support us openly because it is ABS-CBN policy. They should be paid for their endorsement, and cannot work for free for campaigns. This was a policy enunciated beginning February of 2010. But let me assure you that our LGBT brothers and sisters are helping us fund the campaign.
To be continued. . .maybe.
Satisfied with these answers?
April 20th, 2010 at 13:10
What happens if Ang Ladlad doesn’t get enough votes?