Gays march for ‘safer space’ in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community yesterday led an annual pride march in the University of the Philippines (UP) campus in Diliman, Quezon City.

The march comes on the heels of a United States Supreme Court ruling striking down a federal provision that denies benefits for legally married gay couples and a California state law that banned gay marriage.

Arjay Mercado, head of the gender committee of the UP Diliman Student Council, said this year’s march focuses on their campaign for safer spaces for gays in the university and the country.

“We need policies in the university and the rest of the country that will recognize the rights of the LGBTs” and safeguard them from discrimination, Mercado said.

Around a hundred members of different organizations participated in the march, which has the theme “Live Free. You’re Safe in UP.”

Gay marriage?

When asked about the possibility of pushing for gay marriage in the Philippines, Rod Singh – president of the UP-based LGBT organization Babaylan – said it is not the proper time to actively campaign for it.

“We need to push for equality and anti-discrimination first,” he said.

Mercado said approving same sex marriage at this point would result in “second-rate” marriages for gay couples because of society’s general perception of homosexuals.

The two also reacted to the recent US Supreme Court decision.

“Hopefully, there will come a time that the LGBT community in the Philippines will campaign for such rights,” Singh said.

Mercado said that while the US is already in that level of debate, our country is still talking about the “legitimacy” of the members of the LGBT community.

UP law professor Harry Roque Jr., however, believes there is hope for legalizing gay marriage in the country.

“The Philippines has adopted US jurisprudence in the rights to privacy and equal protection, which became the basis of the US Supreme Court ruling,” he told The STAR.

Roque said while this cause remains a long shot, a legal victory in the Philippine Supreme Court under the same circumstances with that in the US case could be possible.

 â€œPetitioner simply has to file a case to declare the Family Code unconstitutional based on that US jurisprudence,” he suggested.