All posts by Pol Pinoy

Diversity

Senator Tito Sotto Comes Out: “I’m LGBTQ+C”

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MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Who’d ever think that the Philippines’ Senate President, an icon of showbiz’s macho culture, would finally come out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community?

It happened during Senate deliberations on the proposed SOGIE (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression) Bill which aims to ban and penalize discriminatory practices directed at the LGBTQ+ community.

Expressing frustration about having to figure out what LGBTQ+ stands for, Senator Tito Sotto admitted that he, too, is a member of the LGBTQ+C community —“C” meaning “confused.”

It wasn’t immediately clear whether he meant he was confused about the terminology that describes the different groups within the gay community, or if he was confused about his own gender identity.

He suggested that the community be referred to instead as “homo sapiens,” since “what we’re discussing, really, is homosexuality.”

Social Media

Urban Dictionary’s Latest Word Addition: Ressa

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MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – The crowd-sourced Urban Dictionary has added a new word: Ressa.

Inspired by the true-to-life Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler, the new listing defines Ressa as a noun that means: a cheat, liar, tax-evader.

It is also an adjective that means: delusional, attention-deficient, fake.

A spokesperson for Rappler told The Adobo Chronicles that a champagne reception was held at the online news source’ s offices to celebrate their boss’ inclusion in the dictionary. “It’s another feather on her cap,” he said.

 

Gender, Government, LGBT

Preempting SOGIE: Baguio City Council Passes SOGO

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BAGUIO CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Baguip Bureau) – The Summer Capital of the Philippines has become infamous because of controversial ordinances passed by its City Councilors and signed into law by the Mayor.

The ordinances include ‘no cussing’ and ‘no use of electronic gadgets while walking the streets of Baguio. At some point the local officials were also considering a Barangay proposal to ban the public hanging of underwear to dry.

Now,  Baguio City Hall, in a move to preempt the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) Bill now being deliberated on in the Philippine Senate, has passed its own local ordinance in support of the LGBT community.

The new law is called SOGO — Sexual Orientation and Gender Ordinance — which outlines comprehensive measures to prevent and outlaw discriminatory practices directed at LGBTs.

While LGBT advocates praised the new ordinance, a popular budget hotel chain is suing the city government for trademark infringement. The hotel chain, of course, is SOGO.