COTABATO CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Government officials in Cotabato and other cites in the Philippines have categorically denied rumors that gay men will be rounded up following the May 9 presidential elections.
The rumors started spreading on social media after Cotabato City local officials announced they were conducting ‘Oplan Baklas.’ (Operation Gay Men)
It turns out that indeed, the plan did round up and rid the city not of gay men but of campaign posters and paraphernalia. It was part of a city-wide clean-up drive after the elections. Similar clean-up campaigns were launched in many parts of the country.
‘Baklas’ which is plural for gay men also means to “remove” or “dismantle.”
De Castro, left, with co-anchors Korina Sanchez and Ted Failon (photo: ABS-CBN)
MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – He is a news anchor on a morning radio show and a prime-time television broadcast. He was also a former Vice President of the Philippines. But that doesn’t mean he can’t be ignorant about the LGBT community, particulary about transgender people.
Last Wednesday, Noli de Castro earned the ire of the LGBT community and many netizens after making what was described as a discriminatory remark during his morning radio show.
In referring to Geraldine Roman who on May 9 was elected the country’s first transgender member of the House of Representatives, De Castro said, “Di siya woman, di siya man. Eh di congressperson?”(Neither a woman nor a man. Therefore congressperson?)
After being deluged with criticism over his remarks, De Castro immediately took a leave of absence from his anchoring job and flew to the Francisco Bay Area where he is expected to undergo a week-long sensitivity training on transgender issues at the Transgender Law Center.
“I don’t claim to know everything about transgender people, so I am open to be more educated about the community,” he said as he boarded a Philippine Air Lines flight to the City by the Bay.
(From the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD media reference guide: “Reporters should use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth. If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.” (see AP & New York Times Style)
When describing transgender people, please use the correct term or terms to describe their gender identity.
For example, a person who was assigned male at birth and transitions to living as a woman is a transgender woman, whereas a person who was assigned female at birth and transitions to living as a man is a transgender man. If someone prefers a different term, use it along with an explanation of what that term means to them.)
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (The Adobo Chronicles, San Francisco Bureau) – Filipino boxer and presumptive senator-elect Manny Pacquiao had said that gay people who engage in same sex are “worse than animals.” An American woman legislator is worse than Manny Pacquiao.
Newcivilrightsmovemet.com reports:
State Rep. Sally Kern on Wednesday stood in the Oklahoma House chamber and delivered a speech announcing that gay people are worse than terrorists – again. The 69-year old Baptist was delivering her retirement address and her colleagues did not object or interrupt.
“Yes in 2008 I did say that the homosexual agenda is worse than terrorism,” Kern admitted in her speech Wednesday. “Now we all know that terrorism destroys lives, property and brings devastation. Just look at where we are today in our society. A man who feels like a woman can go into a ladies’ restroom now. A florist, a baker, a photographer are being ruined financially because they wouldn’t participate in a same-sex wedding, since it goes against their sincerely held religious beliefs. Same-sex marriage has been forced on every single state by the courts,” Kern lamented.
She claimed that “in schools all across the nation children are being encouraged to try the homosexual lifestyle and even to play-act being the opposite sex, because they could be a transgender. And homosexuals are even wanting churches to be punished for just sharing what the bible says if it contradicts what they want,” she claimed. Kern did not offer any proof.
“I didn’t apologize in 2008 and I don’t apologize today either because God’s word has not changed. Things are worse today than they were then and I’m afraid they’re going to just get worse.”
Let’s just say that either legislator is no better than the other, period.
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (The Adobo Chronicles, San Francisco Bureau) – Filipino boxer and presumptive senator-elect Manny Pacquiao had said that gay people who engage in same sex are “worse than animals.” An American woman legislator is worse than Manny Pacquiao.
The Adobo Chronicles 
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