RP Gays Back US Lesbian Couple

Agnes Donato | Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE PROGRESSIVE Organization of Gays in the Philippines (ProGay) yesterday trashed the Family Code for being "outdated" as it rallied support behind a lesbian couple from the United States who were denied a family visa to the Philippines. "We sympathize with Ms Susan Trask Lamb and Ms Chantale Yok-Min Wong. It's really saddening that they should be treated like this here," ProGay president Oscar Atadero told the Inquirer in a telephone interview. Lamb and Wong, who is alternate director for the US in the Manila-based Asian Development Bank, are legally married under the laws of the state of Vermont in the United States. Their application for a family visa was turned down after Justice Secretary Hernando Perez issued an opinion that under the Constitution the word "family" was used in the Family Code to mean "a stable heterosexual relationship." Atadero said the Family Code, which was passed during the Aquino administration, should be replaced immediately because it no longer applied to the situation of most family units now. "Because of the Family Code's limited definition of a family, a significant portion of the population does not enjoy the benefits that should be extended to them," the ProGay leader explained. He explained that many family units now are composed of single parents and their child/children, grandparents and grandchildren, or gay and lesbian couples. "Congress should immediately passed laws giving gays and lesbians access to all rights being enjoyed by heterosexuals, including the right to establish a family," he added. Atadero also urged legislators to allow domestic partners whose marriage is recognized in other countries to establish a family here in the Philippines in accordance with the International Declaration of Human Rights. Atadero said it was "high time that member governments who compose the ADB's policy-making board to put in their corporate agenda an inclusive workplace benefit regime that will enhance the humanity of homosexual, bisexual and transgender employees working for ADB offices, suppliers and contractors. "It behooves emerging Asian economies to start treating their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members as equal citizens," Atadero said. But since it would take a while for Asian governments to remove gender-based discrimination from their laws, Atadero said the private sector should take the lead in extending employment benefits to sexual minorities. He suggested that the ADB become a model employer by drafting comprehensive guidelines for the protection of its gay and lesbian staff. ProGay along with other gay groups from other countries recently received an award from the Thailand-based Utopia Pride Group "for leading the fight for gay and lesbian rights in the Asia-Pacific region."