Gays sing carols at bishops' palace: Keep LGBT protections in Senate Anti-Discrimination Bill

Now an article at GMAnetwork. See it here. See the Pinknews.co.uk article here. See the Manila Bulletin article here. See the SunStar article here. Check out the Youtube video here.

Gays sing carols at bishops' palace: Keep LGBT protections in Senate Anti-Discrimination Bill

MANILA - LESBIAN, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) activists and their allies in the human rights community broke out in song at the palace of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) this Thursday morning to call on the prelates to halt opposing the inclusion of their protections in the proposed Senate version of the Anti-Discrimination Law.

Donned in their gay apparel of jolly reds and greens, members of the Ladlad partylist and other LGBT groups brandished large stockings that symbolized their clamor for Christmas wishes of equal rights and non-discrimination. For a time, the carolers occupied the COMELEC park with an MTV-inspired choreographed musical.

"We sing our carols not only for bishops and senators, but also we want the Filipino people to fill our socks and our hearts with blessings of equality by approving the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity, or SOGI, in the Senate Bill (SB) 2814 or the Anti-Ethnic, Racial or Religious Discrimination and Profiling Act of 2011," Bemz Benedito, Ladlad chairwoman, told the press.

The CBCP came out recently against the bill claiming that SOGI is a personal choice of LGBTs and do not need legal safeguards. The bishops have also traditionally maintained in the nine years that pro-gay bills have tried to pass in Congress that equality bills will lead to same-sex marriage.

LGBT groups however countered that SOGI is a deeply ingrained attribute and that many homosexuals and transgenders suffer lifelong violations of human rights from a bigoted majority, prompting them to campaign for legislative action.

The activists took turns singing medleys of traditional Filipino and English tunes rewritten with witty lyrics that sounded out their demands. Jingle Bells was rewritten this way: We want you to know, that lesbians and gays/ Transgenders and bi's, have equal human rights/ Don't discriminate, we need more love, not hate/
All we want for Christmas is our equal human rights! (Chorus) Human rights, human rights, we want human rights!/ Lesbian, gay, transgender, bi have equal human rights!