The Rainbow Blog Philippines

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Get ready for a Rainbow Exchange like you've never experienced before Rainbow Rights Project, Inc. together with Defense Specialists and Radar Pridewear bring you Pride&Power 1! Basic self-defense workshop for lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women Join us on August 29, 2009 on the FBR Arcade Roofdeck from 1-4PMAnd enjoy an action-packed afternoon as trained martial artiststeach you basic defensive moves against assailants using only your hands or your I.D. card! Limited slots available! RSVP to 09065222995 on or before Aug 26 ! (Only two slots per RSVP will be accommodated. Sparring partners may RSVP using only one number.) See you there! *Pride&Power is a series of self-defense workshops for LGBT

The MCC or the Metropolitan Community Church is a Christian denomination with special ministry for members of the LGBT (lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender) community. Metropolitan Community Church is a place for all people. It is our founding belief that all are welcome at the table whether they are GLBT, Straight, Questioning, a member of MCC, a member of another church, or not affiliated with a church at all. The love of God is NOT conditional. All are welcome! MCC Quezon City (MCCQC) was established on September 13, 2006 by Pastor Ceejay Agbayani Jr. as a mission program of the Makati-based MCC Philippines, the first MCC in Asia. On May 30, 2008, the members of the MCCQC have resolved to become independent, and by July 5th crafted its own by-laws. Last September 14, 2008, during its 2nd church anniversary, MCCQC became a full affiliate church of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), while Pastor Ceejay Agbayani Jr. was ordained in a ceremony presided by ...

The last time I rooted for the Philippines' candidate in the Miss Universe was around a decade ago in 2000 during the reign of Binibining (Bb.) Pilipinas Universe Nina Ricci Alagao. Nina was a model at that time and just graduated from the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman. The first time I saw her on TV, I thought, "You go girl! Show them how it's done." Nina was very sassy during the pageant night. She moved and behaved like a winner and looked like she was just having fun. I totally loved her personality. I loved her so much that for an undergrad class at UP, I insisted we interviewed Nina. She was a riot in person. She was funny, cheeky and really smart. I was very sad when her name was not called among the 10 or 15 semi-finalists during the Miss Universe pageant in Cyprus. One of the hosts said they were expecting to see Miss Philippines make the cut. But alas, Nina didn't make it. After Nina, nobody who held the Bb. Pilipinas Universe crown caugh...

When I was in college at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, one of the exciting things to look forward to every semester was the Alternative Classroom Learning Experience (ACLE). The ACLE was conceptualized by the University Student Council (USC) as a respite from the tedium of students' regular classes. It started out as a yearly activity which later became a semestral one. Every semester, the USC coordinates with different student organizations that volunteer to hold various fora on topics of their choice. The idea is for each organization (or in students' speak, org) to exercise as much freedom as possible and talk about issues that are not the usual fodder for classroom discussion. The best-selling ones would usually be around sexuality, religion, and politics. Of course, there is more to choose from than that. Classes are suspended during the ACLE; but students who have classes on the day in which it falls are required by their teachers to attend an ACLE se...

I just read from someone's email in a community mailing group that it seems that the "serial killer" who has been targeting gay men and who has not yet been apprehended by police has struck again. Around three to four years ago, if I'm not mistaken, several gay men were found dead via multiple stab wounds in their apartments around the Quezon City area. The victims included a fashion designer, TV producer, hair stylist and many others. There were rumors that have remained unconfirmed until now that one of the killer's victims was, in fact, a priest. The serial killer angle came to a head when one of the alleged victims' stories was solved. That person was someone I knew personally: Larry Estandarte. Larry was one of the founding members of the University of the Philippines (UP) Babaylan, the first LGBT students' organization in the UP system. By the time I became a member of UP Babaylan, Larry was already one of our alumni members and had long been working...

Finally, the World Outgames 2009 is over and I am back home safe. I am still nursing my jet lag though. I flew into Manila on Monday afternoon, August 3, and I have been very sleepy and lethargic since. Every night beginning Monday, I have been waking up at around 3 am. I would then be up for an hour or so (sometimes more) until sleep beckons again. The last week has been really hellish. I have not slept well and have been waking up bedraggled and a little haggard so I hope to overcome this within the week. As I promised in my last post, I will talk about the 2nd International Conference on LGBT Human Rights. The conference was the main reason why I went to Copenhagen. It was one of three tracks that the Outgames offered to its participants, the other two being Sports and Culture. The conference was scheduled from July 27-29 and those three days covered 6 plenary sessions (one in the morning and one in the afternoon of each day) and more than 100 workshops dealing with nine conferenc...