Ang Ladlad woos Cebuano voters

CEBU, Philippines - A portion of the sky was filled with pink balloons yesterday as the Ang Ladlad Partylist held a ceremonial releasing of balloons at the Fuente Circle as form of prayer for clean elections on May 10.

Less than 20 members of the Ang Ladlad Partylist here in Cebu City released the pink balloons in the sky before disembarking to start their motorcade around the city and the province.

Ang Ladlad yesterday toured the city and went to the northern and southern part of the province to campaign. Motorcades from strategic locations such as Mandaue and Danao cities joined them.

In an interview, Orly Cajegas, Ang Ladlad spokesperson for Central Visayas, said that they want to promote equality amongst genders, whether straight or not, and want discrimination against the gay community to stop.

Ang Ladlad partylist is a political party composed of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT) community. They made headlines last year when the Commission on Elections (Comelec) disqualified them to run as a partylist on the grounds of immorality.

  “We’ve been misunderstood by the Catholic Church,” Cajegas said, explaining that most members of the partylist have Catholic faiths. He said that pushing same-sex marriage is not even in their platform and is not an immediate plan for the group.

“We’re pushing for equality and anti-discrimination,” he added referring to their main goal when elected. At present, Ang Ladlad has at least 30,000 official members nationwide who pay annual dues to the organization.

 Members of the partylist who joined the motorcade wore pink shirts and had pink ribbons around their arms.

 Cajegas said that they chose the color pink because it is the color most associated with the gay community. According to him, it also represents neutrality.

 He said that although their group is endorsing Liberal Party standard bearer Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino for president, they are not imposing it on their members. “We encourage individuality,” Cajegas said.

 The partylist’s logo is a colorful butterfly, which Cajegas said, represents the metamorphosis of discrimination. The ugliness of discrimination is like that of a tiny caterpillar which someday would become a beautiful butterfly. “That is where our inspiration is coming from,” Cajegas said.

 According to him, they need the support of other people because the LGBT are truly a marginalized sector.

 “We need a representation right now,” Cajegas said, adding that no matter how people deny it, LGBT exists and they need equal rights like everybody else.

On Monday, the Ladlad Partylist will hold a grand rally at Barrio Luz where a conservative estimate of 50,000 people will join them.(FREEMAN NEWS)