Ravishing realm

It’s a scene that could have come straight (so to speak) from the heart of macholand Philippines---a father so disgusted by the homosexuality of his son that he brings his son to a prostitute and forces him to prove his masculinity, perhaps hoping that the sexperience will be enough to make him see the light.

But it didn’t happen here – it happened in the first world country that is Australia.

In Rockhampton, Queensland, a father arranged for a prostitute to meet with him and his 14-year old son at a motel. This was meant to counter his fear that his son was gay, and introduce him to his missing education. He closets them inside the room, while he stays in the balcony, and then demands to see a used condom as proof that the girl’s done what she’s supposed to do.

As if that’s not enough, the unnamed father reports his son to the police, suspicious that his gay son is abusing a younger brother. When nothing is done, he again phones the same police unit to ask why they haven’t done anything about his suspicions. In the course of the conversation, the father reportedly tells the officer that he had taken matters into his own hands: The prostitute.

But perhaps that is where the difference lies between our country and theirs. In this country, a police officer might very well have said, ‘Attaboy, my good man, you’re doing the right thing!’ Maybe even something like: “Let me know how it works. I’ll recommend it to the boys here if it’s successful.”

In Australia, however, that didn’t happen. In fact, the police officer who took the call “warned” the father about what he did (no details on the nature of that warning) and then she investigated the incident by interviewing the mother and the gay kid. The result: The judicial system has now pronounced that there is enough evidence against the father for him to be tried for the rape of his son.

What an astonishing turn of events.   If this had happened in this country, I’m afraid that the prosecutor might have laughed the charges away, and maybe even bought the father a beer. Especially with the current mindset now prevailing in government bureaucracy, where a gay political party is unable to register because the Commission on Elections, the government body tasked to accredit political parties, thinks them immoral to deserve such accreditation.

As everyone knows, from the Comelec en banc, that case is soon to be raised to the Supreme Court. (Or maybe it’s been appealed already, except that I haven’t seen any news about it.) Thus, the fate of potential gay representation in Congress will soon hang in the hands of our august institution. Hopefully, the wait will not be too long, as a delayed decision may also result in the case being mooted, and Ladlad effectively disqualified – and it will be another three years before gay parties can again seek to be represented in Congress. 

Somehow, I think the trial of the father in Queensland, Australia will be resolved sooner than that.

There is one revelation here that I feel has not been bruited about enough. I am referring to the Second Division of the Comelec, the one of Goyo Larrazabal’s, which unanimously voted to overturn the First Division’s original decision to disqualify Ladlad. Larrazabal opined that Ladlad’s alleged immorality should not have been used to disqualify it, and this opinion then forced Chairman Jose Melo to show his (prejudiced) hand by casting the vote to break the tie – unfortunately, in favor of the bigots. (I swear, if there’s one thing President Arroyo did right this year, it was to swear in Larazzabal as Commissioner.) 

It might be stretching it to compare Commissioner Larrazabal with the Australian police officer that decided to stick up for the rights of the 14-year old boy. It sure is tempting, though. But whether they do stand in the same shoes or not, I am afraid that, unlike in Australia, it is entirely possible that there will be no justice brought against the gay rights rapists in this realm.