I hope that someday the gays would have parades that would match the ones that the REDS have in our school. I don't think they would adher to common ways to spread the word and they can make the UP Oblation Run pale in comparison. ^.^ But I also know that they can motivate and encourage their other friends, gay or straight, to be better than who they are and to stop complaining about their non-existent problems.
Why be emo when you can be happy or gay? *yes, pun intended*
To my friends who are OUT and PROUD, kuddos to you.
To those whom I know and love who are still in the closet, don't make me drag you by the hair. ^.^
To young Maximos, it's okay to be confused and to not know what you really want. That is part of being young. Just remember that you are who you are for no other reason but because God has a plan for you. It's up to you if you are going to be obedient or you are going to pretend to be someone you are not.
I don't suggest the later.
To my darling gay friends *too long a list to enumerate and I might mention someone who is still not super OUT*, I love you exactly for who you are and sometimes I wonder why I can't handle straight men then I realize you guys spoiled me rotten.
To my lesbian buddies, never let anyone tell you that you have to love a man to be the best that you can be. Love is love and the person you love is the only one who can tell you when you can stop loving them.
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Pink Sheep |
Remarks by Ambassador Harry K. Thomas, Jr. at the LGBT Pride Month Reception, June 14, 2011
Magandang gabi sa inyong ang lahat!
I am gay.
I am gay.
I am gay.
Three little words.
Six letters.
Three syllables.
It is not a phrase that trips the tongue. It is not a phrase that should take lifetimes to utter.
But my friends, these are some of the hardest words in the English language—in any language—for many of our friends, colleagues, and family members.
And this should not stand.
Our loved ones, our friends and our colleagues fear expressing their sexuality, condemned instead to a lifetime of anxiety and repression.
This should not be.
They are our brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers. Aunts and uncles.
Sons.
Daughters.
These are not nameless, faceless members of a foreign or forgotten race. They are our families and our friends. And they are scared to be who they are.
They fear expressing their sexuality. They cannot tell their own loved ones who they really are. And I regret that there are those even in our Embassy community who fear coming out and expressing their true selves.
Why? Because instead of expressing our love for all human beings, we choose instead to ostracize and exclude.
This will not continue.
Tonight, coming here together in this house for the first time, we are breaking new ground. It should give us pause to reflect how LGBT persons across the world, in every country, from every culture, are breaking new ground every day, and breaking courageously through the barriers that hold them back. As Saint Teresa of Avila once said, “To have courage for whatever comes in life -- everything lies in that.”
Yet even with courage, many of us still struggle to overcome prejudices driven by factors no human can control: the color of our skin, the expression of our gender, and the nature of our sexuality. While these prejudices are very real to us, many in the world can never understand.
And the reaction by that world to those struggling with such prejudice is both disappointing and disheartening: “You are imagining things,” they say. “It’s not as bad as you say it is, and if it is, it’s not my fault.”
That one’s core being can be such an affront to others is one of the greatest tragedies of humankind.
It is a tragedy not only because of the pain and suffering it causes, but because it prevents people from doing, being, and becoming their best. Sa diskriminasyon, maraming likas na galing at talino ang nasasayang.
Discrimination based on difference, whether it's age, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion, is wrong. It deprives society of some of its most creative and productive members; it demoralizes communities. It shatters families.
It is not acceptable, and it should not be tolerated.
The ambitious spirit of the Philippines' LGBT community will no doubt carry it over these and other challenges. Americans know from centuries of experience that the march against discrimination and prejudice is long and difficult, and sometimes it feels never-ending.
But we also know that every step forward makes life a little better here and now -- and most certainly for future generations who will look back and marvel at the sacrifices and advances you all made, wondering at how you managed to accomplish so much.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am not tonight asking you to leave shouting that you are gay; I am not asking you to endanger yourselves in the face of other peoples’ hatred and blindness. But I am asking you leave this place on this night with one thought and one goal: to protect and love someone. Love is what matters; gender is not important.
In his Gay Pride Month proclamation, President Obama called upon Americans to eliminate prejudice everywhere it exists, and to celebrate our great diversity. Those are goals worthy of all people, everywhere, and I hope all of you here tonight will join me in their pursuit.
We are all different, but we must embrace and respect our differences. We must come together through the very emotion that makes us human: love.
Bakla ako.
Tomboy ako.
Bakla kayo.
Tomboy kayo.
Pero lahat tayo ay tao.
Maraming salamat po.
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