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Subject: Communist Party officiates first gay marriage in the Philippines - msg#00092List: culture.india.sarai.reader
Perhaps progress is possible after all...
V Philippine Daily Inquirer 7 Feb 05 http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=26688 Reds officiate first gay marriage in NPA By Rolando B. Pinsoy Inquirer News Service DARE to struggle, dare to win ... as married gays. After raiding a few Army camps, two communist guerrillas hid in a forest gorge and fell in love. Deeply. That was three years ago. On Friday, under a romantic drizzle in a muddy clearing in Compostela Valley province in Mindanao, Ka Andres and Ka Jose exchanged vows in a heavily guarded ceremony before local villagers, friends from the city and their comrades in arms. They are considered the first homosexual couple in the New People's Army (NPA) who were wed by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). During the "wedding," sponsors draped a sequined CPP flag around the couple's shoulders. The flag was held in place by a long, beaded cord which also went around the couple and the sponsors -- symbolizing that their marriage would be made stronger with the help of comrades and the masses. Andres held a bullet, as did Jose and each other's hands. The bullets represented their "commitment in the armed struggle." Throughout the ceremony, a choir serenaded them with revolutionary love songs. After they signed their "wedding contract," the newlyweds kissed amid the usual applause. Jose recalled the day he first visited the NPA camp for his revolutionary integration -- a practice resorted to by city-based revolutionary activists before their deployment in the countryside. This was the first time he met Andres, who was preparing audio-visual materials for a basic revolutionary education seminar. Jose was young and had a sexist, macho attitude and thought Andres was a typical tiguwang bayot (old gay), an object of scorn and ridicule. Andres, an education instructor in the movement, was busy with his work and did not take too much notice of Jose. Besides, Andres already had a boyfriend. Later, the two started to discuss politics. "I began to understand the revolution and why gays are discriminated by society," Jose said in an interview. Started as friends When Jose's integration program ended, he decided to join the NPA. It was Andres who accompanied him to the armed unit -- his first assignment. They met several times during education training. At the start, it was purely a comradely interaction. Later, it became romantic. "I realized he was caring and malambing (affectionate). He would never leave me in times of difficulty," Jose said. Andres recalled when they both got separated from their comrades on their way to get supplies. It was raining and Andres spent the night alone in the forest without provisions. The following day, he ran into Jose, who had also spent the night in the woods, looking for him. 'Sweetheart' Jose once confided to Andres that sometimes, he would find himself attracted to female comrades. "I don't get jealous. Even if we are away from each other for months because of the nature of our respective works. I trust him," Andres said. Neither is their age gap an issue. Jose is 21 while Andres is 54. They call each other "sweetheart." "Andres helps me overcome the challenges and to become strong politically and ideologically," Jose said. When the couple realized they were falling in love, they immediately sought the approval of their respective "collective" or cell unit. It is the collective's responsibility to foster a strong relationship within the group and members are assessed every four months. First gay marriage As the first same-sex marriage in the NPA, theirs is a union long awaited by comrades who support gay rights in the movement. It is also a manifestation of the communist movement's recognition of the right to engage in gay relations and to marry. Although the CPP already recognized gay relations and same-sex marriage, it was not easy for Andres and Jose to make the decision to finally marry. First, the couple worked hard to change the traditional mind-set of some comrades regarding gays and gay relationships. They attributed these biases to the prevailing "patriarchal" culture in Philippine society. On gay relations "[We] conducted painstaking discussions to make comrades understand gay relations and gay rights," Andres said. "Gay cadres adhere to the strong Party discipline. They enhance the prestige of gays in the movement. This has gained positive results through the years. Comrades (male and female) and even the masses have learned to respect and recognize gays and their contribution to the revolution," he said. As early as 1995, the CPP's Southern Mindanao Regional Party Committee started to discuss gay rights in the movement. In 1998, a provision on gay relations and same-sex marriage was added to the CPP's guiding policy on relations contained in a document titled "On the Proletarian Relationship of Sexes (OPRS)." Under the OPRS, the communist movement is committed to guide and ensure there is no exploitation in any relationship-heterosexual or homosexual. What about kids? During the wedding ceremony, comrades asked Jose -- in jest -- if Andres could sexually satisfy him. "If there is love, everything follows, including sexual satisfaction," Jose confessed. The couple was also asked if they planned to have kids. The newlyweds said they would deal with the issue later. "What we have to do now -- with the help of the Party -- is to work on our marriage and to be strong while serving the people," Jose said. --------------------------------- http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?index=2&story_id=26751 NPA gay wedding 'propaganda'--military, police By Joel Francis Guinto INQ7.net MILITARY and police officials dismissed a reported gay wedding in the New People's Army (NPA) as "propaganda." By allowing Ka Andres and Ka Jose to wed in Compostela Valley province last Friday, the communist rebels also showed that "they don't have a god," the officials said. This is part of propaganda to entice gays to join the NPA," Army spokesman Major Bartolome Bacarro told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo. "But I know gays are wise enough and [will] look beyond this [propaganda]," Bacarro said. "This proves that the NPA has no religion," military public information office chief Lieutenant Colonel Buenaventura Pascual said. "This proves they (NPA) have no god and their morality is very much in question, " Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Restituto Padilla agreed. In a phone interview, Philippine National Police chief Director General Edgar Aglipay expressed a similar apprehension.
Thread at a glance:
Previous Message by Date:Re: Re: reader-list Digest, Vol 19, Issue 28Sou, I think there is broad agreement between us on where memory comes from. I like your formulation concerning memory, imagination and fiction. In my fiction, any character is partly me, partly people I know and partly made up. Nor is there much controversy over what representation is. The key issue is whether ritual has to be collective or might be just an aspect of personal life. In this respect, we have Durkheim at one end and William James at the other. Vic Turner is nearer to Durkheim, but open to the more personal variety of religious experience. The guy I am pushing, Roy (Skip) Rappaport -- don't forget to spell it right -- has an even wider conception that embraces the two ends in an evolutionary theory that attributes the origin of humanity to the joint appearance of language and religion (and with it of the holy). Ritual is then the way we affirm our individual place in society, which is not far from Durkheim, but less tied to particular forms of society and more an aspect of our shared humanity. The basic idea is that language generates the lie and ritual gets us over the hump of disbelief into common projects. For Rappaport (whose book I edited for publication after his death), money is the root of evil, indeed the main source of lies today. Whereas for me, it is the source of collective memory as well as an expression of individual desire, a way of keeping track of some of the exchanges we enter with others. I envisage the principle of personal credit replacing the state as money, but only within the wider framework of a common civilisation. The word after all comes from Juno Moneta, the mother of the muses and thus custodian of the arts and sciences, as well as of the mint. And the first meaning of the verb moneo in Latin is to bring to mind. In my work, I try to detach money and markets, at least historically and analytically, from the capitalism that makes our tiem an age of money in a more demonic sense. Keith Next Message by Date:Community Radios closed or restricted; Human Rights Groups call for action on Nepal (Modified by geert lovink)From: activist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Excerpt from today's New York Times, followed by statement from Human Rights groups: ===================== NYT February 8, 2005 Nepal's King Cracks Down on Politics and News Media By AMY WALDMAN KATMANDU, Nepal, Feb. 7 - Instead of the usual spicy mix of current affairs and politics, the subject of Radio Sagarmatha's talk show on Saturday night was as bland as rice. In fact, the subject was rice: the differences, as explained by a scientist, between golden, wild and other varieties. That was the only topic the independent Nepali FM station felt safe to discuss. "Normally I don't do that kind of program," a 31-year-old journalist at the station said, laughing nervously as a soldier listened. When the soldier - one of six lounging around the station - moved off, the smile fell away. "Our hands are tied," the journalist said. Six days ago Nepal's king ended the country's 15-year experiment with democracy and took power for himself, imposing a state of emergency and suspending a host of civil liberties, including freedom of expression. Nepalis have been facing something between fear and a farce since then, adjusting to a combination of royal rule and martial law. Those in politics and the news media feel particularly under siege. In a televised address last Tuesday morning, King Gyanendra said he was taking power for three years because the country's fractious political parties had failed to hold elections or bring Maoist rebels to peace talks. As he spoke, phone lines and Internet connections were being cut, political and student leaders were being detained and soldiers were arriving at news organizations' offices to take on their new role as censors. Nepalis now have no freedom of assembly, expression or opinion; no right to information, property or privacy; and no protection from preventive detention. The government has banned any criticism of the king's action for six months, and any public comment that could affect the morale of the security agencies. Widespread international condemnation has done nothing to slow the arrest of political and student activists, with the military insisting that the detentions are necessary to prevent protests against the king. . . . ==== Human Rights Community Statement: Kathmandu - 14 key civil society members met to make a statement on Feb 1 2005. The statement said: After King Gyanendra's speech he dismissed the cabinet, took all power, and established his own government. This action is directly in opposition to the basic values and norms of democracy. From today's meeting by human rights activists and the people from civil society, we condemn these steps by the king. After the king has taken power in Nepal, he has issued a declaration of emergency. This is a direct threat and violation of human rights. This declaration is in violation of numerous international accords that Nepal is a signatory to and accountable for. In this serious and sensitive situation, we are assembling this meeting in order to request to the national and international community to secure and restore all human rights codes and accords: 1) Condemning the arrest of the political leaders and human rights defenders and demanding that their locations be revealed. 2) The RNA must immediately stop closely directly and indirectly monitoring all media, human rights defenders, and outspoken individuals. We are specially requesting the diplomatic community to assist with arrange security within Nepal and outside Nepal for all these individuals. 3) Without any reason, the mass communication and media have been shut down. This irresponsible act will create significant obstacles for the general people. This is why we are asking the international community to arrange a systematic mass communication for the people of Nepal. 4) We are requesting an independent and sovereign human rights commission. This commission is unable to do work properly right now. We are requesting a guarantee of proper work environment for the commission. 5) The country's human rights situation is worsening significantly. We are requesting that United Nations and human rights organizations conduct human rights monitoring in Nepal Signatories: 1) Subodh Raj Pyakural, INSEC 2) Govinda Bandi, Nepal Bar Association [Human Rights Committee] 3) Shobhakar Budhadhoki, CEHURBS ? 4) Pradeep Shankar Wagle, Nepal Bar Association [Human Rights Committee] 5) Rajesh Hamal, Advocacy Forum 6) Madhav Pradhan, CIWIN Nepal 7) Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, Mahendra Narian Smriti Pratestan 8) Usha Titikshu, Civic Solidarity for Peace 9) Dinesh Prasain, Collective Campaign for Peace (CoCAP) 10) Samir Nepal, Human Rights Alliance 11) Gopal Siwakoti, INHURED 12) Surya Bahadur XXX, NGO Federation 13) Anil Bhattarai, Nepal South Asia Center (NESAC) 14) Swanaam, Civic Solidarity for Peace All 14 signatories of the document are now under threat of arrest by RNA, who is searching for the activists. They are living underground. Previous Message by Thread:Re: reader-list Digest, Vol 19, Issue 28Many thanks Karen, Was lovely to hear from you and talk. A lot of the references you are giving me sound exciting. I?m also glad you are mediating the texts for me with your impressions. Makes it easier for me to choose what I want to read and in what order. Will wait ? with you, for your trunks, before I decide what to buy myself. I?m going to respond with some ideas that came to me on reading/re-reading your mail. I love the idea of the senses as retention pouches of experience, I like to think of that as bodily memory. But rather than polarize the present vis a vis a past that is either dead or lingering as trace, I?d like to see it as a continuum. So then the past is not about loss or absence, but time itself is about fruition and maturation which necessarily involves duration. So then memory is not an accretion ? sediment, but a running stream in-forming ( forming from inside) life. Perhaps that?s because I?m more familiar with pickles and wines in the extended-family circuits - rather than the ?common market?? I agree that difference mark specificity though ? I?ll work it out, the relation between the two. Had this lovely image of a peach being sliced by a knife ? from the peach?s point of view. Of the young girl, senses on red alert, moving around the city like an extra-terrestrial ( for every child is born an alien into this world) but succulent, absorbing the juices, within, and the city somehow slashing through her ? I don?t necessarily mean violence though some of it may be so, which is the gender politics I want to explore, I also simply mean because she is receptive, without ( or with the minimal) armour of conditioning, all of life both good and bad ? and how do make those distinctions ? slice through her - like light. Prism remember. And I got another fantastic idea. The other voice/gaze ? older ? that I was talking about could still be her but when she is older. So she is looking back at her childhood. That way the child is in/within time, while the voice is outside/beyond that lived time. Also this way, the ?creation? of memory, gets worked into the text itself. Oh man, you think I should have held the suspense ?. I read Victor Turner once. He uses the word ?communitas? for that sense of bonding that a community reaches through ritual. ?Twas beautiful. As I mentioned in my response to Keith, I?m trying to understand lets say a private ritual or ritual-like experience that one can consciously enter into, perhaps from an understanding of religious ritual, but as a way of processing/understanding personal experience. After I wrote to him, I also realized the idea of walking through a city is perfect, because its simultaneously walking towards and walking away from. The ?receding points? are spatial, not just in time. In fact, it seems to me, its with open spaces ? Nature ? that one moves towards the horizon, or the ?vanishing point? that painters talk of. In urban spaces, the city ?surrounds? ? and I mean that as an active verb. This could be claustrophobic or stimulating, that?s a state of mind ( and should we now say body), but the depth is behind one. Not just personal, but history - all that human endeavour that the constructed space of the city symbolizes. Anyways, more later. Its great to talk. If you need any inputs on your film/video, please feel free to ask. Am also making a list of old and new Tamil films featuring Madurai to buy the vcds. Don?t know if you ? or anyone else - would find that useful. Will be glad to share. Ciao s -- _______________________________________________ Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 Next Message by Thread:Community Radios closed or restricted; Human Rights Groups call for action on Nepal (Modified by geert lovink)From: activist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Excerpt from today's New York Times, followed by statement from Human Rights groups: ===================== NYT February 8, 2005 Nepal's King Cracks Down on Politics and News Media By AMY WALDMAN KATMANDU, Nepal, Feb. 7 - Instead of the usual spicy mix of current affairs and politics, the subject of Radio Sagarmatha's talk show on Saturday night was as bland as rice. In fact, the subject was rice: the differences, as explained by a scientist, between golden, wild and other varieties. That was the only topic the independent Nepali FM station felt safe to discuss. "Normally I don't do that kind of program," a 31-year-old journalist at the station said, laughing nervously as a soldier listened. When the soldier - one of six lounging around the station - moved off, the smile fell away. "Our hands are tied," the journalist said. Six days ago Nepal's king ended the country's 15-year experiment with democracy and took power for himself, imposing a state of emergency and suspending a host of civil liberties, including freedom of expression. Nepalis have been facing something between fear and a farce since then, adjusting to a combination of royal rule and martial law. Those in politics and the news media feel particularly under siege. In a televised address last Tuesday morning, King Gyanendra said he was taking power for three years because the country's fractious political parties had failed to hold elections or bring Maoist rebels to peace talks. As he spoke, phone lines and Internet connections were being cut, political and student leaders were being detained and soldiers were arriving at news organizations' offices to take on their new role as censors. Nepalis now have no freedom of assembly, expression or opinion; no right to information, property or privacy; and no protection from preventive detention. The government has banned any criticism of the king's action for six months, and any public comment that could affect the morale of the security agencies. Widespread international condemnation has done nothing to slow the arrest of political and student activists, with the military insisting that the detentions are necessary to prevent protests against the king. . . . ==== Human Rights Community Statement: Kathmandu - 14 key civil society members met to make a statement on Feb 1 2005. The statement said: After King Gyanendra's speech he dismissed the cabinet, took all power, and established his own government. This action is directly in opposition to the basic values and norms of democracy. From today's meeting by human rights activists and the people from civil society, we condemn these steps by the king. After the king has taken power in Nepal, he has issued a declaration of emergency. This is a direct threat and violation of human rights. This declaration is in violation of numerous international accords that Nepal is a signatory to and accountable for. In this serious and sensitive situation, we are assembling this meeting in order to request to the national and international community to secure and restore all human rights codes and accords: 1) Condemning the arrest of the political leaders and human rights defenders and demanding that their locations be revealed. 2) The RNA must immediately stop closely directly and indirectly monitoring all media, human rights defenders, and outspoken individuals. We are specially requesting the diplomatic community to assist with arrange security within Nepal and outside Nepal for all these individuals. 3) Without any reason, the mass communication and media have been shut down. This irresponsible act will create significant obstacles for the general people. This is why we are asking the international community to arrange a systematic mass communication for the people of Nepal. 4) We are requesting an independent and sovereign human rights commission. This commission is unable to do work properly right now. We are requesting a guarantee of proper work environment for the commission. 5) The country's human rights situation is worsening significantly. We are requesting that United Nations and human rights organizations conduct human rights monitoring in Nepal Signatories: 1) Subodh Raj Pyakural, INSEC 2) Govinda Bandi, Nepal Bar Association [Human Rights Committee] 3) Shobhakar Budhadhoki, CEHURBS ? 4) Pradeep Shankar Wagle, Nepal Bar Association [Human Rights Committee] 5) Rajesh Hamal, Advocacy Forum 6) Madhav Pradhan, CIWIN Nepal 7) Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, Mahendra Narian Smriti Pratestan 8) Usha Titikshu, Civic Solidarity for Peace 9) Dinesh Prasain, Collective Campaign for Peace (CoCAP) 10) Samir Nepal, Human Rights Alliance 11) Gopal Siwakoti, INHURED 12) Surya Bahadur XXX, NGO Federation 13) Anil Bhattarai, Nepal South Asia Center (NESAC) 14) Swanaam, Civic Solidarity for Peace All 14 signatories of the document are now under threat of arrest by RNA, who is searching for the activists. They are living underground.
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