[Reader-list] Communist Party officiates first gay marriage in the Philippines

[Vivek Narayanan]

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.


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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.