Of forums, discussions and goodwill (part1)
During the past week, especially the weekend, I have attended several meetings, discussions and forums that in some ways relate to gay life in Metro Manila, or in two cases, specifically Quezon City.
One was a discussion on the implementation of the Quezon City Ordinance 1053, or an ordinance that seeks to strengthen the QC STD/AIDS council in implementing policies and measures for the prevention and control of STD/ HIV/ AIDS (yeah, that is a mouthful!). Another was the 25th international candlelight memorial for AIDS/ HIV victims in QC. The last and certainly not the least, was the forum organized by Ang LADLAD, "Know your Rights", that was posted by Vince of Discreet Manila.
I promised Vince that I would write something about the "Know your Rights" forum....but let me put that on hold first (I'll probably talk about it on the next post). What I want to talk about first is STDs and its prevention.
Some people might know that during my younger days (early 20s), I was lucky enough to have met and be surrounded by people who try to advocate safe sex between men. I have Gibbs to thank for introducing me to TLF for that. I volunteered for workshops and was kept abreast in what was happening to the community and what people are trying to do to help each other. So when gay boys of my age were all concerned about partying, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by peers who were more concerned in uplifting the gay community. This, I would say, helped shape the man I am today. Not that we didn't party then mind you, but the partying and celebration became more meaningful.
I admit, I do not have the energy of youth anymore to pursue and be on the forefront of such activities. Though I still enjoy spending time and discussing these topics from time to time. Even attending activities out of goodwill. No expectations, but to just show support. God knows these people need a lot of support in a thankless job.
HIV/ AIDS.
A lot of people think it is a problem so far away from the Philippines that a lot of people do not even talk about it. Choose to ignore it. Is it really that far? From the memorial service they mentioned that in QC alone there are 3000+ reported cases of HIV/ AIDS. 3000! In a city of 2.4 million, it may be small sure...but these things have a tendency to go up exponentially. Also note the keyword "reported". This is not the actual number as there are probably more who do not know that they have contracted the disease (20% based on normal statistics). I'm not out to scare people. It is just a wake up call. An alarming amount of these cases has its roots with the OFWs. Seamen in particular. They arrive in a port and go to sow their loins....unknowingly contract the disease and pass it on to their loved ones when they come back home to the Philippines. So this starts a cycle..... with the amount of OFWs that we have (me, being one before) this is a very real concern.
What is my point in putting this out there? Information is key. What may have been an "outside" problem before is a very real internal problem now. Sure, straight men and women still account for the majority of those infected but why wait? Why risk it? Be safe people. That is all we can ever really do. Be safe.
One was a discussion on the implementation of the Quezon City Ordinance 1053, or an ordinance that seeks to strengthen the QC STD/AIDS council in implementing policies and measures for the prevention and control of STD/ HIV/ AIDS (yeah, that is a mouthful!). Another was the 25th international candlelight memorial for AIDS/ HIV victims in QC. The last and certainly not the least, was the forum organized by Ang LADLAD, "Know your Rights", that was posted by Vince of Discreet Manila.
I promised Vince that I would write something about the "Know your Rights" forum....but let me put that on hold first (I'll probably talk about it on the next post). What I want to talk about first is STDs and its prevention.
Some people might know that during my younger days (early 20s), I was lucky enough to have met and be surrounded by people who try to advocate safe sex between men. I have Gibbs to thank for introducing me to TLF for that. I volunteered for workshops and was kept abreast in what was happening to the community and what people are trying to do to help each other. So when gay boys of my age were all concerned about partying, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by peers who were more concerned in uplifting the gay community. This, I would say, helped shape the man I am today. Not that we didn't party then mind you, but the partying and celebration became more meaningful.
I admit, I do not have the energy of youth anymore to pursue and be on the forefront of such activities. Though I still enjoy spending time and discussing these topics from time to time. Even attending activities out of goodwill. No expectations, but to just show support. God knows these people need a lot of support in a thankless job.
HIV/ AIDS.
A lot of people think it is a problem so far away from the Philippines that a lot of people do not even talk about it. Choose to ignore it. Is it really that far? From the memorial service they mentioned that in QC alone there are 3000+ reported cases of HIV/ AIDS. 3000! In a city of 2.4 million, it may be small sure...but these things have a tendency to go up exponentially. Also note the keyword "reported". This is not the actual number as there are probably more who do not know that they have contracted the disease (20% based on normal statistics). I'm not out to scare people. It is just a wake up call. An alarming amount of these cases has its roots with the OFWs. Seamen in particular. They arrive in a port and go to sow their loins....unknowingly contract the disease and pass it on to their loved ones when they come back home to the Philippines. So this starts a cycle..... with the amount of OFWs that we have (me, being one before) this is a very real concern.
What is my point in putting this out there? Information is key. What may have been an "outside" problem before is a very real internal problem now. Sure, straight men and women still account for the majority of those infected but why wait? Why risk it? Be safe people. That is all we can ever really do. Be safe.
