Filipino netizens angered by Maria Sofia Love's latest antic

Many Filipino netizens are taking offense at transgender Filipina Maria Sofia Love's latest antic.

In a Facebook Live video with some of her followers, Maria Sofia Love played the National Anthem, stood upright, and then instead of putting her right hand on her left chest as all Filipinos do when "Lupang Hinirang" is played, put her left hand on her crotch. She was wearing a hot red one-piece.

She also couldn't help but groove to the marching beat of the anthem.

According to a report on "Unang Hirit", the National Historical Commission of the Philippines has gotten in touch with the embassy of the Philippines in Los Angeles, California, where Maria Sofia Love is said to reside at the moment.

There is a law prohibiting such acts. Republic Act 8491 states that the flag, anthem, and other national symbols be accorded with respect and reverence at all times. "Ito'y dapat kantahin lamang tuwing may seremonya, aktibidades saan mang lugar," begins Teodoro Atienza, chief of Heraldry section of the National Historical Commission.

Anybody who goes against RA 8491 is either fined P5,000-P20,000 and/or gets a punishment of one year imprisonment.

The video, which many netizens have been able to download, is now circulating online.

GMA News has gotten in touch with Maria Sofia Love. — LA, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Being transgender: facts, myths and rights

WASHINGTON, United States — Transgender people live under dramatically varying circumstances around the world — often facing violent repression, but also conquering crucial new rights most notably in Europe and the United States.

There are few reliable statistics on the community, in part because many transgender people around the world are unable to come out. And there are sometimes misunderstandings of the complex and changing vocabulary involved.

Transgender people

According to a study published in 2011 by The Williams Institute, an LGBT think tank, an estimated 0.3 percent of the US population is transgender. There are no reliable global statistics on the community, but India’s historic transgender minority alone, known as Hijras, number half a million according to the 2014 census.

The term “transgender” or “trans” refers to people whose gender identity — their innate, deeply-felt psychological sense of being a man, a woman, or neither — is different than the sex assigned to them at birth.

It includes people who have had reassignment surgery, those who have had hormone treatments, or people who have had no medical treatment at all.

– A person who is born female and now identifies as a man is a “transgender man”, or trans man.

– A person who is born male and now identifies as a woman is a “transgender woman,” or trans woman.

Note that it is considered pejorative to use “transgender” as a noun. It is an adjective, as in “a transgender person.”

The term “transsexual” is increasingly avoided.

Transition

A transgender person who is “transitioning” is shifting into their new gender identity by changing their “physical and sexual characteristics from those associated with their sex at birth,” says the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association in the US.

This can be a complex process that might include surgery and body modification, but it does not always. It might also include hormone treatments, group or individual therapy, telling family or friends, or changing one’s name on legal documents.

‘Sex change or ‘reassignment’?

Transgender advocacy groups warn against use of the term “sex change” to describe the surgical processes that some undergo. The groups explain that this is an outdated term, and that transgender people actually put “their bodies in line with who they are” rather than changing who they are.

Their stance is borne out by a growing body of research indicating that sexual anatomy and gender identity are the products of different biological processes — determined by genes as well as hormones — that occur before birth. Sexual anatomy and gender identity usually match, but many events can lead to an incongruence between the two.

Sexual orientation

Gender identity is not the same thing as sexual orientation. A transgender man or woman can have any sexual orientation: gay, straight or bisexual.

Anti-discrimination laws

The situation varies greatly for transgender people around the world.

Human Rights Watch counts 80 countries that continue to criminalize consensual same-sex relations or discussion of LGBT rights, with punishments including prison sentences, flogging, and even the death penalty.

In Europe, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in 1989 prohibiting discrimination against transgender people. But among the 28 member states, laws vary greatly. Only 13 states explicitly prohibit violence against transgender people, according to “Transgender Europe”, a European association.

In the United States, anti-discrimination laws are among the most advanced. But whether those laws are also applied to transgender people varies from state to state.

A dozen states including New York, California and the District of Columbia ban the exclusion of gender transition-related care from both private insurance programs and the public Medicaid insurance program, which caters to the poorest segment of the population. Another half dozen states have rules ensuring a limited level of coverage, while the rest offer none.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Israel holds its first transgender beauty contest

TEL AVIV, Israel — Nearly 30 transgender women strutted down the catwalk in skinny jeans, crop tops and stiletto heels at a Tel Aviv club on Thursday, vying for a chance to enter the first “Miss Trans Israel” beauty pageant.

Tel Aviv has emerged as one of the world’s most gay-friendly travel destinations, standing in sharp contrast to most of the rest of the Middle East, where gays can face persecution.

Israela Stephanie Lev, the pageant’s organizer, said that in the past it was “terrible” living as a transgender woman in Israel. But today, people are more accepting, she said.

“Definitely we are achieving, enlightening the people to accept and empower transsexuals,” she said.

Among the contestants was Talleen Abu Hanna, a 21-year-old from a Catholic Arab family in the northern city of Nazareth. She said she came to the audition because she wants to do something with her life.

“I have this something, I am a dancer, and I am a singer, I play the trumpet. I have something to give the people,” she said. Although Israel’s more conservative Arab society is often unaccepting of gays, Abu Hanna said her family accepts and supports her.

“We are normal people. This is normal,” she said.

Elian Nesiel, a 20-year-old contestant, said she believes that being transgender is “gradually accepted more and more.”

“Yes, it’s a process, like everything,” she said.

Israel is generally tolerant toward gays and transgender people. Gays openly serve in Israel’s military, as does at least one openly transgender soldier. In 1998, a transgender singer, Dana International, won the popular Eurovision song contest.

But homosexuality is shunned in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities. Last year, an extremist ultra-Orthodox Jew stabbed a teenage girl to death at a Jerusalem Pride parade.

Finalists will compete at a pageant in May, and the winner will represent Israel at the Miss Trans Star International pageant to be held in Spain in August.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Ken Chan reveals attracting male admirers as 'Destiny Rose'

Naranasan na ni Ken Chan ang matinding dusa ng mga babae kapag inaayusan ang mga ito.

Sa pag-ayos na lang kay Ken bilang isang transgender sa Destiny Rose ay inaabot nang higit na apat na oras.

“Actually, two hours to put on makeup, pati sa pag-ayos ng buhok; kailangan kasi flawless ang dating—yung diyosa lang!

“’Tapos another two hours para sa pagsuot ng mga panloob ko sa damit ni Destiny Rose.

“May mga paddings ako na nilalagay para flat siya sa area na iyon!” sabay tawa ni Ken.

Kasama na rin daw ang pagpili ng tamang shoes, stockings, accessories, at pati na ang nails ay inaabala ng glam team ni Ken.

“Iba-iba ang glam team namin for Destiny Rose; iba sa makeup, sa buhok, at sa damit.”

In character si Ken Chan bilang Destiny Rose habang kausap siya ng ilang member ng media na bumisita sa set ng naturang teleserye noong nakaraang November 25, Miyerkules, sa Matandang Balara, Quezon City.

Saad pa niya, “Plus may acting coach pa ako on the side para hindi ako mawala sa character.

“May tendency kasing maging over ako sa character kaya tino-tone down namin especially ang boses ko.

“Pati na sa mga paggalaw ko, kailangan tamang-tama lang; parati ko raw isipin na babae ako at hindi bading.

“Thankful naman ako kina Sir Michael de Mesa at kay Katrina Halili kasi kasama sila sa mga nagbabantay sa pag-arte ko.

“One time sinabihan ako ni Sir Michael na huwag kong sobrahan ang pag-emote, yung tamang timpla lang.

“Si Katrina naman, binabantayan niya ang pagkilos ko; may kilos daw kasi ako na para akong sumasali sa beauty contest.

“Sabi niya, ‘Uy, nasa opisina ka, wala ka sa beauty pageant, umayos ka!’ sabay nagtatawanan kami kasi tama naman siya!”

MALE ADMIRERS. Ayon kay Ken, hindi raw siya bumibitaw sa kanyang character bilang si Destiny Rose kapag nasa set na raw siya ng kanilang taping.

Yun daw kasi ang natutunan niya sa isang acting workshop na huwag bibitaw para consistent siya sa kanyang performance.

“As much as possible, ayokong bumitaw talaga; kapag naipasok ko na ang character ni Destiny Rose sa pagkatao ko, yun na ‘yon.

“Hindi na siya mawawala hanggang matapos ang taping namin,  kaya pati mga tao sa production.

"Nagugulat sila na kahit breaktime namin, very Destiny Rose pa rin ako.

"From the way I walk, talk hanggang sa pag-upo ko, may tatak-Destiny Rose.

“May mga nagtataka kung bakit gano’n ako, puwede naman daw magpahinga ako saglit from my character.

“Puwede naman iyon, pero para sa akin, gusto ko tuluy-tuloy lang ako para hindi mawala,” diin pa ni Ken.

Isa pang kuwento niya, meron na nga raw mga lalaki na gustong makipagkilala sa kanya sa social media.

“May isang guy na gustong makipagkilala ’tapos may isa pang gustong mag-propose!

“Ewan ko ba kung serious sila pero kung totoo man, effective ang pagganap ko as Destiny Rose.

“Siyempre nagpasalamat na lang ako sa mga ito dahil pinapanood nila ako.

"Sinasabi ko naman parati na aktingan lang ito, pero nakakatuwa na may mga sumeseryoso kahit alam nilang TV drama lang ito.”

So ine-enjoy na ba ni Ken ang kanyang pagiging transwoman in real life?

“Medyo! Echos!!!” malakas na tawa ni Ken, “Kailangan ko lang i-enjoy kasi ang saya naming lahat sa set.

“Lalo na at maganda ang ratings namin at parati kaming nagte-trending; doon ako nag-e-enjoy talaga.

“As for being Destiny Rose, kasama ito sa package ng pagiging artista ko sa teleserye namin.

“Kailangan mahalin mo ang trabaho para mahalin ka pabalik, ‘di ba?

“Kaya heto love namin ang work naming lahat kaya maganda ang result parati.” -- PEP.ph

source: gmanetwork.com

Pemberton arraigned Friday? US Navy inspects Olongapo court

Everything appears set for the arraignment on Friday of Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, the US Marine charged with murder for the killing of Filipino transgender woman Jeffrey "Jennifer" Laude.

While employees of the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court Branch 74 have kept mum, GMA News' Rida Reyes cited multiple sources who confirmed the proceedings would push through Friday.

In a report on "24 Oras," Reyes said Olongapo City police had adopted security measures at the courtroom where Pemberton is to be presented.

Representatives from the US Naval Forces led by Commander Timothy Stone also inspected the courtroom on Thursday.

On Thursday afternoon, a representative from the US Naval Criminal Investigative Service also arrived but declined to give a statement.

For its part, the Olongapo City police said it had finalized its security plan and will implement it before dawn Friday.

More than 100 police personnel are to be deployed to the Hall of Justice. They are aside from partner agencies or force multipliers.

"We are prepared for any untoward incident na mangyayari," said city police spokesperson Inspector Vivian Reyes.

Custody

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the Philippine and US sides have different interpretations of "extraordinary cases," which the Philippines is invoking to get custody of Pemberton.

On the other hand, the US insists it should have custody of Pemberton.

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said it would no longer insist on getting custody of Pemberton.

DFA spokesman Charles Jose said what is important is that Pemberton has submitted himself and is under detention at Camp Aguinaldo, guarded by Philippine authorities.

 For its part, the US issued a statement it will cooperate with the Philippine government to make sure justice prevails. —Joel Locsin/NB/KBK, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Beauty queen Kevin Balot happy to be accepted as a transgender by her father

Newly-crowned Miss International Queen 2012 Kevin Balot had one big wish: to be accepted as a transgender by her father.

In an interview with Luane Dy on GMA Network's “Unang Hirit” morning news program on Monday, Balot said her wish finally came true as her father now accepts her sexual orientation.

“Okay na. It’s fine,” said Balot, 21, who was crowned Miss International Queen 2012 in Thailand's seaside resort Pattaya on November 2.

Balot, who joined an international beauty pageant for the first time, bested 21 other candidates from 15 countries.

Balot was also awarded Miss Photogenic.

Balot received a grand prize of $10,000 and a crown from a well-known gem store in Thailand. She will represent the transvestite pageant in numerous occasions.

Four Filipinos including Balot joined the pageant but only two made it through the final 10.

A Filipino fan said winning a transvestite contest in Thailand, the land of "lady boys," was like winning a soccer tournament in Brazil.

In an interview with reporters after the event, Balot said, "I'm very proud to be first here, and I hope my dad will accept me. Because in the family I'm the only boy, and my dad has big expectations of me. I made it. I won the International Queen Pageant, and I believe that my dad will accept me not only as his son but also as his daughter."

On "Unang Hirit," Balot said, “Ever since naman talaga okay na talaga pero noong before meron talagang complication kasi only boy.”

Balot said her father was longing for a son because she was the only boy in the family.

Now Balot and her father have already put their differences aside.




High expectations

Balot explained that she had long been planning to join the international contest.

"Oo, actually talagang matagal na pinagplanuhan ito ng mga friends and manager ko,” she said.

However, her friends told her not to expect anything to avoid becoming disappointed if things don't turn out as she wishes.

“If you expect a lot you invite more disappointment,” she said. “Kaya nag-enjoy lang ako. I had great camaraderie with my co-candidates coming from other countries.”

She said she became good friends with the candidate from Thailand.

Asked what she thought made her win the contest, Balot cited a Thai blog that said she stood out in the swimsuit and question and answer portions.

For the talent portion, she also said that she danced “Gangnam Style” by Korean rapper PSY who is now an international sensation.

Movie offers

Balot confirmed that she has several movie offers in Thailand after the conclusion of the pageant.

However, she said it is up to the pageant officials to decide which projects she will be working on.

In her message to her fans, Balot said: “To all the fans that have been supporting me ever since maraming, maraming salamat sa inyo.”

She also thanks her family and friends for the “undying support” that they have given her.

Balot also acknowledged the Thai people and their hospitality while she was in their country.

There are 14,954 Filipinos in Thailand based on the 2010 Stock Estimate of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas.- VVP, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com