Much ado about SOGIE, homosexuality

By Herbert Vego

THERE appears to be little hope for the SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) equality bill to pass into law even if its supposedly noble intention is to prevent and penalize discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression.

Discrimination, to cite an example, is when an employer refuses to employ an applicant just because he or she is identified with the LGBTQ community. The moniker refers to “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer”, whom we would henceforth call “gay” for brevity.

The snag largely stems from disagreement among religious leaders on the acceptability of sex outside of the traditional male and female classifications.

Against the opinion of the majority of the clergy, Bishop Solito Toquiero, representing the National Council of the Churches Philippines (NCCP), supports the SOGIE bill because it seeks to recognize the importance of the LGBTQ community.

This writer sees nothing wrong with the bill that simply condemns discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression. Anyway, with or without the bill ripening into law, discrimination is a fact of life that will naturally die down at some point in time. Gender inequality, in fact, has never been absolute.

It stands to reason that no man can put a good “woman” down – as in the case of gay hairdressers and beauticians who are preferable to their “straight” counterparts. If this discriminates against the “straight” hairdressers, woe unto them for not being so good.

On the contrary, we are familiar with cases where certain celebrities earn public ire for anti-homosexual statements.  Hard to forget is boxer-turned-senator Manny Paquiao, who once demonized a group lobbying to legalize same-sex marriage.

Realizing it was politically incorrect, he appeased the angry “mob” by saying he was merely quoting two Bible verses. Here’s from the Old Testament: “If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable” (Leviticus 20:13).

And here’s from the New Testament: “Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate shall inherit the kingdom of God” (I Corinthians 6:9).

The issue on homosexuality, not gender discrimination, is a more ticklish issue to resolve among Jews and Christians who “could not be wrong” in interpreting the quoted scripture.

Ironically, however, no less than the leader of 1.36 billion Roman Catholics worldwide, Pope Francis, has spoken in defense of homosexuality. If you have forgotten, search the old newspapers via Google.

On his flight back to Rome from a week-long tour of Brazil in July 2013, an accompanying reporter from the National Catholic Review asked him to comment on the “gay lobby”.

Pope Francis quipped, “If a homosexual person is of goodwill and is in search of God, I am no one to judge.”

The Pope could have been paraphrasing Jesus Christ who had said: “Judge not, that you may not be judged” (Matthew 7.1).

Gays around the world naturally take it to mean that the Pope himself is “neutral” on homosexuality regardless of Bible verses condemning it.

In the same interview, the Pope admonished his flock to also shake off their obsession against abortion and contraception, and become more merciful or risk the collapse of its entire moral edifice “like a house of cards.”

In another interview. Pope Francis told Civilta Cattolica (an Italian Jesuit journal), “Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free. It is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person.”

The 86-year-old Pope does not complement the view of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who had described homosexuality as an “intrinsic disorder.”

John Gehring, Catholic program director at Faith in Public Life, wrote in a Washington Post article, “This Pope is rescuing the Church from those who think that condemning gay people and opposing contraception define what it means to be a real Catholic.”

“Francis distinguishes between the sin and the sinner. He says that homosexuals are not inferior or different to others,” read an editorial in the Vatican’s Osservatore Romano.

Now we can imagine more of our gay Catholic friends coming out of the closet, no longer feeling “guilty”.

The Church itself would find it very embarrassing to take action against homosexuals, since everybody knows of priests and ministers who flaunt their homosexuality on the undisputed ground that homosexual feelings are inborn in their genes, not optioned.

-oOo-

 CENECO REFERENDUM PUSHING THROUGH

“Let the people decide.”

According to MORE Power President Roel Z. Castro, the majority of the 207,000 member consumers of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Ceneco) would have to decide on a joint venture agreement (JVA) between the two distribution utilities through a referendum.

For several months already, the need for MORE Power to come in has been played up in the Negros media because of the heavy operational losses being incurred by Ceneco – between ₱15 and ₱20 million per month.

Ceneco is buried deep in debt to the tune of around ₱600 million.

MORE Power — the sole electricity distribution utility in Iloilo City under Primelectric Holdings – would spend P2 billion for the asset purchase and another P2 billion for capital expenditure to modernize Ceneco.

The Ceneco-Prime JVA has been signed by both parties.  However, under the guidelines set by the National Electrification Administration, it has to get the majority votes in a referendum to be conducted in nine districts in various voting centers and precincts on four dates — on June 24 and 25, and July 1 and 2, 2023.