Temporary defeat

Advocates of same sex marriage (SSM) have no recourse but to train their sights to Congress if they want to gain recognition by state and our laws.

This option became even more imperative after the Supreme Court junked with finality the petition of Jesus Nicardo Falcis III, an openly gay lawyer, to declare as unconstitutional of the provisions on the Family Code that limited marriage to a union between a man and a woman.

Falcis first filed the appeal in 2015 and in September 2019, the SC found his plea deficient as he “lacked legal standing, violated the principle of the hierarchy of courts, and failed to raise an actual, justiciable controversy.”

The justices ruled that Falcis “never applied for a marriage license and was thus never rejected, which means he has not suffered a direct injury from the limitations set by the Family Code.”

Falcis filed a motion for reconsideration but in its latest ruling promulgated on Jan 6, 2020, the High Tribunal said the motion presented “no substantial arguments” that would warrant the reversal of the original decision.

Crushing as the SC decision might be for SSM advocates and our LGBT community, they should take comfort in the words of Justice Marvic Leonen who penned the 109-page ponencia or ruling.

According to the SC, same-sex couples “deserve legal recognition in some way” and that “the Constitution, from its plain text, does not define or restrict marriage on the basis of sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity of expression.”

The High Court also ruled that Congress is the best venue to afford state recognition for same-sex relations.

Indeed, this is just a temporary setback for Falcis and the rest of the SSM advocacy. Congressional action on a controversial measure like this will indeed be bloody and a long, hard slog, especially in a Catholic-dominated society like ours.

But with the gradual acceptance of members of the LGBT community in the public and private sector and readily available platforms in disseminating information and encouraging debate on the matter, SSM advocates might just beat the glacial pace of race equality and women’s suffrage in convincing lawmakers to redo our legal landscape.

Falcis himself is hopeful when he uttered these words after the SC ruling came out: “In other countries from the US to Australia to Taiwan, they had to lose before they won marriage equality. The Philippines will be no different. The future for the LGBT community is colorful like a rainbow.”