Friday, March 22, 2013

UP Babaylan x USC Gender Desk : Book Donation for the Gender and LGBT Studies Section of the UP Center for Women's Studies Library



The UP CWS Research and Publications Department commemorated Women's Month in its own sublime way, made possible with the gracious donation of women's and LGBT studies books from the Gender Committee (AY 2011-2013) of the UP Diliman University Student Council. Thank you, USC, for the wonderful stack!

We would like to invite students, academics and everyone interested in gender and sexuality studies to pay our library a visit to take advantage of these excellent educational materials. Conversely, we would also like to call on those who may want to find their books a new home and share them with the community. Help us enrich our library resources so that we could best serve the people as the university hub for gender- and sexuality-related issues. 

In photo (L-R):

Mr BJ Eco, Punong Babaylan, UP Babaylan
Ms Pat Bringas, Gender Committee Head, USC UP Diliman
Ms Hender Gercio, Research Associate, UP CWS
Prof Eric Manalastas, Deputy Director for Research and Publications, UP CWS
Dr Sylvia Estrada-Claudio, Director, UP CWS
Ms Adrienne Maguddayao, Researcher, UP CWS
Ms Ardis Gonzales, Librarian, UP CWS
Ms Heart DiƱo, Chairperson, USC UP Diliman

Monday, March 18, 2013

UP Babaylan x Embassy of Canada : Advancing the Campus Rainbow Agenda




Who is considered a transgender? What's the difference between sex and gender? How about sexual orientation and gender identity? Most would probably say the differences are negligible, when in fact, they are not. These seemingly innocuous questions were some of the hottest discussion points in a forum that wanted to explore young Filipinos’ notions of these complicated issues.

The forum, entitled "Advancing the Campus Rainbow Agenda," tackled the issues of sexual orientations and gender identities (SOGI) in the context of human rights. The target audience: student leaders of various colleges and universities. More than 140 members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in the country have been killed in the past fifteen years making them a sector highly vulnerable to violence. These killings were allegedly motivated by hate and anti-gay sentiment.

"We are targeting the student leaders because they are in a position to facilitate change by echoing insights learned here to their fellow students," said Ramil Andag, an officer of Babaylanes Inc., an organization of alumni and former members of Babaylan, the first gay student organization based in the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

The forum here was straightforward in giving clear suggestions on how to avoid discrimination: Empowerment, meaning individuals should find that they are able to accept themselves and find their voice; organization — showing that grouping together is an assertion of strength; education — increasing public acceptance of LGBTs for the community in general; and mobilization — referring to the need for LGBTs to advocate for their rights and welfare.

"The lack of knowledge (about SOGI issues) among the general public leads to several implications," said Perci Cendana, another member of Babaylanes and the first openly gay chairperson of the UP Diliman Student Council elected in 1997. "Stereotyping, invisibility, marginalization, stigma, and inequality. These ugly implications contribute to the vicious cycle of prejudice and discrimination."

Citing data gathered by the Philippine LGBT Hate Crime Watch, Prof. Eric Julian Manalastas of the University of the Philippines' Department of Psychology, said from 1996 until last year, 144 LGBTs had been killed violently. In 2011 alone, 32 gays and lesbians were violently killed.

"There were 58 deaths from multiple stab wounds, 25 from multiple gunshots, while six died from torture," Manalastas said. Hate, he said, was a common reason for the high number of gays and lesbians being targeted. Andag said, "It is hoped that student leaders may eventually advocate for school policies that are for equality and nondiscrimination."

The forum was co-organized by the University of the Philippines, Babaylanes, Ateneo de Davao Legal Public Interest and Legal Advocacy Center, Davao City Integrated Gender and Development Division and the Embassy of Canada in the Philippines.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

UP Babaylan : Applicants' Night

These are our lovely applicants who prepared a fun variety show for their Applicants' Night.



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