"All We Want For Christmas Is Our Human Rights"
To protest the Philippines Catholic Bishops’ Conference’s “move to ask for the removal of sexual orientation and gender identity in the list of punishable forms of discrimination under Senate Bill 2814 (The Anti-Ethnic or Racial Profiling and Discrimination Act of 2011),” an LGBT rights group there went Christmas caroling in front of the bishops’ conference office in Manila today.
This creative form of protest included among other songs with changed lyrics, “All We Want For Christmas Is Our Human Rights.” A full description of the protest can be read in this news story.
Anger over the bishops’ conference position was inflamed when it was reported that a lawyer for the conference, Jo Imbong, said that LGBT people “should not be protected from discrimination” because they had the power to choose their sexual orientation.
It sounds like the Filipino bishops are having the same problem that the U.S. bishops had recently when their adviser on marriage issues, Daniel Avila, suggested in a column in a Catholic newspaper that homosexuality was caused by the devil. Under pressure, Mr. Avila resigned.
Let’s hope and pray that Jo Imbong either resigns or is dismissed.
–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry
What a genius (and amusing) way to protest the injustice proposed by the Filipino bishops! It worked in at least one aspect — their protest raised awareness of this issue at home and abroad (in the US!). I hope these protestors follow-up their carols with visits to their legislators and, yes, to their own bishops.