Bill Whatcott Flees To The Philippines

Infamous Canadian ex-gay crackpot Bill Whatcott has announced that he has permanently moved to the Philippines. Whatcott has been hauled into court multiple times on charges of hate speech, but in January he won a defamation suit against the CBC over their report that he was distributing the lyrics to a song titled Kill The Homosexuals. One wonders what he's running from in Canada or what he's running to in the Philippines. (Tipped by JMG reader David)

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: Last year Whatcott and Porno Pete LaBarbera were arrested at a Canadian university after they refused to stop distributing anti-gay materials. When they returned for their trial in October, they preceded their court appearance by picketing the courthouse with anti-gay signs. They were found not guilty in December. Also last year Whatcott infiltrated Vancouver's pride parade under a false name and handed out fake condom packets which featured anti-gay screeds and a photo of an emaciated AIDS patient. In May last year Whatcott filed a complaint against a computer repair store which he claims refused him service on the basis of his religious beliefs.

MANILA: Six Million Attend Papal Mass

Via the BBC:

Pope Francis has celebrated an outdoor Mass in front of unprecedented crowds in the Philippine capital Manila. Six million people attended the ceremony or lined the Papal route to Rizal Park, city officials estimate. That would be a record for a papal event. About five million welcomed Pope John Paul II in Manila in 1995. The Vatican said Pope Francis had dedicated the service in part to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the country in 2013. The Mass will be the Pope's final full day in the Philippines, where there are 80 million Catholics, concluding his six-day tour of Asia. The atmosphere has been electrifying, despite the heavy rain. Pope Francis's visit has been seen here as a resounding success. There's been enormous enthusiasm for the Pope and the themes he's focused on - helping the poor, the importance of the family, and protecting the environment.

PHILIPPINES: Authorities Suggest Adult Diapers For Catholics During Papal Visit

Via the Associated Press:

When Pope Francis visits the Philippines next week, traffic enforcers won't let the capital's streets get gridlocked if they have to answer the call of nature. About 2,000 traffic enforcers who will be on duty during the Jan. 15-19 papal visit will be required to wear adult diapers, said Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino. Tolentino also encouraged people who will wait for hours to see the pope to also wear diapers. The prospect of wearing diapers while on duty was "well received" by his men, he said Wednesday. Tolentino said the idea will be tested on Friday by 800 traffic enforcers who work shifts during the nearly 24-hour annual procession of the Black Nazarene. It will be the first time that traffic enforcers in the Philippines will wear diapers while on duty in the streets, he said. Priests, nuns, seminarians, and the elderly also should consider wearing diapers, he said.

More from Quartz:

Tolentino told a local radio station that the diapers can absorb “up to four rounds of urination,” and added that he would “try” to wear a diaper himself for the pope’s four-day visit, which starts on Jan. 15. The pope’s final mass in Manila is expected to draw as may as 6 million people. It’s not clear why Manila was unable to provide enough portable toilets for the papal visit. The government allocated 20 million pesos ($445,000) to prettify the 40-hectare Rizal Park, including the installation of toilets. But the estimated crowd would require approximately 6,000 portable toilets, based on the proportion used for a recent beatification ceremony in Rome.

PHILIPPINES: Nation's Largest City OK's Sweeping Anti-Discrimination Bill

The city council of Quezon City, the largest city in the Philippines, has unanimously approved a bill that outlaws anti-LGBT discrimination. Via Gay Star News:

The law was passed unanimously by more than 30 city councilors after a marathon eight-hour session. "This is very special and better than other ordinances, because it not only penalizes actions, but there is also affirmative action. This is an early gift ahead of the QC pride march in December," Ging Cristobal, project coordinator for the Asia Pacific region of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, told GMA News. The law extended a 2003 resolution banning discrimination of LGBTI people in employment to education, delivery of goods or services, insurance and access to accommodation. The city-wide ordinance also provides venues to educate employers and educators on LGBTI rights.

Quezon City has a population of 2.7M and is one of 16 municipalities that make up the Metro Manila Capital Region.

Lesbian Filipina Wins Israel's X-Factor

The Times Of Israel reports:

Rose Fostanes, a diminutive 47-year-old Filipina caregiver, has emerged as the newest star of Israeli reality television, winning the singing competition “X-Factor Israel” on Tuesday and establishing herself as something of a national phenomenon. In an upset victory, Fostanes beat out three other finalists by performing crowd-pleasing renditions of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You,” and ”Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics. Fostanes arrived in Israel six years ago to work as a caregiver so, like millions of other Filipino workers around the world, she could send money back home to her family and her girlfriend. Fostanes spends her days caring and cleaning for an ailing woman in her 50s. To save money, she lives in a crowded apartment in south Tel Aviv, a downtrodden area inhabited by foreign laborers, with seven others.

She sings at the end of the clip.

PHILIPPINES: US Embassy In Manila Issues First Fiance Visa To Gay Couple

From their official website:

On December 2, 2013, the United States Embassy in the Philippines issued its first fiancé visa to a same-sex couple. Although same-sex marriage is not yet recognized in the Philippines, gay Americans are now able to petition for family-based visas on behalf of their Filipino spouses, fiancés, and their children. This extension of rights includes immigration benefits. Noel “Aeinghel” Amaro and Robert Cotterman were the first gay couple in the Philippines to receive a fiancé visa. Cotterman serves in the U.S. military and is scheduled to return from a tour in Afghanistan in January 2014. The two met online and will be married January 2014 in the United States.

(Tipped by JMG reader Greg)

NEW JERSEY: Atheist Group Launches Billboard Campaign On Disaster Relief

The Los Angeles Times reports:

A New Jersey-based atheist organization is castigating the work of Pope Francis and others who respond to natural disasters with prayer, Bibles and rosaries. The billboards then encourage people to go to Atheists.org for more information, including a list of secular agencies that American Atheists endorse for disaster relief efforts. The organization accuses religion in general, and Pope Francis in particular, of exploiting natural disasters to bring more people into the fold. Pope Francis, the organization noted, used Twitter to ask followers to pray for typhoon victims, and was retweeted more than 35,000 times. “Imagine if the pope had asked for people to send money to victims or to send needed supplies. How much more useful would that have been to the people of the Philippines?" American Atheists President David Silverman said in a statement, going on to say the pope's actions were "repugnant." "Natural disasters should not be viewed as opportunities for proselytization."

The Times article concludes: "Could that same criticism apply to the American Atheists? Their billboards are being used to drive people to their website. Is that a form of exploitation?"

Taiwanese Animators Skewer Cindy Jacobs

Quote Of The Day II - Oscar Cruz

"May a lesbian marry a gay man? My answer is yes because in that instance the capacity to consummate the union is there. The anatomy is there. The possibility of conception is there. I ask this question to myself and I have thought about it for a long time and the answer is yes." - Archbishop Oscar Cruz, judicial vicar of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.  Local activists say the Catholic Church is using the specter of gay marriage to block other LGBT rights advances.

MANILA: Christians Protest Lady Gaga

Prison Dancer - Lose Your Way

Episode 4 of a web musical we're just learning about.

An original interactive musical web series inspired by the viral YouTube phenomenon, the "Dancing Inmates of Cebu," PRISON DANCER is a "Glee-meets-Miss Saigon" adventure that paints a fictional portrait of people behind prison walls. In Episode 4, "Lose Your Way," the audience becomes better acquainted with Lola, a strong, self-determined queer enigma portrayed by rapidly rising Filipino-Canadian star Jeigh Madjus. PRISON DANCER is a tribute to pop icon Lady Gaga's anti-bullying messages praising courage, self-love, and resilience in the midst of repression.

TRAILER: Prison Musical

Cebu Pacific Flight Safety Demo

Pageant Queens

Over at Boy Culture, Matthew Rettenmund tips us to this really cute clip of four Filipino gay boys reacting to Miss Philippines making the top fifteen at last night's Miss Universe pageant. Tuesday morning pageantbacks are saying that it was her question response that lost her the crown.

Philippine Bishops: Fire The Health Secretary For Giving Out Condoms

Catholic bishops in the Philippines are calling for the firing of state workers who distributed condoms in an AIDS prevention program. Including in the sacking demand is the nation's Health Secretary.

"It's so immoral for someone in the government to be pushing the use of condoms, which we all know is not deterrent to AIDS prevention," Bishop Ramon Arguelles [LEFT], of the Lipa diocese south of Manila, said in a church statement. The Catholic Church forbids artificial birth control, including condoms. The statement, signed by two other bishops, was posted on the website of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, an organisation grouping the Southeast Asian nation's church leaders. The statement urged President Gloria Arroyo to dismiss Cabral, saying she should not be allowed to influence the nation's young. "It's worrying because it is the morality in society, especially among the youth, that is at stake," Arguelles said.

(Tipped by JMG reader Ed)