Ranting, whiming about RH issues

When our friend and fellow reproductive health advocate, Carlos Celdran calls us to get together, you can bet that the usual suspects are all going to show up, ready to spend another evening of ranting and whining about the issues that Reproductive Health (RH) advocates obsess about: SexEd bill, the stand of president on RH and what he REALLY means by “responsible parenthood.” Last Saturday was no exception, but we were all surprised to see a foreign TV news crew walk in with their heavy duty equipment.

Carlos introduced them as Peter Tatchell and his TV crew for UK’s Channel 4, who are in the Philippines filming a documentary.

Peter Tatchell is a gay rights activist who has freely expressed his opposition to the Vatican’s views on homosexuality and condoms not being effective in preventing the spread of HIV. According to one news report, Tatchell is one of the founders of a group called Protest the Pope, which criticises the Pope’s record on homosexuality, contraception and child abuse and says that he “is an unsuitable guest of the UK government.”

Tatchell and his crew are in town to produce a documentary that will examine the impact that the Pope’s pronouncements have had on both the developing and Western world. The programme is scheduled to be aired during Pope Benedict XVIs planned visit to the UK in September.

Wanggo Gallaga, who has never failed to lend his time and talent to the cause of raising HIV/AIDS awareness and in the process has changed the way people perceive living with HIV, was identified by Tatchell and his crew to be the the focal for the Philippine portion of the documentary. As someone who is living with HIV, Wanggo was asked how he feels about the Pope’s stand on homosexuality and condoms.

So where role did all the other RH advocates play? We were, quite simply, “party people” to add texture and background. I believe, the production term is “extras”. We didn’t mind. God knows we’ve exhausted the topic amongst ourselves so we welcomed bitching and whining about reproductive health issues with any member of the foreign community.

There was one topic that was somewhat new though—celibacy. Specifically, its in fueling the child abuse scandals in the Church.

One peer counselor spoke about the hypocrisy that rages not just in the Vatican, but within the city. The hypocrisy and prescribed self-righteousness have implications on uncovering the real score when it comes to HIV prevalence. ”I have tested many people, some who don’t identify themselves as gay, but turn up as HIV+. “

He even showed up the rapid test kit he brings around. With one small prick (no pun intended), a blood test is done and you can know within 15 minutes if you are positive or not. “It’s just like a diabetes test, or a pregnancy test,” he explained. Of course, it is still recommended that you go for confirmatory testing, but since the result of that will take a lot longer and the waiting can be nothing short of agonizing, a rapid test can be done in the meantime.

A bunch of us lined up and got ourselves tested (not in front of the camera, they had long since finished filming by then). None of those who got tested turned up positive that night, but we all found ourselves wondering, “What if I am? How will I feel?” Our peer counselor took us through a pre-counselling session and explained everything to us, which helped in assuaging our fears. It provided yet another dimension to the RH discussion.

In the middle of the party, our new found peer counselor friend excused himself. He needed to meet someone who wanted to undergo anonymous testing.

He came back after about an hour. He met the person near one of the churches in Manila. Here, he gave the young man pre-counseling, tested him and when his test showed up positive, the young man was counselled on his options and the need for confirmatory testing.

All of this went on in secrecy.

We continue to deny youth SexEducation, women access to contraception and the positive community the assurance of compassion and acceptance. And while we refuse to even acknowledge that people are fornicating, yet another person has tested HIV+, ironically enough, behind one of the sacred churches in Manila.

The hypocrisy continues. –ANA SANTOS, Manila Times