How to take away Pagadian from the noisiest city label. my take. What's yours?

Pagadian is super sikat when Sen Miriam Defensor Santiago urged an investigation through Senate Resolution No. 309 entitled RESOLUTION   DIRECTING THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND LOCAL, GOVERNMENT TO CONDUCT AN INQUIRY IN AID OF LEGISLATION ON THE HIGH INCIDENCE OF NOISE AND AIR POLLUTION IN PHILIPPINE CITIES.

The resolution stated that there is a study which attributed the noise and air pollution in Pagadian City to motor vehicles, specifically the tricycles and motorcycles plying the major routes of the city, motorized tricycles being the principal mode of transportation around the city.

            It further stated that according to the World Health Organization (WHO), noise pollution can affect human health and well-being in a number of ways, including annoyance reaction, sleep disturbance, interference with communication, performance effects, effects on social behaviour, and hearing loss and that according to the Department of Health (DOH), pollution emitted by motor vehicles accounts for 80 percent of the overall pollution level in the country, the DOH also stated that TSPs, even in small doses, affect breathing and cause eye irritation and 'serious lung problems such as lung cancer and the government has the duty to protect the people from the harmful effects of noise and air pollution by implementing timely measures to minimize the incidence of pollution.

            The resolution asks for an investigation regarding the failure of the government to protect the citizens from pollution.

LIP SERVICE

            People of Pagadian just shrugs the resolution off as the local government especially with the Committee on Environment in the Sangguniang Panlungsod and the Committee on Public Transportation and the Franchising Board do not have the galls and the conviction to truly serve the purpose of their being public officials. They are afraid that they will be dumped by the tricycle drivers and their families during the elections as it is tantamount to depriving these drivers their living.

            They should have thought of this long before that instead of phasing the mode of transportation in a blink of an eye, there should be an alternative. In my recent trip to Puerto Princesa City, the same problem, tricycles and they want them off the road. What the local government did, under the auspices of Mayor Edward Hagedorn was to offer an alternative. The city bought tricycles and jeeps run by batteries in exchange of the noisy and polluting tricycles but the tricycles must first organize themselves into viable cooperatives and the same entity was also given a place at the city gymnasium where a lot of businesses including a bank were situated.

            But the problem is, the coffers of the city are empty as the development fund to be used for the sound alternative has already been exhausted with loans of the commercial center, the agora and others. So, how will they then provide for the alternative, loan again?

            There is an immediate solution to at least, lower the incidence of noise pollution. Take the case of Olongapo City where tricycles are color coded. Meaning to say, they can only take the route of their colors, but not in major thoroughfares.

            Phase out all rotten sidecars and cancel the franchises of those who have used the same for quite some time. This can be done through the police power of the local government to promote the health of people and the common good. But this takes a lot of guts and balls, which I am not seeing in the present set-up, even the Franchising Board Chairperson.  

WANTED: TRUE CONVICTION OF A LEADER

            The problem on noise pollution which could cause deafness among kids can still be abated, there needs an alternative, a win-win solution to address this concern. If only these leaders would learn how to think and listen not just do all the talking.

            May they be reminded that we are the taxpayers paying you to do what is right and not own the position that has never been yours.

            So, what is your take?

Ricky Martin says he is "stronger than ever" after coming out.

The singer announced he was gay on his official website on Monday, calling himself "proud" and "fortunate".

Yesterday, as news spread of his announcement, the star wrote on Twitter that he was "doing great" and feeling "stronger than ever".

He also thanked fans for their support, although few were surprised to learn he is gay.

Martin has brushed off rumours about his sexuality for years.

The lack of surprise was summed up by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, who wrote: "Finally! We're very happy for you, Ricky."

Meanwhile, GLAAD congratulated him on his "openness and honesty" and said it could lead to "greater acceptance for countless gay people in US, in Latin America and worldwide".

Martin became a father in 2008 to twin boys born to a surrogate mother. He said that his sons convinced him he had to be open. He said: “To keep living as I did up until today would be to indirectly diminish the glow that my kids were born with."Enough is enough. This has to change."

He continued: “Many people told me, ‘Ricky it's not important’, ‘it's not worth it’, ‘all the years you've worked and everything you've built will collapse. “Because all this advice came from people who I love dearly, I decided to move on with my life not sharing with the world my entire truth.

“Allowing myself to be seduced by fear and insecurity became a self-fulfilling prophecy of sabotage. Today I take full responsibility for my decisions and my actions.”  (from www.pinknews.co.uk)

Gibo, takbo! Andyan si Gloria!

It was a perfect plan, a perfect jump ship from the Nationalist People’s Coalition to the Lakas Party as the latter is the ruling party with the Chief Executive as Party Chairperson, indeed it was a perfect plan with the perfect people. So he thought. The election fever is now at hand and the campaign trail has been going on. The surveys are not getting any better, the sorties sans the much fanfare obviously the pack lacks the resource. The notable absence of the president GMA in the trail raised doubts. The financial backing of the party is also questioned, no doubt about it, even the vice presidential bet has not been seen in any television campaign ad only Sulong Gibo, a lot of planes he has lifted off. But no Papa Edu. He is sometimes nowhere to be seen in the sorties, others say he purposely never attended due to reason that the party lacks the proper backing. The talk about Villaroyo plans also leaked. It was said that Villar had the secret backing of Arroyo thus explaining why the Party Chair Emeritus did not do any campaign no even said a word in her speeches calling for support for Gibo and party. Days ago, Gibo resigned as party chair of Lakas, with the reason that he cannot concentrate on his campaign if he still acts as party chair. Tonight he said while in Maasin City , Southern Leyte that “hindi nahahati ang katawan ko”. But wait, Governor Migs Dominguez of Sarangani also followed suit and resigned as regional chair of the party followed by Secretary General of the party, Mr. Manglapus. Other party members are expected to follow, as the grapevine has declared. Indeed, Gibo has felt the pain in the neck. It is obvious in the goings on of the party. His ambition for the presidency is dimming, thanks to his fellow party members who has not shown any loyalty at all to the party like Zubiri of Bukidnon, a Lakas stalwart but threw his hat on Villar, Congresswoman Ruiz of Cebu also of the Lakas now supports Vilar, Governor Cerilles of Zamboanga del Sur is with Lakas but her husband running with her as Governor while the wife as representative of the 2nd district is running under a different party to get a good catch of the manna from parties, the wife Lakas, the husband NPC and entertained also Villar and Erap when they came to the province. There are a lot who betrayed the ruling party and yet filed their candidacies in the name of Lakas. Others betrayed because they cannot accept newcomer Gibo to be standard bearer bypassing the others like Bayani who has been with the party for years. They also betrayed because they were not pressured by the President to support Gibo while Villar already poured in the much needed resource which is what the local leaders need. It is obvious that the party never made efforts to support the team because of the want of advertisements by the party and the leaders like Ramos and Arroyo have not been seen campaigning for them. Now, De Venecia also a Lakas stalwart who was against the merger of the Lakas Kampi party is now declaring that Lakas will name a candidate they will support after the declaration of Gibo and others. This is another blow to Gibo’s ambition. Gibo should accept the fact that the administration is not serious with him. He should find ways and means of pulling his act together and do an effective campaign and be truthful to the people, not defending the administration of their shortcomings and issues. Should he be truthful and be with the majority pulse, he could add up on surveys as the distrust of the people is high on the present sitting president and her allies. The administration is pulling him down and he should admit this fact. More so, the administration is not helping him and has in fact becoming more of a liability than an asset to his campaign. Gibo should switch gears. He should tell all. He should  fly his green plane without the baggage, the administration. He is too conscious of his defending GMA while the pulse of the people is against GMA. Admittedly, he has the brains for a president, education credentials are beyond question, the looks could kill, the verbal abilities very excellent. To push it all for the positive, ride on the pulse President Gibo before everything for you will be Gibo’s “bigo”. He could win if he decides. His wife Nikki is the 3rd richest congressperson last year. The President is not campaigning for you, she is for Villar and local leaders can attest to that, just ask them and they will be truthful to you. You just have to be truthful first. Tell all.

Ricky Martin is Gay!

Letter of Ricky Martin:

A few months ago I decided to write my memoirs, a project I knew was going to bring me closer to an amazing turning point in my life. From the moment I wrote the first phrase I was sure the book was the tool that was going to help me free myself from things I was carrying within me for a long time. Things that were too heavy for me to keep inside. Writing this account of my life, I got very close to my truth. And thisis something worth celebrating.

For many years, there has been only one place where I am in touch with my emotions fearlessly and that’s the stage. Being on stage fills my soul in many ways, almost completely. It’s my vice. The music, the lights and the roar of the audience are elements that make me feel capable of anything. This rush of adrenaline is incredibly addictive. I don’t ever want to stop feeling these emotions. But it is serenity that brings me to where I’m at right now. An amazing emotional place of comprehension, reflection and enlightenment. At this moment I’m feeling the same freedom I usually feel only on stage, without a doubt, I need to share.

Many people told me: “Ricky it’s not important”, “it’s not worth it”, “all the years you’ve worked and everything you’ve built will collapse”, “many people in the world are not ready to accept your truth, your reality, your nature”. Because all this advice came from people who I love dearly, I decided to move on with my life not sharing with the world my entire truth. Allowing myself to be seduced by fear and insecurity became a self-fulfilling prophecy of sabotage. Today I take full responsibility for my decisions and my actions.

If someone asked me today, “Ricky, what are you afraid of?” I would answer “the blood that runs through the streets of countries at war…child slavery, terrorism…the cynicism of some people in positions of power, the misinterpretation of faith.” But fear of my truth? Not at all! On the contrary, It fills me with strength and courage. This is just what I need especially now that I am the father of two beautiful boys that are so full of light and who with their outlook teach me new things every day. To keep living as I did up until today would be to indirectly diminish the glow that my kids where born with. Enough is enough. This has to change. This was not supposed to happen 5 or 10 years ago, it is supposed to happen now. Today is my day, this is my time, and this is my moment.

These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn’t even know existed.

What will happen from now on? It doesn’t matter. I can only focus on what’s happening to me in this moment. The word “happiness” takes on a new meaning for me as of today. It has been a very intense process. Every word that I write in this letter is born out of love, acceptance, detachment and real contentment. Writing this is a solid step towards my inner peace and vital part of my evolution.

I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.  

RM

Source Ricky Martin

The fortunate homosexual, as he called himself in his letter. Indeed, so fortunate.

"I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am."

The History of the Rainbow Flag

From: http://www.nanaimopride.org/

Gilbert Baker displays the very first Gay Pride flag in 1978 

The Rainbow Flag made its first appearance in the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade in 1978. Its symbolism was borrowed from the hippie and black civil rights movements. Artist Gilbert Baker from San Francisco, our own gay Betsy Ross, created the flag as a symbol that could be used year after year.

Along with about 30 volunteers, two gigantic prototype of the flag were hand-stitched and hand-dyed. The original flag had eight stripes, with each color representing a particular component of the gay community: hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, turquoise for the arts, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit.

The following year, as a result of extraordinary demand for the flag, Baker contacted San Francisco Paramount Flag Company to inquire about the possibility of mass-producing his flag for use in the 1979 parade. He was surprised to learn that due to production issues and the fact that hot pink was not a readily available commercial color, his original eight colors could not be used. The fact is that he had hand-dyed the original colors. Hot pink was removed from the palette and the flag was reduced to seven stripes, with indigo being replaced by royal blue.

     New York City - 1994

ORIGINAL 8-COLOR FLAG

6-COLOR FLAG

The second change to the flag came after the assassination of San Francisco's openly-gay commissioner, Harvey Milk. To manifest the community's solidarity in the aftermath of this tragedy, the San Francisco Pride Committee elected to use Baker's flag in honor of the slain Milk. The turquoise stripe was eliminated so that the colors could be divided evenly on the parade route, three colors on one side of the street, and three colors on the other side.

Wishing to demonstrate the gay community’s solidarity in response to this tragedy, the 1979 Pride Parade Committee decided to use Baker’s flag in honor of Milk. The committee eliminated the turquoise stripe so they could divide the colors evenly as they walked the parade route, three colors on one side of the street and three on the other.

This updated six-color version of the rainbow flag quickly spread from San Francisco to other cities. Soon, it was universally known and accepted as a symbol of gay pride and diversity. And it is recognized officially by the International Congress of Flag Makers as such. During New York's Gay Pride celebration in 1994, over 10,000 people carried a 30-foot-wide by one-mile-long rainbow flag through the streets of Manhattan, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.

In 2004 at the Key West Pride Festival, Gilbert Baker unveiled a re-creation of his original eight-color flag. Said Baker, "We lost two of the original colors, pink and turquoise. It’s time, however, to restore the original design. First, it is simply more beautiful and more authentic. Moreover, when we lost the pink, we lost the symbol for our sexual liberation. The missing turquoise honors Native Americans and the magic of life. Both colors are needed to embrace our history."

Save the dolphins from Denmark's cruelty

Denmark is a big shame The sea is stained in red and its not because of nature, this is man made pool of blood.

It's because of the cruelty that the human beings (civilized humans) killing hundreds of the famous and intelligent Calderon dolphins.

This happens every year in Feroe Island in Denmark and other islands in the country. In this cannibalistic act, the main participants are young teens. WHY? To show that they are adults and mature.... A rite of passage, so to speak.

In this big celebration, nothing is missing for the fun. Everyone is participating in one way or the other, killing or looking at the cruelty “supporting like a spectator” in a basketball match.

Is it necessary to mention that the dolphin calderon, like all the other species of dolphins, is in its near extinction and playful as they are, they get near men to play and interact.

They don’t die instantly; they are cut 1, 2 or 3 times with thick hooks, causing the dolphins to produce a cry  compatible with the cry of a new born child.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! We will send these photos until these gets to the concerned, we won’t only read. That would make us accomplices, viewers.

http://bluepanjeet.net blog owner said that

the owner of this photograph (above) posted this pic on his flickr account and seems to be proud of his achievements because he even justified that people are going and commenting on his photos because they are fantastic. What this amateur photographer doesn't know is that he is being branded by people all over the world as sick, insensitive and barbaric just like most of his fellows in Faroe Island.  I dont know what  this photographer will feel like if instead of bloodied whales lying on the shore, its their own ghastly bodies that are slaughtered to pieces.

Why are they Killing the Whales and Dolphins?

Whale and Dolphin hunting has been the tradition of the inhabitants of Faroe Islands (located in Denmark) since the 10th century. And most of the descendants of the medieval whalers have passed this tradition from Generations to Generations. For the record, there are 17 villages in the Island that have these kind of scenario every year which are authorized to conduct such massacre. After killing the whales in methods so gruesome, the villages parttake the meat of their hunt and distribute them among the inhabitants. And because sometimes meat are abundant, some carcasses of the killed whales and dolphins are laid to waste and rot over the shores. The inhabitants use the whale meat for food because it is one of their staple diet. But recently, a law was passed in the area stating that whale meat consumption must only be once every two weeks because of high levels of mercury, insecticides and other poisons contained in it.

This Tradition has met worldwide outrage and criticism that even Greenpeace Activists tried to stop this from ever occurring again. But the islanders insist that the outsiders doesn’t know the implication of this tradition to their identity and culture as Faroe islanders. Activists however argued that during the medieval times, Faroe islanders have shortage of food compare to this time of ours that food is abundant already in the Island and that using tradition as an excuse for the slaughter of these gentle animals is truly unacceptable. If they were sharks, I don’t think they stand a chance in staging such massacre. I am reminded by this of primitive Mexico prior to the apparition of the Virgin in Guadalupe, wherein people are sacrificed on the altar and their hearts taken from their bodies as a “traditional” sacrifice to the serpent god. The only difference between Mexico and Faroe Island is the time and era. But practically they have the same kind of barbarism in their blood.

Being a Franciscan at heart, we were taught that all animals are our brothers and sisters and that men should show love for all things and creatures created by God. If St. Francis were alive today, he would probably preach on the shores on Faroe island with whales and dolphins as his listeners. For truly, Faroe islanders are more bestial than the gentle beasts themselves.

BTW, I forgot to mention, newly born and baby whales and dolphins are also not spared from this massacre.
Take care of the world, it is OUR AND THEIR home!

PLEASE HELP ME STOP THIS TERRIFYING AND NONSENSE CRUELTY! PLEASE REBLOG.

Human Rights Worker in Zamboanga Decries Harassment

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

A human rights worker in Zamboanga has been subjected to harassment by suspected intelligence agents of the Philippine Army. 

Dolorith Obsid, 41, a resident of Brgy. Carayagan, Josefina, Zamboanga Del Sur and a member of Justice and Peace Group (Jpag) complained of frequent visits to her home by suspected intelligence agents from the 5th and 55th Infantry Battalions, Philippine Army (IBPA). Obsid said her ‘visitors’ insisted that her husband is a member of the New People’s Army (NPA) and he should surrender. ?

Obsid was first visited by the two men in August 2009 who introduced themselves as members of the NPA with names Lucio Pitao and Dondon Ortiz. They told Obsid that they are her husband’s comrades and that she should come with them because her husband was confined in an undisclosed hospital in Oroquieta City due to kidney problem. Obsid did not go with the men and told them that her husband is not an NPA and works in some other place. The men still tried to convince her that they are from the underground movement and even told her they are holding their office in Davao City and came from Mission for Indigenous and Self Reliance People’s Assistance Incorporated (Mispa) Foundation in Lopez Jaena, Misamis Oriental.??The men came back on February 13, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. The man who introduced himself as Lucio Pitao and another unidentified man barged into her house. This time, they introduced themselves as state agents. Obsid was told that she should stop playing games with them because they know that her husband is an NPA. 

The men also told her that her husband is sick somewhere in Lanao del Norte and insisted that she should come with them to find her husband and persuade him to surrender to avail of the government’s amnesty program. Obsid told them that if indeed they are state agents and are convinced that her husband is an NPA, they should be the one looking for him and they should stop pestering her. This angered the men and a heated argument ensued attracting the attention of Obsid’s neighbors who came to check what was happening. The men were forced to leave and told Obsid that they were not yet through with her and that they would come back that afternoon. 

The men came back to Obsid’s house on March 9, at around 2:30 p.m. This time, the agents were with Caling Olarte, a former member of the Citizens Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu), who now serves as a barangay council member and a known military asset in the locality. They talked with Osbid’s friend, a member of the local peace keeping force, to act as go-between to convince Osbid to cooperate with the military for the peaceful surrender of her husband before anything bad happens. But Obsid’s friend told them that what they were asking was impossible because Osbid’s husband is not a member of the underground movement. 

Disappointed the military men left but came back later. However, Obsid was able to go into hiding with the aid of a neighbor. 

Floro Tabalina, coordinator of Karapatan Western Mindanao, said another set of suspected military agents came back to Obsid’s house last March 16 to 18. He said Obsid’s neighbors are helping her hide. 

Tabalina said he advised Obsid to report the incident to the barangay but local officials are also afraid of the military men and refused to get involved. 

Obsid’s husband is in Cebu City working as a construction worker. 

Tabalina said that sometime in 2008, Obsid’s daughter, Jessel witnessed an abduction in IliganCity. He said the military tried to get her but the Karapatan chapter in Western Mindanao took her into custody. Jessel is now staying in Manila. 

Obsid believes state agents are harassing her to stop her from continuing her work at Jpag. 

Tabalina said the harassment of Obsid and other activists in the region is part of Oplan Bantay Laya, the counter insurgency program of the government. (Bulatlat.com)

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Opinion: To Struggle for Gay Rights is to Struggle for All Rights

by:  Scott Long

Published in: globalpost

February 4, 2010

Human Rights Watch

The struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's human rights is not just a campaign for a minority or a battle for gradual law reform. It is about what kind of societies we want to live in - and what kinds of people we want to be. -Scott Long, director, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program, Human Rights Watch

(New York) - The email came to Human Rights Watch anonymously, late one night.

"I am a gay, working in Saudi Arabia ... last night me and my friends were in the shopping mall and suddenly the Saudi police attack us and arrested my friend Mu'ayyad and I managed to run away ... He is in jail and they are treating him like an animal, they abuse him and hit him every minute, please we don't have any hope ..."

From our office in New York, we spent days trying to find a Saudi lawyer for this man. When he was eventually freed, we worked with refugee organizations to help him escape the country. A few months later, I visited him in Jordan, where he'd found temporary shelter. He spoke haltingly of his ordeal: picked up by the Saudi religious police because they thought his T-shirt suspiciously tight, his walk too "feminine." They tortured him and tried to rape him in his prison cell.

Mu'ayyad was an Iraqi, not a Saudi citizen. He'd been forced to flee Baghdad for the relative safety of Riyadh a year earlier. When his relatives in Iraq had learned he was gay, his entire extended family vowed to kill him.

As a refugee, Mu'ayyad was finally able to resettle in the United States. We only learned his story by accident: because his lonely, terrified friend sent out an email in the dark.

Many such stories happen. Most remain in darkness. Around the world, few places are safe for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Some 80 countries criminalize consensual homosexual sex. Over half of them, from Malaysia to Jamaica, are clinging to repressive laws on "sodomy" that were left behind by British colonialism. The United States itself only scrapped its own such laws seven years ago.

New legal repression threatens. Uganda, not content with the law the British left, is debating a draconian "anti-homosexuality bill" that would inflict the death penalty on repeat offenders. "Promoting homosexuality" - any positive mention of it, any advocacy for gay people's rights - would incur a five-year sentence. And anyone who failed to report a homosexual to police within 24 hours would face three years in prison. The bill would build a nation of informers, turning citizen against citizen, sibling against sibling.

Mu'ayyad's story points to deeper dangers, though. For most LGBT people, the law is less threatening than prejudice and panic, hate and fear: an environment where families can be moved to kill their children in the name of "morality" or "honor." The Uganda bill, too, draws strength from how politicians and religious leaders seeking popularity and power have demonized LGBT people for years. One homophobic minister in Kampala this year promised to lead a "million man march" to support the death penalty for gays.

Around the world, sexuality has become a battleground.

"Fundamentalism" is a word both over-used and ill-defined. If it means anything, though, it describes movements that try to capture the state, to enforce social norms that society, community and family used to impose. Fundamentalisms feed on fear, on the sense of social breakdown, on the intuition that old values need new policing to prop them up.

Governments thus use their nightsticks and their surveillance systems to control people's bodies, to intrude in areas of private life that in many cases used to be irrelevant to them or off-limits. Ambitious politicians exploit fears of women's and men's sexual freedom for their own ends. Preachers and reporters alike stoke the atmosphere of prejudice, invoking desperate measures needed to combat what they call decadence.

One example: in Iraq in 2009, media and mosques spread fears that Iraqi manhood was somehow threatened with being "feminized" after years of occupation. Headlines and sermons warned that Western habits and an insidious "softness" were eating away at masculinity. Militias seized the chance to pose as protectors of morality, and started hunting victims - not just gay men, but any men who seemed "unmanly." Tight jeans or gelled hair could spell death.

Hundreds may have been murdered, kidnapped from homes or killed on the streets. In some cases the killers shot glue up their victims' anuses: a brutal reminder that their bodies were the abject property of others' beliefs, a reminder of what happens if you break unwritten laws of gender.

As human rights activists, we try to change practices, not sentiments. Yet LGBT rights defenders always know that the real terrain of our struggles lies in hearts and minds, in consciences scarred by hatred or open to acceptance.

There have been signs of hope this year. In June 2009, an Indian court overturned that country's 149-year-old sodomy law - the first such law that Britain ever imposed on its colonial possessions. It freed countless citizens of the world's largest democracy from the threat of blackmail or police harassment.

Yet the court saw its decision as extending beyond a single bad law. It affirmed this was not just about privacy or the citizen's right to safety behind closed doors, but about Indian democracy itself. It explicitly rejected a vision of the state as protective parent or as divisive judge. It cited Nehru, the nation's founder, declaring that "Where society can display inclusiveness and understanding," everyone can lead a life of dignity.

That is the real truth which voices too long shrouded in silence have been saying to us all. The struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's human rights is not just a campaign for a minority or a battle for gradual law reform. It is about what kind of societies we want to live in - and what kinds of people we want to be. It is about rejecting hatred and irrational fear; it is about the freedom to live an autonomous life. Ultimately, the struggle is about all of us, for all of us.