Six Filipino high-school students are being banned from their graduation ceremony after officials discovered images of them simulating a kiss in public that were posted on Facebook.
The boys, who describe the kiss as a prank, were in their school uniforms from the Infant Jesus Academy (above) when they took the photos on Monday. Though they will still graduate, they wonât be allowed to attend the ceremony or receive their diplomas.
A mother of one of the kids, who are all between 16 and 17, told Inquirer News:
âFor them, the school diploma is sacred. The school will give it to the students [eventually], as the punishment will not be for life. But it will take two years, three years, four yearsâeven eight years,â she claimed. âThe officials said [the boys] are not deserving, as of the moment, to receive their diplomas.ââ
According to officials at the academy, the boys violated a school policy banning âany conduct inside or outside the campus which brings the student, his/her family and the school in disrepute.â
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Well thatâs pretty vague.
Photo: Infant Jesus Academy
Danny
Since history says Jesus had relations with the man from Jericho, it is disingenuous to deny them diplomas from a school named after a bi/gay demigod.
sheena
im a filipino…..and people in philippines who believes so much in god are very stupid believe me…the laws are based from the stupid bible….and politicians are corrupt
Paul
I think the Catholic school has the right to deny the students attendance to the commencement ceremony if the act was in violation of school policy. But the policy they were said to be in violation of was so vague that it could easily apply to everyone. I’m sure every single student in that school had at some point exhibited “conduct inside or outside the campus which brings the student, his/her family and the school in disrepute”.
The punishment to me seems entirely arbitrary. Had the act been committed at the beginning of the school year instead of near the end, the school probably would not be withholding their diplomas for two or more years.
Charlie in Charge
Their school is the Infant Jesus Academy and no one made a “make the baby Jesus cry” joke. Really that’s so unfortunate, can we send the school board a copy of Footloose?
J Stratford
Yup. The Philippines is so backward. I heard a law allowing government hospitals and clinics to sell condoms to poor people was blocked by the Catholic church. US is lucky the Catholic church does not (yet) control the government.
Paul
@J Stratford: I think the fact that the Philippines is so adherent to Catholicism is probably a contributing factor on why it has lagged behind Japan, China, and South Korea in economic growth. They have allowed religion to triumph over reason. If the Catholic church would simply let the government inform its citizens about birth control, poor Filipino couples would probably not be having more children than they can support.
Belize
@J Stratford: That’s not entirely accurate. I have a lot of Filipino friends and I have stayed in the Philippines before to do research on social issues. The law is called the Reproductive Health Bill. It seeks to control the population of the country (especially on a per family basis which could lead by the way to 11 children each) by giving the government the financial tool to educate people concerning safe sex. And yes, the provision of contraception is also included in the Bill.
As for the law being blocked by the church, that’s not entirely true either. The law is currently being debated on with the liberals of the country at a slight advantage because the arguments of the anti-progressive movement in the Philippines are just plain laughable. I mean seriously: “the Philippines does not need birth control; children are gifts from the lord.” Yeah, and those gifts, at an astounding number, are eating people out of house and home and it is quite apparent as far as statistics are concerned.
As far as LGBT rights in the Philippines are concerned, it’s not as progressive as that of other Western countries but it is SURPRISINGLY better than that of most Asian countries. For one, it does not criminalize homosexuality. It does not have gay marriage but it doesn’t allow discrimination either.
The Philippines is actually quite odd because it is a very religious country, HOWEVER (AND THIS I REALLY HAVE TO STRESS) you rarely EVER hear about excessively violent gay hate crimes especially in Manila. The thing is, while there are a lot of people that condemn homosexuality, their condemnation is not so deep as to inspire the need to cause death and violence. You would hear discriminatory comments all around, but even in all boys Catholic schools, you’d be hard pressed to find gay bashing incidents because the stand toward homosexuality, especially in prestigious Universities, is actually not that bad.
In the University of the Philippines, a transgender woman was recently elected as the head of the student council. I don’t know why Queerty didn’t report on that. It’s actually a big deal since it’s the first ever in the Philippines. Meanwhile, there are actually Catholic Schools that protect the rights of its students (LGBT or otherwise.)
Granted there is still a lot of ignorance but it’s not as bad as you think. As for this school, Infant Jesus Academy, it’s NOT the best representation of schools in the Philippines. I’ve NEVER even heard of it until now and I’ve stayed in that country for a collective of 7 years. It’s probably just one of those small schools that cater to students who may not be qualified for bigger and better schools like Ateneo de Manila or La Salle.
@Paul: Oh honey, please. South Korea, Japan, China, Indonesia and Malaysia. And yes, I agree. Religion has a big part in the lag. However, it also has a lot to do with the unfair distribution of resources, the poor governance in so many regions wherein political dynasties ACTUALLY exist and the shortcomings in the education system. I also believe that a cultural problem exists due to the fact that the Philippines has been colonized three times (Spain, Japan and the US) but that theory is too muddled to even by considered as a solid explanation.
sheena
@RevSpitz: u should hang urself lol i wish ur house will burn with u inside and people who are like u…go back to mountains
Mangina
I’m filipino and though I disagree with the school’s decision at least on the upside, they’re allowed to receive their diplomas. The biggest mistake these teens made was posting it on a social network. NEVER EVER post anything that might get you in trouble one day on the internet. Plus, they were wearing their school uniforms which gave the conservative religious school just cause to ban them from attending the ceremony. Hopefully this will be a lesson to the boys on the power of social media.
I also want to add that the Philippines is a third world country still set in their conservative traditional ways. Since Catholicism is a major part of the culture, it is not going to be progressive any time soon. Change needs to happen over time and little by little the attitudes of citizens is gradually starting to shift differently. Premarital sex, safe sex practices, divorce, abortion, homosexuality, etc. is starting to transform the perception the next generation. With the help of the nation’s own celebrities, they are slowly chipping away at the notions of what the Catholic church expects versus what seems more realistic.
Eventually, the country will wake up and realize that people no longer adhere to the old confines of the Catholic beliefs and start passing just laws to better serve the people.
@RevSpitz
For a person who condemns people of various sexual orientantion, you are hypocrite and a Godless soul! I’ll share the ride of Hell with you!
MJ
@RevSpitz: you came on a gay site to say that? do you check out queermenow too?
Houston Bill
@RevSpitz: Thanks for the Bible Turretts….Now, is there an actual argument in there?
B
No. 10 · Mangina wrote, “Iâm filipino and though I disagree with the schoolâs decision at least on the upside, theyâre allowed to receive their diplomas. The biggest mistake these teens made was posting it on a social network. NEVER EVER post anything that might get you in trouble one day on the internet.”
The trouble with this statement is that it justifies homophobia – a picture of a real or simulated kiss should not be something that would get one into trouble whether gay or straight. Would these kids’ straight peers have been denied their diplomas if they had posted pictures of simulated kisses with their girlfriends?
Farquart
At least the Catholic Church has never done anything that brought it in disrepute. (sarcasm)
Danny
@RevSpitz you left out something extra important… Leviticus 24 plainly says “And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.” Since Leviticus 24 comes after Leviticus 20, obviously the bible was saying to wipe out the homophobes. Leviticus 20 would identify the homophobes who would then be subject to Leviticus 24. So whenever a gay person was killed by a religious leader that religious leader would be executed as per Leviticus 24 – thus swiftly ending homophobic religious leaders. That’s probably why the bible warns everyone “Judge not lest ye be judged.”
Randall Reynolds
Brought to you by Religion!
Sean
@Belize: Well said! You have been very unbiased. Thanks for being fair and commenting with facts rather than just commenting without enough knowledge of the situation!
twiterosG
um…. the picture you used as thumbnail are a couple of football players who are in their 20s (as of pic date) bit of a change would be nice.
as for the policy,
it’s at the whim of any faculty who deems any act violating it.
pretty much describes Medieval Catholicism
twiterosG
@Belize:
I’m a filipino and I’d just like to counter your post about the RH Bill
we need the RH bill, as it is the birth rate here in the Philippines is already high. unfortunately, only the poor demographic has an increased birth rate at 6 to 7 children per mother (and that’s not counting when the mother finds another husband) while the middle to rich class 0 to 2 children per mother.
While the RH bill may seem restrictive like the one child policy of China, there’s a significant reason.
Almost 90% of the poor have families with half a dozen children. More often than not, these become petty thieves and criminals and join rebels especially in Mindanao.
——-
as for the article, I haven’t seen this in mainstream news. Only the ones about girls wearing bikinis and smoking with pictures in facebook.
JT
I don’t think it’s that there’s no crimes against gays because everyones either FLAMEY gay (which no one cares about) or closeted bi đ
/cynicism
mike
stupid
Gus
Private schools SUCK for a reason.