[In the news] Afraid: ‘Killings of LGBTs in Philippines on the rise’ – Interaksyon.com

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Human Rights Online Philippines 5 comments

Afraid: ‘Killings of LGBTs in Philippines on the rise’ – Interaksyon.com.

by Joseph Holandes Ubalde, InterAksyon.com

MANILA, Philipines – There has been a steady and alarming rise in violence against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) community in the Philippines over the past 15 years, new research conducted by an LGBT advocacy group suggests, in line with a call for the police and the Commission and Human Rights to acknowledge and formally look into the troubling trend.

For the first half of 2011 alone, as of June 17, the Philippine LGBT Hate Crime Watch says it has documented 28 killings within the gay community. This figure already nearly equals homicide and murder figures for 2010, which is pegged at 29.

“Expanding the timeframe to as early as 1996, a total of 103 (killings of LGBTs have been monitored),” the group said.

Of the 103 cases that the group considers hate crimes, 61 attacks were against gay men, 26 against transgenders, 12 against lesbians, and four targetted bisexuals.

Read full article @ INTERAKSYON.com

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HRonlinePH says…

“As men and women of conscience, we reject discrimination in general, and in particular discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity… Where there is tension between cultural attitudes and universal human rights, universal human rights must carry the day”— UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, New York, 10 December 2010.

It was established in the UDHR that it is an obligation on the part of States to protect people from discrimination, including on the basis of “sex … or other status.”