Gay celebrity hairdresser causes stir in the Philippines

Gay celebrity hairdresser, Ricky Reyes, has caused an uproar in the Philippines after he continued speaking out against 0cqo-rVnjMs*xiiDOUV27)OhQq4VAPX+#G64WR+1M=GywWrAW0the LGBT community.

Considered an icon in the country, Reyes spoke out against a Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) bill, promising to protect LGBT people from discrimination.

He also spoke out against same-sex marriage.

“Marriage is meant for men and women. [email protected]$Zmz99q_w([email protected]@zGqAOhSq&We call that sacrilege in Catholicism” he said in a YouTube video.

"That’s a way of dis%rBHHLSjsn#tNbhBXDjcfp(vqBj*Nf2c+)^x#m8A%3JRJW0iLnrespecting religion. It’s not necessary. I’ve been in a relationship for 40-plus years, we don’t go out to say we need to get married… You’re just making the world too complicated”

He also spoke out against [email protected]!s_^f7W8AdzW7Jbtransgender people and cross-dressing.

"This year, I met up with members of the LGBT community. I told them, stop it with homosexuality. Don’t wear dresses when you’re in t(lgHpiDoNCrpiNdV#f0YuR#5INov-GYf(DBZ6bn5YDO*B*UzM7he streets because people will make fun of us.”

"I respect you as a person, I respect your homosexuality, but we should know our place,”IQZvym_$9#UI04taXudbcFd9Z8RdC_#+87=NSMOx+2VVhB--P4 Reyes said.

One of the Philippines’ richest gay men, who owns a chain of hair salons, said “a gay man, even if he has a vagina, even if he has boobs, his braL6OM55RsbRG1S^2jO^Q^zR2wPBTuqTBi8DD!KghTg5X6AGI-O0in still belongs to a gay man."

SOGIE Bill

A long-awaited bill that would criminalize discrimination based on SOGIE is one of the slowest-moving bills in the nation's history[email protected]@st-+_mPeN1tFIlz)weozy(i^[email protected]%3x9q4.

Senator Risa Hontiveros filed the bill in 2016. And, lawmakers and rights activist originally drafted the law neVAk=M$oTjapRDo!(eanZWifSTFtMy3Xhgkqv$c+^fs36Ku8#O7arly 20 years ago.

The House of Representatives nap([email protected])3MmCe)mIe4eXm-Vtdddmbfm-passed the bill in 2017 with unanimous support from 198 lawmakers.

This version penalizes discriminatory acts with a fine between US$2,000 and or US$10,000 imprisonment between one and six years.

But, conservative lawmakers, including anti-LGBTI boxer Manny Pacquiao, have stalled it in thelg9Dr^lVe=Bvyt6UKv=(Nt7ln5-Nsj%Om#C1HK7VyrrLBjygrU Senate.