fullman

Monsignor Achilles Dakay of the Archdiocese of Cebu blames ‘gay sex’ as the real culprit behind the so-called Cebu rectal surgery scandal. All I can say to Father Dakay is this: Father, there’s a whole world of gay sex taking place in your parish, perhaps even within your parish church. All you have to do is open your eyes. Where else did those erotic fantasies about priests and sacristans come from?

I wonder, after calling gay sex unnatural and perverse, what does ‘gay sex’ conjure in the mind of Father Dakay? Does the idea of oral sex between men evoke images of Dementors? Does he believe that we are all predisposed to get motel rooms that are, by some evil design, all numbered 666? It would probably surprise our dear Father Dakay to discover that when we have sex on the floor, we don’t do it inside a huge drawing of the pentagram, surrounded by candles. We don’t do a Linda Blair or an Emily Rose when we cum either; when that happens, please be assured, Father Dakay, that I’d be the first to request for an exorcism.

In the meantime, here’s a simple fact for Father Dakay: gay sex is sex, period. Don’t call it unnatural, because naturalists have long discovered that less than 10% in the animal kingdom practice strictly heterosexual and monogamous sex. Celibacy is not practiced in the so-called “natural world,” and unless you are a plant, a single-celled organism, or something similar to the freshwater sponge spongilla, then sex is very much part of the order of things.

Father Dakay should also be told that not all sexual acts lead to procreation, and this doesn’t mean that they are unnatural, invalid, less meaningful, or even less intimate. He should not carp about gay sex for not resulting in reproduction, because that’s only natural. He should get worried if gay men end up getting pregnant, because then he should have serious conversation with his god for having a cruel sense of humor.

Jan-Jan, the gay patient that suffered sexual abuse and abusive treatment in the hands of doctors, nurses, and interns, should not be blamed for what he went through. It is odd that an institution that claims to uphold and promote compassion and humanism is actually holding a victim responsible for that terrible situation he went through. No, let me take that back. It is not simply odd, it is actually wicked, immoral, and yes, evil, to blame Jan-Jan, whose experience reflects a climate of stigma and abuse that gay men and other members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community routinely face.

Father Dakay tried to mitigate the cruel implications of his statements by adding that he only means that gay men should be accepted, but not gay sex. In short, love the sinner but hate the sin, an argument bereft of reason. Pushing gay men to be celibate is against the order of things, because sex is natural. The Catholic Church should analyze the declining interest in priesthood to understand that celibacy is such an unnatural imposition.

At the same time, the Church should undergo introspection. Despite Jan-Jan’s strong objection to idea, his sexual partner (whether he’s a prostitute or not is immaterial) did it anyway because he was brought up to despise gay sex, and hatred creates a climate very much conducive to abuse. The jeering doctors, nurses, and interns in the so-called Cebu scandal found it easy to abandon their own rules and ethical standards because they, too, have been educated to ridicule homosexuality. When priests like Father Dakay condemn gay sex and call it abnormal or perverse, they are in the end condoning the violence, trivialization, abuse, and discrimination that constitute the oppression that the LGBT community encounters everyday.

The Church is not faultless in this case. When a father beats up his gay son to correct his homosexuality, I am pretty sure that each slap, kick, or punch is a recollection of teachings from priests who said that homosexuality should be condemned. When teachers expel homosexual students, they are merely reaffirming the Church’s claim that homosexuality is unacceptable. When policemen harass or physically abuse homosexuals, they are only correcting a “sin”.

The next time Father Dakay feels the urge to blame homosexuals for their own oppression, he should be careful: he might find himself pointing his finger at his own beloved Church and his own religion.

_________
We already spoke in the media on the issue. GMA.tv again labeled us as members of the “Third Sex”, while the Philippine Daily Inquirer said that we protested against Dakay’s “rectal swipe.” Oh well.

SHARE IT IF YOU LIKE IT!