Barangay Los Angeles President Robert Maullon and Director of PR and Marketing Jeremiah Abraham accept a trophy from Philippine Consul General Mary Jo Aragon.

To our members, allies, and supporters,

It is our great honor to stand in solidarity with all of you, especially during this progressive new year. With the increased awareness and prevention of LGBTQ bullying in our schools, to today’s fulfilling decision regarding the unconstitutional foundation of Prop 8 — we are closer and closer to equality among all people.

My journey with Barangay Los Angeles started over two years ago with a passion to serve the Filipino American LGBTQ community. This is a collective passion that I share with Barangay Los Angeles supporters, members, allies, as well as past and current leaders that has brought this organization together for nearly 22 years. Our continued success is due to the past leaders of this organization who have helped shape the organization to what it is today. But more than anything, thank you to all the Barangay Los Angeles members, supporters, volunteers, and allies who have been supportive all these years. You are the backbone of this organization and without you, the organization would fail its purpose.

2011 was a great year for Barangay Los Angeles. From increased visibility in the media, to partnerships with other Asian Pacific Islander (API) organizations and the larger LGBTQ community, to being an advocacy driven organization — we have definitely lived up to our vision to provide a safe space for our LGBTQ Filipino community. Barangay Los Angeles continuously aims to do bigger and better things for its members. Our mission aims to create safe, progressive spaces; to foster positive self-esteem; to discuss concerns relevant to being Filipino and LGBTQ; and to advocate on behalf of its members. We are proud to say that our events over the last year certainly mirrored our mission which has guided the organization to where it is today. Truly, it was a year of hard work motivated by passion and the desire to foster a better Filipino LGBTQ community for all.

Our work does not end here.  We urge all of you to join Barangay Los Angeles once more in solidarity to fulfill its mission and serve its purpose. Let us work together to create a progressive future and build strong ties among our community. We look forward to engaging with each one of you in these coming months.

This journey is our journey. We walk tall and proud with all of you.

Thank you and maraming salamat sa inyong lahat,

Robert Julius Maullon
Barangay Los Angeles President

Barangay Los Angeles President Robert Maullon and his mother on TFC's RSVP with Gisselle Tongi and Dr. Tess Mauricio.

It wasn’t my first time being in front of the camera for an interview on TFC. Albeit, the first couple of interviews I did were very short segments. This time around, it was longer. And it revolved around something I really didn’t have enough courage to talk about very publicly until these past few months.

See, I already came out of the closet to my close friends and to my immediate family. It was liberating and scary at the same time. You can watch the clip below as to how I came about doing so and how my mom reacted to the whole situation. If you need translation to what she said, I’d be happy to provide you with it. Bottom line: it was a message of love, understanding, and support.

However, I’ve never really talked about it to the other members of my distant family – cousins, aunts and uncles. I haven’t even had that conversation with my dad. Little did I know that representing this organization meant that I needed to step out of my comfort zone. And eventually, I realized the importance of talking about who I am, not just for me and for the people I care about but because my story is similar to many LGBTQ Filipinos out there.

Coming out is a process and the time it takes for someone to do so varies. The difficulty of the whole coming out process is the fact that our society doesn’t talk about LGBTQ issues within the family. This is compounded by the fact that there’s really no role model for the younger LGBTQ. Shame and stigma continuously causes fear for someone to step out and admit who they truly are.

My hope is that my story somewhat inspires others to do so, if and when they are ready. We can be the role models. I never had anyone to look up to (that’s LGBTQ) growing up but I have tremendous support from the people I care a lot about – my friends and family. The love and acceptance they’ve given me allowed me to proud of who I am and gave me the courage to walk on. Because I know, that from the moment I was ready to show the whole world who Robert Julius Maullon is, I have them walking with me.

Watch Barangay Los Angeles on TFC’s RSVP here:

A year ago I was preparing to answer one of the most simplistic but essential questions when I took over as President of Barangay Los Angeles for 2011. What is your vision? At the time there was no easy answer. Joining the Barangay Los Angeles team, you have to be a visionary, not only for the organization to grow but for the future of the community. What made Barangay LA so unique and strong in the past years was creating social safe spaces where members can be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ), and also celebrate being proud Filipino/Filipinas. This organization is the concept of that very idea, being proud of your whole self, which in 1989, came to fruition.

In 2011, we as Barangay Los Angeles Boardmembers ‘decided to take the concept further. Taking the visions and strengths of its past and set on a journey to step outside of the box. In the past few years, our community has been placed at the forefront of politics and media. From the repeal of “Don’t’ Ask, Don’t Tell” to the ballot measure for marriage equality in California. At large, the LGBTQ community has have taken astronomical steps, but we as Filipinos and Filipino-Americans are barely scratching the surface. However, in 2011, we are proud to say that Barangay Los Angeles has created a movement that will only continue to grow.

At the start of 2011, Barangay Los Angeles created an Advocacy Committee, which set out to start our movement at home, with our families. We stood on a platform challenging our Filipino community to create space spaces for LGBTQ Filipino/Filipinas. We called on our community to address youth suicide through an event called, “TULAY: A Bridge to Help Fight Youth Suicide,” a 3-day art gallery and symposium with the hope of opening dialogue between families through visual art, spoken word, and live performances. For some of us, it was the first time hearing from Filipino families in support of their daughters and sons. We engaged health educators, religious and community leaders, artists, advocates and allies to discuss the issues, we as LGBTQ’s face on a daily basis.

Attendees observe artwork at "TULAY: A Bridge to Fight LGBTQ Youth Suicide"

Barangay LA’s commitment to the community is always constant. We held “Kapihans,” coffee talks, for our LGBTQ community and allies to come together once a month in a safe space to discuss issues that affect us. A space where Barangay LA can listen to the community and be a better advocate. We partnered with Mariposa Center for Change to address gender violence. We stood by Filipino Veterans to voice inequality they have been facing for many years. We participated in marches with API equality, AIDS Walk, Historic Filipinotown, Transgender Day of Remembrance, and LA Pride. For us there isn’t one way to be a better advocate, there are numerous ways.

Advocacy has many forms and sometimes is can be the simplest, it can be as simple as visibility. Visibility is one of our most vital roles we have in the community. When we took our positions as Boardmembers, we held a series of community meetings with members and community shareholders. One thing that became apparent was the lack of visibility, lack of voice we as LGBTQ Filipino/Filipinas have. I remember the words of Harvey Milk, an openly gay politician, “we will not win our rights by staying silently in our closets [...] We are coming out.” So in 2011, we “came out.”

We increased our media coverage through The Filipino Channel’s (TFC) newest weekly talk show, RSVP. Hosted by Giselle Tongi and Dr. Tess Mauricio, an entire show was dedicated to family acceptance and pride, putting our stories into the households of millions of Filipinos. We continued our wonderful partnership with Janelle So at Kababayan LA, doing segments on LGBTQ youth suicide and awareness. We also worked with Balitang America throughout the year, covering topics on Prop 8, hate crimes and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Coming out in the media was only the first steps in making an impact.

We also participated and partnered with our allies to create in-person visibility of our community, to represent the diversity of being LGBTQ. In partnership with FilAm Arts’ 20th Annual Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture (FPAC) in San Pedro, we hosted the very first LGBTQ workshop on Art and Advocacy on the festival grounds. We were so appreciative to be joined by first-time attendees, such as aunties, teenagers, friends and families. At our booth, we continued to be overwhelmed by the amount of support we received. Lea Solonga, Consul General Mary Jo Aragon, Giselle Tongi and Rex Navarrete, visited us, voicing their support of LGBTQ Filipino/Filipinas. Taking advocacy work a step further, we also challenged attendees at the festival to wear purple in support of Spirit Day and the prevention of LGBTQ youth Suicide, which many supported, both allies and LGBTQs. One festival attendee shared with me, “This is the first year that I saw so much support and diversity of the LGBTQ community. Barangay truly created a safe space.”

Barangay Los Angeles’ Winning Parol at FPAC 2011 with Consul General Mary Jo Aragon

Hosting a workshop at FPAC wasn’t only our first time coming out to an event. We made first time appearances at Models of Pride, Hollywood Youth Parade, Tuesday Night Café, Friendship Games and at Our Lady of Angels Cathedral at the Simbang Gabi. We were the only LGBTQ Filipino/a organization in participation. And we continued our support at Outfest, the Queer Pin@y Conference and supported artists such as, Alec Mapa and Alison Dela Cruz.In celebrating our mission of making Barangay LA a place to be proud of your culture and your identity, we participated at Los Angeles Pride. For the 41st annual celebration, not only did we bring to the parade the largest contingent of LGBTQ Filipino/Filipinas but we also brought our first annual Sagala. A Sagala is a traditional Philippine parade with custom traditional dresses and cultural pride observed in the Philippines. At Barangay LA, it is important for our members to celebrate their Philippine culture and traditions, as well as their identity.

Keeping to our vision for 2011, we continued to host our well-known events, such as Barangay Idol. Joined with guest judges, Bernardo Bernardo and Janelle So, we celebrated the talent in our community with our annual singing competition and fundraiser. Barangay LA was very proud to present Joannarae with first place and was able to raise money for our Advocacy event (TULAY) and provide educational workshops such as like Transgender Sensitivity training. This year we partnered with the Gay Asian Pacific Support Network (GAPSN) and presented, Fantasy, our annual Halloween party. We also introduced new events such as like Bekilmpics, a day at the park learning about Philippine games. And we held our first annual volleyball tournament, “Serve for a Cause,” which we raised money to support a recreational center at the heart of Historic Filipinotown.

Our work as an organization couldn’t be as strong as it is without our partnerships. Throughout the year, we partnered with over 10 organizations and projects, such as the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), AF3IRM, Ministry of Gay and Lesbian Catholics, Lifeworks, Search to Involve Pilipino-Americans (SIPA), Sigaw, Sama-Sama workshops, Pilipino Artist Network, FilAm Arts, API-PFLAG, APAIT Health Center, APIPC Pride Council, BakitWhy.com, Los Angeles Volleyball Organization (LAVO), Imperial Court – Hollywood, and with artists from The Malaya Project, a photography project highlighting proud LGBTQ Filipinos.
Since becoming Board President of Barangay LA in 2011, I am absolutely proud of this organization’s vision and mission. It is very clear to me that the days of being silent are in the past. We as a community, each and every one of us, have a responsibly to continue creating safe spaces for future generations. We have the responsibility to keep coming out and challenging our kuyas and ates, our aunties and uncles, our nanays and tatays to make sure they create a safe space just as Barangay LA strives to do.

It is with great gratitude to share my uttermost appreciation to everyone who has supported Barangay Los Angeles throughout the year. And especially to the Boardmembers, the visionaries of 2011, who have shared with me the pure passion for the community and the result that passion has on others. A year ago, a group of LGBTQ Filipinos sat in a living room, besides being proud of who they are, all had one thing in common, a vision for a better future for their community. In 2011, I witnessed first hand how one individual can make a difference and I also witnessed how one team can make an impact.

Mabuhay,
Gregory Pacificar
Barangay Los Angeles, Board President 2011.

For more information on how you can help with the local effort mentioned email Manuel Falcon Padua: manuelfalconpadua@gmail.com

For more information on how you can help through the ABS-CBN Foundation click the link: http://www.abscbnfoundation.org/

Redwood City, Calif. (December 20, 2011) – ABS CBN Foundation International launches an international disaster relief effort for the victims of Typhoon Sendong in Mindanao island, the southern region of the Philippines, through Sagip Kapamilya. Tax deductible monetary donations are now being accepted to provide immediate aid. Cheques can be made to “ABS CBN Foundation International: Typhoon Sendong” and sent to the nonprofit’s offices at 150 Shoreline Drive, Redwood City, California 94065. Donors can also contribute online via www.abscbnfoundation.org.

On Sunday, Typhoon Sendong brought more than a month of average rainfall within 12 hours to Northern Mindanao, the Visayas and Palawan. Hard hit are the southern coastal cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. Unaccustomed to major storms, river systems and homes specifically in these two cities were massively destroyed. Raging waters have put the toll at 927 killed and hundreds more missing, as reported today by ABS CBN News. Most of the dead are women and children.

Typhoon Sendong is now considered the world’s deadliest storm for 2011.

While mass graves are being dug for its casualties, survivors continue to ask for help. Body bags, food, water, medicine, blankets, kerosene lamps, etc. are urgently needed in evacuation centers where the ABS CBN Foundation volunteers are stationed.

“Typhoon Sendong is especially devastating to all of us because it affected some of our poorest families just a few days before Christmas,” said J. Robbie Fabian, President of the ABS CBN Foundation International. “We will be on the ground until more missing persons are brought to safety and all our survivors are given immediate attention. As always, the commitment of Sagip Kapamilya is long-term community rehabilitation.”

The Sagip Kapamilya—Typhoon Sendong campaign appeals to the global community to assist the Filipino people in this time of dire need. To address the urgent needs on the ground in the quickest possible way, and because shipments of in-kind goods take 45 days to arrive in the Philippines, ABS CBN Foundation International will only accept monetary donations at this time. ABS CBN Foundation International is committed to remit 100% of donations to the Philippines within 24 hours of the donation.

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ABOUT ABS CBN FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL:

ABS CBN Foundation International is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged Filipino children and their families in the Philippines and around the world. Its flagship program, Bantay Bata (Child Watch), is a child abuse rescue operation that responds to an average of 15,300 calls for assistance a year. The program assists more than 21,000 children and families in relocation communities and feeds at least 4,400 severely malnourished children a year. Its education program serves 4.2 million elementary school children and their teachers.

In the United States, the organization partners with Filipino-American organizations and associations in addressing community issues–youth truancy, housing, issues affecting the elderly, health, and emergency needs. For more programs and information, visit www.abscbnfoundation.org.

More devastating than the initial typhoon had been the flash floods that followed killing over 1,200 people and displacing hundreds of thousands of people of ILIGAN and CAGAYAN de ORO regions.

Aide have come from all over the world but help is still needed.

Here are efforts from organizations and people like you who are helping to provide aide in the regions of ILIGAN and CAGAYAN de ORO:

ABS-CBN Foundation
Monetary donations with multiple bank accounts
http://www.abs-cbnfoundation.com/

NAFCON
$7K before the New Year
http://nafconusa.org/

People’s Core STP
People-to-people assistance
$100 goes to one meal to 200 people
http://www.asianjournal.com/community/16-community-news/14273-donate-to-peoples-core-stp-relief-mindanao-2011.html

UP Red Cross Youth: One Bottle, One Life
Potable water for Sendong Victims
http://www.upredcrossyouth.org/2011/12/one-bottle-one-life-campaign-for.html

Local help in Los Angeles
Item donations directly sending to a convent in ILIGAN
Sending items in January
Contact:
Manuel Padua manuelfalconpadua@gmail.com
Jeff Schinzing

Mary Star of the Sea of Oxnard
Items collection (Need Toiletries and Canned Goods)
Sending items in January
Contact:
Charleen Morla (805) 236-1309
Lew Soratorio (805) 890-0597
Email Tamguiang@yahoo.com

LBC Foundation
Collecting donations until January 6, 2011
http://www.facebook.com/pages/LBC-Foundation/255449267840802

Barangay Los Angeles will continue to update you on these organizations mentioned in their efforts to help with victims of the Sendong typhoon.

Every little aide helps. Thank you.

This list is meant as a resource to the Barangay Los Angeles community. Barangay Los Angeles has yet to partner up with an official organization but encourages individuals to do their own research in finding organizations that align with their beliefs and capacity to help.

“pee. poop. knees. crawl. rope.”

WTF is the “Folsom Street Fair!?”

Unless you were a BDSM (bondage, discipline, submission, masochism) enthusiast or just a local residence within the vicinity of  7^th and 12^th on Folsom street, you wouldn’t know what was going on this weekend in San Francisco. For the 28^th year, the Folsom Street Fair has attracted deviants and exhibitionists of all kinds from local neighborhoods in San Francisco if not all over California and possibly, the world.

Personally, I’ve only known about the name “Folsom Street Fair” for months now, and I still have no real idea what it is all about, but after hearing about it, I’d sure like to experience if the fair lives up to the rumors.

Before you head out to the festival let me try to decipher my friend’s words of advice so you can prepare for a full experience of the festival in the most consensual and safe way possible.

1. Pee- This advice has been practiced since the very first family trip at the beginning of time. Take care of your basic bodily functions before you head out to the festival, the attendees will surely appreciate this.
2. Poop- This festival may become very revealing depending on how free and open you are to the culture of the festival. Along with the first advice and before you head out to the festival, take some time to take care of number 2.
3. Knees- For this one-day event, full frontal nudity is the status quo, why present yourself fully natural and have dry knees? Didn’t your mother teach you anything? When preparing for the event, remember to SPF and moisturize your back, elbows, and your knees.
4. Crawl- Like a good beer-crawl, and with any luck, you’ll be inebriated but balanced before, during, and after the festival. Prepare for the worst, if it comes to it you can crawl to safety, at least with the last advice, you know you’ve prepared your knees for such an occasion.
5. Rope- I believe this is just in case you get lost. Like those modern day harnesses for children that disguise themselves as animal backpacks, this rope is an obvious signal to pedestrians attending the event that you can easily be lost. This is a good tactic for your friends to know where you are or to let people know that this is something that you’d like to experiment on. Either way, it’s a win-win situation.

Bottom line, heed the advice. If you don’t, just remember that the festival is all for your enjoyment and at your discretion and at your capacity. Remember that “no” means “no” unless, you explicitly communicate that “no” means “yes.” Enjoy your weekend everyone and be safe.

Mark Clemente

For his last Kapihan, Mark Clemente facilitated the September Kapihan for Barangay Los Angeles. It was an evening with nearly all the seats occupied with familiar faces and a few new ones, despite the simultaneous event happening in Little Tokyo with Tuesday Night Café’s “LGBTQ Highlight Night” also sponsored by Barangay Los Angeles and various API organizations in Los Angeles.

The evening started out with several Barangay board members quickly going over the business of introductions and “safe space.” Interim president Rob Maullon explained the purpose and mission of Barangay LA, in lieu of current president Greg Pacificar, who was representing at Tuesday Night Café.

Clemente opened up the discussions first with the acknowledgement of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’s” first day of repeal. With a small round of positive acknowledgements on the subject, it ended with an attendee unexpectedly revealing his positive experience of seven years in the military.

According to thebody.com “Asian/Pacific Islanders(APIs) are one of the fastest-growing ethnic/racial populations in the United States” and with the number of API’s living with AIDS “yearly increase of more than 10 percent over the past five years” the question is, why are the numbers disproportionately increasing for a minority that only comprises of 4.2 percent of the U.S. population? Clemente posed the second question with a variety of responses ranging from cultural conditionings of shame to a generation’s personal responsibility.

Some attendees told stories of friends that had been positively diagnosed with AIDS and how those friends have helped them look at their own lives and made them evaluate their practices on being more safe. And some attendees, only now, safely practice sex because of “close calls” and “scares” albeit the room’s consensus about being educated about HIV/AIDS at very young ages. In addition to the group’s list of factors contributing to the lack of safe practice when it came to HIV/AIDS in the API community, like cultural barriers and denial, one attendee posed the question of “over saturation of education.” What do you think? Are we a community of too much education on HIV/AIDS?

After a healthy amount of time with the opening topics, the fishbowl questions deemed more casual and carefree topics to counter the severity but useful topics at the beginning of Kapihan (a list of the questions may be found at the end of this post).

At the end of Kapihan, Maullon presented Clemente with a mug signed by the Barangay LA board members and took some time to highlight the amazing work that Clemente had put into Kapihan to make it a successful monthly event for Barangay LA.

“It became a concrete part of my monthly routine,” says Clemente looking back on his year of Kapihan and the organization, “I had fun and I can already tell I’ll miss it.”

Barangay LA has Kapihan every 3^rd Tuesday of every month at LA Rose Café, 4749 Fountain Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90029 from 7-9PM.

For more information about VIBE, please click on the link below.:

http://www.apaitonline.org/services_programs_vibe.asp

Fishbowl questions for October Kapihan:

Is there a social situation where you would pretend to be straight?

Would you vote for Obama for this coming election year?

LAUSD, private or charter school. Where would you send your children?

What do you think about gay couples adopting children?

How would you discipline your kids?

What non-LGBTQI issue would/ could be important or useful for the LGBTQI to address?

What are you thankful for and why?

Fishbowl questions from the September Kapihan:

If you were to give someone a surprise gift over dinner what would

If the person that you love had a different religion/ beliefs would you go on with the relationship or end it? Why or why not?

Do you have a “one that got away?”

The best part of Los Angeles is?

The best part of this year for me has been?

“I wanted to revive the Kapihan program because I felt that the community would greatly benefit from these intimate discussions,” states Robert Julius Maullon, Barangay Los Angeles Vice President. Julius had been a supporter of Kapihan since he came back to the organization from a hiatus in 2009. He continues, “Kapihan, in a way, mimics the very essence of why Barangay LA was formed. It was through these informal gatherings where the LGBTQ community found support from one another.”

At the beginning of this year Kapihan was moved around to different areas in Los Angeles to accommodate the geographical locations of the organization’s members. For the past few sessions Kapihan has found it’s home in Hollywood at LA Rose Café located on Fountain and Vermont. The venue’s owner, Lem, is a supporter of the organization and the Filipino LGBTQ community.

In order for Barangay LA to accomplish Kapihan’s “safe space” model, Lem has given access to his private room at one end of the restaurant giving privacy to attendees of Kapihan.

Various organizations representing other Filipino or LGBTQ have participated in the monthly event and more are encouraged to see what these discussions are all about.

Julius was asked if his lobbing for Kapihan has paid off. He states, “Kapihan has truly been a successful avenue for the LGBTQ community to freely discuss the issues and concerns that directly impacts our members. It has created a safe space where individual voices are heard and collectively respected by one another.”

Barangay Los Angeles’ Kapihan is held every Tuesday of every month from 7-9PM at LA Rose Café in Hollywood. No reservations are needed, come as you are.