Kasal, a must-see film

If you have the time, do go and watch Kasal, a Cinemalaya 2014 film that started its commercial screening last Wednesday, February 18. I was able to watch it during its Cinemalaya run last August thanks to a friend's post on Facebook, and I was not disappointed. I didn't watch any of the other Cinemalaya films back then so I can't say if Kasal deserved its Best Film Award under the Director's Showcase category, but it's pretty good.

The film was co-written and directed by Joselito Altarejos, the filmmaker whose gay-themed films are among the best I've seen from the local fare. Of his previous films, I really liked Ang Laro sa Buhay ni Juan (see my review) and Ang Lihim ni Antonio, though I was quite disappointed with Little Boy, Big Boy. Good thing Kasal was as good as the former.

Kasal tells the story of Paolo and Sherwin, a gay couple played by Oliver Aquino and Arnold Reyes respectively. As stated in the film's synopsis, the couple contemplate the future of their relationship even as they attend the wedding of Sherwin's younger sister in the province. Paolo, a director, wants to take their relationship to the next step while Sherwin, a closeted lawyer, is not quite open to the idea. He even introduces Paolo to his family as just a good friend in-charge of the wedding videography.

What I liked about the film is its slightly subtle political message. Kasal juxtaposes the struggle for legal recognition of gay marriage with the notions of “traditional” marriage. As you might have guessed, Sherwin’s younger sister is getting married because she got pregnant with her boyfriend even though both are not yet prepared to raise a family. Later on, we see a commitment ceremony between two men who are both clearly love each other but whose union is not accorded legal benefits. Even more interesting is the fact that Arnold specializes as an annulment lawyer. He gets first-hand look at how the lack of divorce in the Philippines leads to a lot of unhappiness (and that may have colored his noncommittal behavior).

Political message aside, I also liked how the film depicts Sherwin and Paolo’s relationship as realistic and relatable as possible. Much praise should be given to the two lead actors, especially perennial indie actor Reyes, though relative newcomer Aquino did a superb job as well.

If there is only one thing that I have to nitpick, then it would be the long sex scene near the beginning. While it was done quite realistically and tastefully at the same time (and my eyes definitely appreciated it), I didn't quite see the point. It was done in one long take of about 10 minutes when it could have been shortened without detracting from the story.

Overall, the film does justice to gay relationships and I would consider it a must-see. The acting is great, the story is moving, and it takes a nice jab at the state of the institution of marriage in our country.

Would you have sex with Paul Rudd?

In the video above, Billy Eichner runs around the streets of New York with Paul Rudd asking random strangers if they would have sex with Paul for a dollar.

Well, I’d do it for free! Even if he just turned 45 last April 6, he still looks mighty fine. I’ve had a crush on Paul Rudd ever since I saw him in the 1995 film Clueless where he played Josh, the cute, dorky stepbrother of Cher, Alicia Silverstone’s character.

How about you? Would you have sex with Paul Rudd?

“More happiness!!”

“More happiness!!” That’s what two people said when asked what marriage equality meant for them as the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 came into force in England and Wales last Saturday after being passed into law last year. And I agree. The fact that the state recognizes that two people are in love and confers them benefits regardless of their gender is surely a joyous thing.

To celebrate the occasion, Buzzfeed has posted 52 very heartwarming photos of the first day of marriage equality in the United Kingdom, including the photo above. I especially liked photo #14 which shows a Muslim woman at a ceremony, and photos #20 to #24 featuring Andrew and Neil, showing that it’s never too late to get married.

This historic milestone comes less than two months after Scotland also passed their marriage equality bill last February 4. This leaves Northern Ireland as the only major territory in the United Kingdom where same-sex marriage is illegal. Unfortunately, the religious Northern Irish are not looking to follow England, Wales, and Scotland anytime soon.

But still, this milestone is very welcome news. More happiness? Indeed.

On defying gravity

As some of you may know, yesterday was the last day of the local staging of the Australian production of the Broadway musical Wicked. If you’ve been wanting to see this play but haven’t done so, then you missed out on a really wonderful experience. I managed to watch the play late last month and I have to agree with what rudeboy said: it’s wicked good!

Wicked is basically “the untold story of the witches of Oz.” And that’s Oz, as in 1939 film The Wizard of Oz (starring Judy Garland) and the original children’s book by L. Frank Baum. Loosely based on a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked provides an alternate backstory to the Wicked Witch of the East (dubbed Elphaba, in honor of L. Frank Baum) and Glinda the Good Witch of the North imagining them as best friends before the arrival of Dorothy from Kansas.

Wicked was a smash hit on Broadway and songs like “Popular” (which has been sampled in Mika’s “Popular Song” featuring Ariana Grande), “For Good”, and “Defying Gravity” are now part of pop culture. The musical has also won numerous Tony Awards and Drama Desk Awards and has broken several theater-related box office records.

I was also able to see the local staging of The Phantom of the Opera. And while Phantom’s production design was utterly top-notch (the chandelier!), I have to say that I enjoyed Wicked more. The characters were more relatable, the story was more grounded despite the fantasy setting, and the themes of being different, of striving to do good, of unrequited love, and especially of friendship I think resonated with the audience more. The play is funny and emotional, and ultimately, it provided a satisfyingly feel-good experience. I’m familiar with several Wicked songs before I saw the play and it was quite a treat to finally see and appreciate the songs in their proper context. If there was one contrary thing I would say, I wish it was Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, the original Broadway actors, that portrayed Elphaba and Glinda, but I think Jemma Rix and Suzie Mathers did justice to the roles.

Interestingly, Oz is quite big in the gay community. The 1939 Oz film started with Kansas in black and white before proceeding with technicolor goodness once Dorothy arrives in Oz. This has been compared with the desire of LGBT people to escape the stifling small-town atmosphere to a place where they can show their true colors and be accepted (cue in the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”). Consequently, Judy Garland became a huge gay icon and the phrase “friend of Dorothy” became slang for a gay person.

Wicked is no less embraced by the gay community as well. For one thing, Wicked novel author Gregory Maguire is, in fact, gay and he lives with his husband in Massachusetts (the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage). For another thing, many LGBT people could relate to Elphaba. The future witch was born different by having green skin and this caused her to be ostracized by peers and her father to be ashamed of her. Elphaba’s signature song “Defying Gravity” can also be considered as an anthem for gay people tired of “playing by the rules of someone else’s game” and declaring to their detractors: “you won’t bring me down.” In fact, Kurt, the gay character from Glee, sang this song during that TV series’ first season.

You don’t have to take Wicked’s gay leanings from me. You can read Gregory’s article where he shared how he injected his version of Oz with gay characters and themes. Or this musical review of the play in the context of gay bullying.

In short, if you’re gay, you ought to have seen Wicked, simply because it is good, and because it celebrates diversity.

When did you choose to be straight?

“When did you choose to be straight?” This is actually a question that I keep in reserve in case somebody learns about my sexual orientation and reacts negatively by saying that being gay is a choice. Thankfully, I have never had the chance to use this question. So it was pretty awesome seeing the video above where this question was thrown back at people who believe that homosexuality is a choice. The video shows that you can actually disarm people by making them see your point of view.

Of course human psychology being what it is, I do think that for some people, being gay may have indeed been a conscious decision. But as you readers have long realized, sexual attraction is involuntary—you don’t have any say at all on whether you get physically attracted to men or women or both. Thus, I believe that for the vast majority of gay people, they’re born that way. Simply put, why on earth would many rational gay people choose to be gay when being gay would subject oneself to discrimination, bullying, and being ostracized? It makes no sense at all. Unfortunately, some bigots lack sense.

If there is any conscious decision, it is the one on self-acceptance. I had an inkling I was gay back in Grade 6 when I started becoming attracted to some of my male schoolmates. But it was only in my Junior year in high school that I finally accepted the fact that I was gay and that there was nothing I can do about it.

Another conscious decision is acting on our homosexual nature. Catholic teaching does acknowledge that gay people may be gay by nature, but the Church exhorts gay people to live a celibate life. I don’t think that makes any sense too. If you’re naturally gay, why suppress it? As long as you live a positive live and don’t hurt anyone, why does it matter that you kiss, enter into relationships, and marry people of the same sex?

So, when did you choose to be accept that you are gay?

The Onion’s Olympic Village Tour

During the London Summer Olympics (the XXXth ), I blogged about an ESPN article that talked about how much sex is going on among athletes at the Olympics.

For this year’s Sochi Winter Olympics, leave it to satirical The Onion to take this tale of Olympic orgy to a whole new level with the following (definitely NSFW) “news clip” (delivered straight-faced) about the sex-friendly facilities of the Olympic Village in Sochi.

I have to give them bonus points for “interviewing” a “Canadian” biathlon while he was taking it from behind from another male “athlete,” in defiance of the homophobic Russian government ban on gay propaganda. Hehehe.

For some bit of real news, the condom count for this year’s athletic event is 100,000, which is understandably less than the 150,000 condoms procured for the London Olympics since there are fewer athletes. But at around 2,800 athletes converging on Sochi, that comes to around 35 condoms per person. You think that’s too much?

Geography Club is a must-see

It’s quite rare that a foreign gay-themed indie film gets to have a regular screening in local cinemas (outside of film festival events). And whenever one appears, I try to catch it because the local gay indie movie industry is such a huge disappointment. Foreign gay films that I’ve managed to see in local cinemas include Boy Culture, Adam & Steve, and Gay Sex in the 70s. Now I’m adding Geography Club to that list.

Based on Brent Hartinger’s critically-acclaimed novel of the same title, Geography Club is a coming-of-age high school comedy film about a group of closeted gay and lesbian teens who form an after-school-hours “Geography Club” as a support group and to share experiences. They figure that nobody would mind since geography is a boring subject. But of course, things don’t turn out as they planned.

The film’s protagonist is Russell (Cameron Deane Stewart), a fairly attractive and smart guy who’s unsure of his sexuality. He is chased by girls but eventually found himself when he entered into a secret relationship with the school’s quarterback, Kevin (Justin Deeley). Unfortunately, Kevin tries to keep everything on the down-low as he aims for a college football scholarship. Russell struggles with his problems and finds solace in the aforementioned Geography Club.

The film tackles themes of coming out, bullying, peer pressure, and social acceptance. While those seem like heavy topics, the film actually is pretty light and explores the idea that being gay is becoming not a big deal anymore. I also liked how the movie tackled bullying by presenting one of the films most moving characters, Brian, portrayed wonderfully by Teo Olivares. I actually found the film quite refreshing, although I was a bit surprised at the movie’s abrupt ending. I’ve read reviews saying that while the movie is OK, the book is even better. So I’m looking forward to reading it (if I can find it).

Anyway, what I really loved about this film were the very tender kissing scenes between Russell and Kevin. While there are no bed scenes or anything of that sort, seeing two good-looking guys sharing intimate kisses made watching the movie worth my while.

6 years

Six years ago today, I published the very first post here on Discreet Manila. So this blog turns 6 years old today. Yay!

Looking back at the pageview statistics, it is apparently my article about South Bay City Spa that is the most-viewed, getting more than twice as many views as the next most popular article. It is also the article with the most number of comments. Interesting.

Here’s to more years of Discreet Manila!

Prayers for Bobby

I first came across the 2009 TV film Prayers for Bobby (IMDB, Wikipedia) in 2012 and resolved to watch it eventually. I finally got to do that late last year. I heartily recommend everybody to see it, especially those who are struggling with feelings of rejection due to their sexual orientation. There are a few uploads of the complete film on YouTube, such as this one.

Based on a book with the same title, Prayers for Bobby tells the true story of Bobby Griffith and his relationship with his mother, Mary Griffith, a very conservative Christian parent (portrayed very well by Sigourney Weaver). The year was 1979 and Bobby’s homosexuality was revealed to his family. This prompted Mary to help “cure” her son through religion and therapy. This proved unsuccessful and Bobby’s depression and feelings of rejection from his mother led him to commit suicide a few years later. Devastated by his death, Mary started questioning her religious stance against homosexuality and eventually came to terms with her son’s death. In doing so, she became an outspoken advocate for gay rights.

While that paragraph above pretty much tells the whole story, reading about it and actually seeing the film are two very different things. I secretly watched the movie on my laptop hoping that nobody else in the household sees or hears what I was watching. But it was very hard not getting teary-eyed at some scenes and dialogue in the film. The following line uttered by Mary while confiding to a gay-friendly pastor is pretty heart-wrenching, as is her wonderful speech towards the end of the movie.

“I know now why God didn’t heal Bobby. He didn’t heal him because … [breaks down in pained sobbing] … there was nothing wrong with him!”

While conditions nowadays is a far cry from the early eighties during Bobby’s time, there is still a lot more that can be improved. I pray that the day will come when there would be no more Bobbys, Tylers, and Jameys. I just hope that that day would come soon enough.

“Same Love” at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards

Last year, I blogged about Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ song “Same Love”, a pro-gay marriage song that has been getting some airtime in local radio stations. Well, the song got nominated for the Song of the Year Award at the recent Grammy Awards, but they lost to Lorde’s “Royals”. Still, the hip hop duo won a total of four Grammys, namely, Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song (both for “Thrift Shop”), and Best Rap Album (The Heist).

What’s more notable is that “Same Love” was performed during the awards night with Mary Lambert (the featured vocalist on the song), Queen Latifah, and Madonna, who sang her song “Open Your Heart”. In the middle of the performance, Queen Latifah, who had been deputized by the Los Angeles County, officiated the weddings of 33 straight and gay couples standing in the audience, including Lewis’ sister who married her boyfriend. I guess it was the first ever mass wedding held in any awards show and one that featured same-sex couples!

You can watch the performance below:

2013 is a banner year for same-sex marriage

As we celebrate 2013 with a bang, I’d like to look back and see how same-sex marriage has been adopted all over the world during the past year. Back in July, I congratulated England and Wales for allowing same-sex marriage for its citizens starting on March 29, 2014. England and Wales joined Uruguay, New Zealand, and France in recognizing same-sex marriage this year bringing the total number of countries where same-sex marriage is allowed to 15.

But the greatest triumph is in the United States. Over the past 12 months, nine states either passed legislation, had court rulings, or had popular votes allowing same-sex marriage in their territories. These are Rhode Island, Delaware, Minnesota, California, New Jersey, Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico, and Utah. These series of recognition has effectively doubled the number of states and territories in the United States where same-sex marriage is allowed. The other states and territories where same-sex marriage is already allowed are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Washington, D.C., New York, Maine, Maryland, and Washington. In addition, the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was effectively struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 thus allowing same-sex couples federal benefits such as insurance and social security.

The map below show the current state of same-sex laws in the United States with blue states for and red states against.

Among the states that started allowing same-sex marriage in 2013, the most notable are California and Utah. California’s Supreme Court previously ruled in 2008 that same-sex marriage is permitted in that state. However, Proposition 8 was narrowly passed by voters later that year which stated that marriage can only be heterosexual. Predictably, this set off a series of court cases resulting in the overturning of Prop 8 in 2010. This was appealed and the appellate court affirmed the decision. Finally, the case was brought to the U.S. Supreme Court which dismissed the case last June 26. After 5 years of wrangling, California finally joined the growing list of states where same-sex marriage is recognized.

The case of Utah is quite curious. Utah, where the very conservative Mormon Church (aka Latter-Day Saints) has considerable influence, had previously passed in 2004 a state constitution amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Due to a court case, a federal district judge ruled last December 20 that this amendment was unconstitutional with respect to the U.S. Constitution thus paving the way for same-sex marriages to be performed in Utah.

Pundits noted the irony of the situation because the Mormon Church had poured large amounts of money and resources into pushing for Proposition 8 in California. As mentioned earlier, Prop 8 was struck down earlier this year and now Utah itself allows same-sex marriage. The Republican Utah administration had already started the appeals process and we will see where the legal dance will take Utah in the years to come. Hopefully, like California, Utah will ultimately allow same-sex marriage with finality.

Wentworth Miller on suicide and coming out

You should know by now that Wentworth Miller, who played the leading character Michael Scofield in the popular TV series Prison Break, came out of the closet late last month. In a simple letter posted on the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation website, Miller declined an invitation to attend an international film festival in St. Petersburg, Russia as a form of protest against the anti-homosexual laws in that country. “It would make me happy to say yes, however, as a gay man, I must decline,” wrote Miller.

Having enjoyed watching the 1st season of Prison Break, I developed a small crush on Wentworth Miller as well as on his co-actor Dominic Purcell, who played Scofield’s half-brother Lincoln Burrows. At the height of his popularity, Miller was actually hounded by gay rumors and he emphatically said back in 2007, “I’m not gay.”

Now Miller, through an inspiring speech given at a recent dinner organized by the Human Rights Campaign, spoke about his struggles in coming to terms with his homosexuality. He revealed that he first tried to commit suicide at 15 by downing a bottle of pills while his family was away for the weekend. He survived and was asked if that was a cry for help. He said no because, “You only cry for help if you believe there’s help to cry for. And I didn't. I wanted out.” And on his decision to finally come out, Miller said, “let me be to someone else, what no one was to me.”

You can watch his full speech below. (Note: the audio is quite soft, so you should use earphones.)

Steve Grand – All American Boy

For your mid-week hump day delight, here’s a hot music video from Steve Grand, “All-American Boy”. If you’ve ever had unrequited feelings for a straight man, especially a strapping all-American dude, then this song and video is for you. The video, which was released early July, has reached nearly 1.8 million hits on YouTube and features Steve pining for his all-American guy friend. While the guy friend is pretty hot, Steve is very gorgeous as well, with his puppy-dog eyes contrasting with his muscular physique that he shows off at around 3 minutes into the video.

While he is not the first openly gay country music singer in a genre that is quite conservative, Steve Grand has certainly made a big splash despite being unsigned to any major record label since this song is his debut single and is unabashedly a gay song at that. The song’s title is even a nice counterpoint to the numerous all-American girl country songs such as “American Girl”, which was the blind audition song of the second runner-up Swon Brothers in The Voice USA Season 4, as well as “All-American Girl” which was sung in the finale of the same show by Danielle Bradbery, the eventual winner. (If you’re curious, I was rooting for Michelle Chamuel.)

Discreetionary: Field report

field report [FEELD re·PORT] noun 1. A testimony of a client regarding the services provided by a male-for-hire or a masseur. abbreviation: FR. example: “Ano FR mo kay Paolo?” etymology: from the English phrase field report, which means a report of an experienced event or of a completed task.

If you are one who frequents massage parlors or gay bars, or someone who procures the services of guys featured on websites like Lalaking Palaban, I guess you already know about this term, “field report,” or “FR.” FRs are vital if you want to make sure you get the most bang for your buck. But FRs are also not fully reliable as they are subjective based on the reporter’s personal tastes, which may not match your own, and there may also be false or misleading reports because of competition and paninira.

I think currently the best site to read FRs is FRCentral, an online forum focused on field reports (as if that’s not obvious from the site’s name). There are dedicated threads for each “model” of various male-for-hire websites as well for each masseur of every massage parlor in Metro Manila. Aside from that, there are threads also for other places catering to the PLU sector. But the forum’s main and most active threads are those for FRs with more than 2,700 posts already submitted.

There are also blogs that feature FRs. I guess the most entertaining is Manila Spanatic. I’ve also featured a couple of other blogs such as (DM post) and Manila Gay Guide (DM post) that sometimes post FRs but they focus more on the establishment themselves rather than on particular boys.

BED reopens at Greenfield District

After closing its doors and leaving Malate for good last April, BED will now reopen to the public tonight, July 26, at Greenfield District in Mandaluyong. Will you be there?

(BED actually had a soft opening last Saturday, but only for invited friends and VIPs.)

In case you still don’t know where BED now is, shown below is a handy map provided by BED. Their address is at Unit 5 The Portal, Greenfield District, Mayflower Street, Mandaluyong. Although the street is listed as Mayflower, BED is actually closer to Sto. Cristo Street. But that doesn’t really matter as it is walkable anyway.

View BED Manila, Greenfield District in a larger map

The location is actually quite nice and is a lot safer than Malate. There’s plenty of parking for people who will bring cars (the fee is 30 pesos along Sto. Cristo) and Greenfield is a very short walk away from the Shaw MRT Station. There are also a few 24-hour fast food establishments around such as KFC and Chowking. And before in Malate you can hang around at Robinsons Place Manila. Now there’s Shangri-La Plaza Mall and SM Megamall for movies or dinner before dancing the night away. The place is a little less discreet though compared to Malate since there are other, straight, bars and clubs in the area, such as Coal and Uno.

I still haven’t formed an full opinion about this latest BED (version 4.0?). When BED expanded a second time (version 3.0), I said to my friend, “Right now, I prefer the old BED.” My sentiments are very much the same this time around.

Cheers to England and Wales!

With the Royal Assent given by Queen Elizabeth II yesterday, England and Wales have now joined a growing number of countries, states, and territories where same-sex marriage is legal.

This good news comes almost at the heels of developments in the United States where their Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of DOMA for being unconstitutional, paving the way for federal benefits for same-sex couples in the U.S. The same Supreme Court also dismissed an appeal against the overturning of Proposition 8 in California, making same-sex marriage again legal in the Golden State.

Going back to the United Kingdom, it’s not a yet a home run since Scotland has yet to follow suit (hopefully in 2014), and Northern Ireland, with its deeply religious population, is currently staunchly against same-sex marriage. Yet, I’m quite happy (and gay) as every bit of good news helps.

Now let’s see if the new Philippine Congress will be able to finally pass the full Anti-Discrimination Law, one that includes provisions against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. (I know it’s a bit sad that while other countries are already passing same-sex marriage laws, here in the Philippines, we have yet to criminalize LGBT discrimination. But baby steps....)

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis feat. Mary Lambert – Same Love

I’ve heard of the song “Same Love” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis back in May when a friend shared a YouTube video on Facebook. I though that it was a pretty great song that was unabashedly pro-LGBT rights.

So imagine my surprise when I heard the song playing on a local radio station last night. I guess some higher up decided to add it to the station’s playlist. However, I think that the song’s message was entirely lost on the two straight guy DJs that were on that night. I don’t think these two were homophobic but I didn’t think they really listened to the song. They didn’t go into a social commentary and instead focused on the final verses of the song that quoted 1 Corinthians 13:4, “Love is patient, love is kind.”

Still, it was a nice highlight of last night. It’s little things like these that put a smile to my face.

Would you vote for Ang Ladlad? (2013 edition)

Back in 2010, I asked you guys, “Would you vote for Ang Ladlad?” I then answered my own question: “I’m voting for Ang Ladlad and so should you.” After I voted for Ang Ladlad, I checked out the results from my precinct and was really surprised and glad that 17 other people voted for the LGBT party-list, which meant that Ang Ladlad won 3.42% of the votes in my precinct. If that result were reflected in the national results, then Ang Ladlad would have gotten 2 seats in the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, Ang Ladlad only got a little more than 100,000 votes from the whole country, around 50,000 votes short of the total that is guaranteed to get one seat.

This year, I am voting for Ang Ladlad again. Among the hundreds of party-lists on the ballot, I feel that only Ang Ladlad represents my interests more. While I am not expecting that same-sex marriage would be on the agenda anytime soon (I don’t feel our country is ready for that), the first step is the Anti-Discrimination Bill. Ang Ladlad has made passing this bill the cornerstone of their congressional agenda and I am all for that.

So if you’re still undecided on your party-list choice, please do consider Ang Ladlad. It is infinitely more deserving of a seat than those pretentious pet party-lists of politicians (Mikey Arroyo’s Ang Galing Pinoy anyone?).

“I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.”

I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn’t the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, “I’m different.” If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand.

When I was younger I dated women. I even got engaged. I thought I had to live a certain way. I thought I needed to marry a woman and raise kids with her. I kept telling myself the sky was red, but I always knew it was blue.

I thought April 2013 could not get any better for gay rights and acceptance when Uruguay, New Zealand, and France all passed legislation allowing same-sex marriage in their countries within 2 weeks of each other, becoming the 12th, 13th, and 14th countries to do so. The last time a country reached that milestone was Denmark back in June 2012.

But as the month was ending, Sports Illustrated broke the story on Jason Collins, a 12-year NBA veteran player, coming out as a gay man, the first athlete from any of the four American major league sports (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL) to do so while not yet retiring. It was a watershed moment and what’s best is that the reaction was ovewhelmingly positive, from Collins’ teammates and coaches in basketball, to former president Clinton, and current President Obama.

Collins’ first-person essay, which you should really read, is a well-written account of his struggles being a professional NBA player hiding in the closet. His interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos is also a good read, providing more background the the path that led to where Jason Collins is now.

I hope that this brave step taken by Jason Collins will pave the way for other players to come out or at least make the sports field an even more tolerable place for athletes who have differing sexual orientations. (All four major league sports have started to enact programs to combat homophobia in their sports.) And I also hope that Collins, who becomes a free agent later this year when his contract with the Washington Wizards ends, will get another season playing the sport that he loves as a proud and out gay man.

The exodus of BED from Malate

The first time I came to BED was in 2003, during their first year. And I first blogged about BED here 5 years ago, when BED was turning 5. And now BED has reached the 10-year milestone, a rarity in the Malate scene. Throughout all those years, BED has experienced ups and down, from the unfortunate fire that hit it in 2010, to its expansion from a hole-in-the-wall bar to its massive superclub state.

BED celebrated its 10th year with a surprising announcement a few weeks ago: they would be leaving Malate for “greener pastures.” At first I thought that they would be moving to Greenhills, but then a comment on their Facebook page mentioned the Greenfield district near Ortigas Center and it made sense. And during their last party last Saturday, they have confirmed that Greenfield is their new home, though they haven‘t stated the exact location yet or even when they will reopen.

Because I have fond memories of BED, I could not not go to that club for their last night in Malate. I guess hundreds of other people felt the same way because the place was packed to the rafters! The air-conditioning was not enough to cool the place down due to the sheer number of people and the boys were hot, literally, sweating like they were partying in BED in 2004.

So why did BED management decide to leave Malate? BED is an institution in that gay district and the idea of BED leaving seems like a letdown for the gay Malate community. The most common reason I’ve heard is that BED could not compete with O Bar Malate and Che’lu, the two other popular gay clubs nearby.

But is moving a smart decision? I guess time will tell. There used to be a gay club along Makati Avenue called Government, but it closed down I think partly because relatively few people went there due to its isolation. Fahrenheit does have a (now newly renovated) clubbing area and I think they’re doing successfully despite being isolated but their success is because F is primarily a very popular bathhouse. Then there’s O Bar Ortigas, which is also doing well, even recently having Anne Curtis gamely joining a production number that was actually impersonating her! So the question if BED will be successful in Greenfield is an open question.

Whatever the answer may be, I wish BED good luck with the move! What we need are more gay-oriented establishments in Metro Manila and BED moving to Greenfield would be a welcome development.

Other tributes:

• Goodbye, Bed Malate — Rocky (and Louie)
• Death Of A Decade — Guyrony
• The Last Dance — rudeboy
• Bed, Malate (First Part) — JM