This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: As the party did not enter the 2019 election,[1] and won no votes in it,[2] it might be defunct. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2020)
Ladlad first tried to register with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in 2006,[4] with the hopes of appearing on the 2007 ballot, but was denied for supposedly not having enough members.[7][8] COMELEC further denied Ladlad's petition to be allowed to run in the 2010 elections, this time on the grounds of "immorality".[9] However, on January 12, 2010, the Supreme Court granted a temporary restraining order, thereby allowing Ladlad to participate in the 2010 elections.[10]
On April 8, 2010, the Supreme Court overturned the ban in the case of Ang Ladlad v. COMELEC (G.R. No. 190582), allowing Ladlad to join the elections.[4] The party received 113,187 votes or 0.37% (excluding votes from Lanao del Sur), below the optional 2% threshold and was not able to win a seat in Congress.
In the 2013 elections, the party also failed to reach the minimum two percent of votes cast barring the party from running in the 2016 elections.[11] The party did not enter the 2019 race, despite being qualified to.[1]
The organization's goals are focused toward human rights, and the organization fights for equal rights among all Filipinos, whether they are LGBT or not.[7]
to pass an anti-discrimination bill that would guarantee LGBT Filipinos equal opportunities and treatment;
funding employment opportunities and welfare programs for impoverished and disabled LGBT Filipinos;
setting up of centers for LGBT youth and seniors in need of protection.
Same-sex marriage is not part of the party's platform,[12] although it would add it if it were to achieve the passage of its desired anti-discrimination bill.[13]
The party's low popularity is seen as being due to the country's opposing influential Catholic figures who oppose Ladlad's goals and congressional bid.
Recent trends, however, have lessened the percentage of Filipinos who closely follow traditional Catholic teachings,[14] and LGBT causes have gotten more visibility in the country as can be seen by the huge influx of attendees of pride parades, such as the Metro Manila Pride March, which more than 70,000 attended in 2019.[15] While more Filipinos are coming out, some scholars caution that this isn't the best way to gauge the prevalence of LGBT people, as Filipino culture may view coming out as "gratuitous", "excessive", and "American".[3][16]
^ abManalansan IV, Martin F. (2003). Global Divas: Filipino Gay Men in the Diaspora. Duke University Press. doi:10.1215/9780822385172. ISBN978-0-8223-3204-6. (a) The term coming out has been translated in swardspeak as pagladlad ng kapa, or "unfurling the cape." (b) "The Americans are different, darling. Coming out is their drama. [...] Maybe their families were very cruel. Back home, who cared?" [...] [S]ilence stands in sharp contrast to the kinds of discursive norms of coming out.
^ abcAng Ladlad v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 190582 (Supreme Court of the Philippines 2010-04-08), Text.
^Coloma, Roland Sintos (September 1, 2013). "Ladlad and Parrhesiastic Pedagogy: Unfurling LGBT Politics and Education in the Global South". Curriculum Inquiry. 43 (4): 483–511. doi:10.1111/curi.12020. ISSN0362-6784. S2CID219287795. It was founded on September 1, 2003 and ratified its constitution and by-laws on March 25, 2004.
