MANILA, Philippines — Singing a parody of ‘Jingle Bells,” members and supporters of the Ladlad Party-list and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations Thursday trooped to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to ask the Church to recognize their rights by approving the inclusion of their protection in the proposed Senate version of the Anti-Discrimination Bill (ADB).

“We come together in this gesture of Christmas caroling to sing our appeal at the gates of the CBCP in hopes that we can reach to the very hearts of our esteemed pastors of the social reform leader Jesus Christ, who preached love, acceptance, and salvation to whosoever believe in his message of liberation,” Bemz Benedito, Ladlad chairman, said.

“We sing our carols not only for bishops and senators, but also we want the Filipino people to fill our socks and our hearts with blessings of equality by approving the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) in Senate Bill 2814 or the Anti-Ethnic, Racial or Religious Discrimination and Profiling Act of 2011,” Benedito said.

The “carolers” version of Jingle Bells went this way:

“Human rights, human rights
We want human rights
Lesbian, gay, bi, trans, straight
We all have human rights, hey!”

Benedito said they are outraged by CBCP lawyer Jo Imbong’s insistence that gays should not be protected from discrimination in a similar manner as the elderly, handicapped, and the poor.

“Imbong’s mistaken belief claims that we disadvantaged our own choice and do not deserve protection,” she said.