NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Last Friday while I was opening my grandfather's shop at the Chamorro Village, I took a break to head over to Chief Kephua's circle where a wave was being held to bring awareness to Bill 185 which the Guam Legislature will soon debate. The bill has been very controversial since it was first proposed as it would provide for civil partnerships and therefore legal couple rights/benefits for gay couples. I've included below some pictures and a press release written by Guam Youth Congress speaker Derek Baza Hills about the wave. If you are interested in learning more about these issues you can follow the GALA Guam Twitter feed . Proponents of Civil Rights and Bill 185 “Civil Partnership” to hold Thank You wave (Hagåtña, Guam – Thursday; February 4, 2010) As the Guam Legislature counts down until the expected February 22 scheduled session date, Bill 185 will appear before Senators and debate on the merits of the bill. As over thousands of fam

The 27th Guam Youth Congress was in the news last week after their passage of a bill supporting the legalization of same sex civil unions on Guam . For those of you who don't know, the Guam Youth Congress is a legislative body made up of Guam's youth, who are elected every two years and actually operate as a part of Guam's Legislature. They establish their own rules, can form committees, pass resolutions, and can even pass bills which are then transmitted to the Rules Committee for the Guam Legislature. The Youth Congress is like any other democratic body or community, it is whatever the people, those in it and those that it is meant to serve, make of it. It can be useless, it can be effective, it can just be a platform for higher office, or it can be a true vehicle for positive or necessary change. On the subject of same sex civil unions, I for one am glad to see this body taking the lead on progressive and social issues. This coming week, on April 15th, the Guam Youth