MANILA, Philippines - Several organizations rallied Friday behind Ang Ladlad, a gay organization whose petition for party-list status was junked by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on ?immoral grounds.?

They strongly urged the Comelec to reverse its ruling.

Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros said the Nov. 11 ruling of the Second Division was discriminatory and could be used to impeach them.

The Second Division, composed of Commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer, Lucenito Tagle, and Elias Yusoph, refused to accredit the organization as a party-list group because their sexuality ?tolerates immorality.?

The ruling, which quoted passages from the Bible and Koran, further noted that the lifestyle of the 22,000-strong Ang Ladlad members violates morals and faith.

Hontiveros said the decision breached the tenets of the 1987 Constitution, adding that what the commissioners thought of homosexuality was irrelevant.

?By using religion as a basis to reject Ang Ladlad?s accreditation, they have crossed the constitutional boundary between the State and religion. For that alone, they can be impeached,? Hontiveros said.

?What is the point of automation if we have outmoded and medieval Comelec officials?? she added.

Meanwhile, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said the members of the Comelec Second Division showed that they were ?bigots? when they refused Ang Ladlad?s petition and called the group a danger to Filipino youths.

?In denying Ang Ladlad?s accreditation as a party-list group, the Comelec commissioners exposed themselves to be a bunch of ignorant bigots trapped in the medieval era,? Reyes said in a statement.

Ferrer, the Second Division presiding officer, said he would stand by the division?s ruling.

?It was a unanimous decision. I welcome that [impeachment charge]. Nobody?s preventing them,? he said.