The rainbow-colored lights, flags and décor during “ber” months could have thrown anybody for a loop, but whoever said Pride can be celebrated only in June?
“Every day presents an opportunity to honor the courage, resilience and diversity of the LGBTQI+ communities here in the Philippines and everywhere else around the world,” said US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson during a garden reception celebrating the community. “In my book, every month is the right time to celebrate pride.”
For Carlson, Pride events go beyond celebrations, and are in fact “powerful reminders of the progress we have made and the work that remains to be done.
“They highlight the strength of a community that has faced adversity with unwavering determination and love. Sadly, challenges remain, and discrimination, violence and inequality continue to negatively affect many in the community. It is our collective responsibility to stand against these injustices and advocate for a society where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.”
Sogiesc equality bill
According to her, passing the Sogiesc equality bill—which aims to protect individuals from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics while seeking to establish the rights of every Filipino, regardless of their identity, to live without fear of prejudice or harm—is a step in the right direction.
“No lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or intersex person should be denied employment, health care, housing or other basic civil liberties no matter who they are, how they identify or whom they love.”
Unfortunately, Senate President Chiz Escudero acknowledged back in June that the Sogie bill (also known as the antidiscrimination bill) would be in for more rough waters in the Senate. The bill was first filed in 2000.
“I was still in elementary school when the Sogie bill was first introduced,” said Dr. Vinn Pagtakhan, founder and executive director of LoveYourself Inc., a community-based organization that provides free sexual, mental and trans health programs (including HIV testing, condoms and lubes, preexposure prophylaxis, post-exposure prophylaxis, and sexually transmitted infection management and treatment) to everyone, not just to the LGBTQIA+ community. “I’ve already realized I’m gay and all, but there’s still no Sogie (law).”
Ganda (Gender and Development Advocates) Filipinas cofounder Yasmin Lee likewise stressed the importance of the implementation of the Sogie bill. “We can’t avoid some people having the old mindset. We just need to slowly educate them. It will take time.”
Xave Gregorio, a staff member of Sogie bill author Sen. Risa Hontiveros, believed that the non-passage of the anti-discrimination bill remains a huge issue for the community. “In the Senate, it’s still with the Committee on Rules. I’m glad that my principal, Senator Risa, has been continuously advocating for the passage of the Sogie Equality bill.”
Anti-discrimination ordinances
On the bright side, the creator of the online LGBT publication Mamser lauded the enactment of local anti-discrimination ordinances in some cities despite the absence of national legislation.
Quezon City, for example, issues the Right to Care Card, which allows same-sex couples to make medical decisions for each other. Still, Gregorio laments the lack of protection suffered by LGBTQ+ residents in localities without such ordinances while the bill languishes in the Senate.
Calling it highly political, Pagtakhan asserted that if the focus is trained on “the thought and the concept and the advocacy of it all, it would be easier to understand and pass the bill.”
“I think Filipino people should keep in mind that LGBT people are Filipinos, too. Beyond that, LGBT people are people. We are human and we deserve the same rights and privileges that every other human enjoys,” added Gregorio.
“At the end of the day, that’s what the LGBT community is asking for. They’re not special rights, but just the same rights as everyone has.” INQ