Humanizing Equality: The Coming Out of SOGIE
As we are accustomed to seeing people of different genders in our community, one might consider the Philippines accepting of the LGBTQ+ culture, but under the law we stand by today, discrimination still persists. A line that distinguishes them as “flawed individuals” — unworthy to have equal rights in this backward trailing nation.
History in Congress
In 2000, the late Senator Meriam Defensor-Santiago and former Akbayan representative Loretta Rosales filed Senate Bill №689 or the Anti-Discrimination Act under the 11th Congress which is meant to fulfill the rights of the LGBTQ+ community that shall protect them from discrimination.
The bill has been pending for more than 19 years, the slowest-moving bill in Philippine history, and members of the LGBTQ+ community are still eager to campaign for the passage in the hopes of finding equal rights and justice in a nation where diversity is partially accepted.
The SOGIE bill was unanimously passed by the House of Representatives on its third and final reading but was archived in the 17th Congress — restarting the one to three-year process of enactment.
In the 18th Congress, various versions of the SOGIE bill were refiled but continuous opposition from different leaders including the Senate President had called out the bill as “not urgent” and said to be “imported and not part of the Filipino culture”.
During an online House hearing on the SOGIE bill, numerous organizations united with pride as they defended the LGBTQ+ community against what they considered harmful remarks made against the community including the characterization of the LGBTQ+ as an ‘illness meant to be treated’.
Imposing Beliefs
It comes as no surprise that there is opposition to the SOGIE bill considering that the Philippines is predominantly a Catholic country. It has been a common argument to dictate religious freedom for the objection of the bill but no one dictates how religious freedom is only invoked to protect hate. These proposed laws are necessary to address exclusion, discrimination, and violence that criminalizes forceful actions to alter an individual’s SOGIE.
Brother Villanueva of the Coalition of Concerned Families expressed in the online hearing that they “do not condone any insult and disrespect against the LGBTQ+ community” yet continued to recite a bible verse stating that “Sinners will not inherit the Kingdom of God”.
Enactment of the SOGIE bill is not a sign of insanity. The stigma of the LGBTQ+ community’s violations is also embedded in deeply held assumptions about gender, family, culture, and religion. And conservative forces would not detract from manipulating the fears of the unknown by citizens for their own political gains.
Acts of Discrimination
It was gruesome and brutal enough to gain notoriety for the death of transgender woman Jennifer Laude at the hands of U.S Marine Scott Pemberton who found out about her identity. On the night of October 11, 2014, she was found dead on the floor with signs of strangulation and drowning with her head leaning against a toilet bowl. As the case leads Pemberton with hate crime and murder, he reasoned he was in a position of “trans panic” — a defense commonly used in court when a sexual partner’s identity is hidden.
In death, Jennifer has exposed the historical marginalization of transgender people in the Philippines giving more reasons to insist that the LGBTQ+ community needs more laws to protect them against these cases. While Laude was making headlines, four more homosexual people were killed around the same time. After six years of imprisonment, Pemberton was granted a pardon by Duterte which fueled a nationalist outbreak in the community prompting more outcries in social media and in the streets making it clear that there is a strong prevalence of homophobia and transphobia in the Philippines.
The news drew uproar in 2019 when President Duterte said he ‘cured’ himself from being gay during his past marriage. Many LGBTQ+ members took to social media and the streets to voice their outrage at his claims that the LGBTQ+ community’s lives were not important to the government and for treating the LGBTQ+ as an illness meant for rehabilitation. The president’s statements are in contradiction whenever he assures the LGBTQ+ community that there shall be no oppression and discrimination of their rights in his presidency.
Debunking Myths
Myth: A statement from one of the lawyers of the Concerned Families of the Philippines expressed that the LGBTQ+ community is becoming a “super special elite class” as the community sought a passage of SOGIE-specific anti-discrimination bills.
Facts: The attention of the SOGIE bill that is largely contributed by social media does not impose a ‘special’ treatment to the LGBTQ+ members rather it must be taken into account that granting equal rights does not take away any existing rights. Any individual has SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender, Identity, and Expression), which means that the bill is not exclusive to the LGBTQ+ community to be granted the same treatment in education, workplace, and expression.
Myth: Numerous Filipinos expressed their opinions on social media stating that the SOGIE bill is unnecessary because discrimination against the members of the LGBTQ+ community does not exist, backing up evidence of celebrities such as Vice Ganda and the first transgender woman elected in Philippine Congress Rep. Geraldine Roman as ‘enough proof’ to having equal opportunities in different workplaces.
Facts: In a 2017 report by the Human Rights Watch, only 15 percent of Filipinos reside in areas protected by ordinances according to their sexual orientation and gender identity. It does not necessarily represent that members of the LGBTQ+ who are in these positions are also applied to those people in the majority. Based upon a 2018 report by the United Nations, 30 percent of Filipino workers were harassed, bullied, and discriminated against by their SOGIE.
Myth: Religious organizations as well as conservative Filipinos condemned great opposition against the SOGIE bill for ‘allowing’ same-sex marriage - fearing that the church would be penalized if they refuse to follow.
Facts: The SOGIE bill focuses on protecting the rights and the welfare of the people against discrimination and ensuring to grant safe spaces in the community. There is no clause in the bill that specifies that same-sex marriage is now legalized.
Call for Equality
It is critical that we end the culture of hate and bigotry and combat it with laws that stop various forms of oppression that are continuously endured by the LGBTQ+ community. A joint initiative in our principle of justice and the need to implement policies that safeguard the rights of the oppressed are required to unify the relevant sectors of society that help cater to the needs of all Filipinos. Toleration is an inequality of rights and prejudice without support.
