Jennifer Laude Case as Affected by Perception
The ways in which people perceive others has an immense effect on a person’s thoughts and actions. Every individual’s perception of a situation can be different, can be changed, and can be affected by that individual’s environment. The understanding of what it means to be transgender is often confusing in many cultures and societies. Particularly in the Philippines, the recent death of Jennifer Laude is sparking media attention due to the situational uncertainty of the transgender issues that surround the case. Jennifer is a transgender female, born Jeffrey. One is not legally allowed to change their name or gender on official records in the Philippines, making the nature of being transgender even more confusing to both the public, and close relatives of the victim.
Due to Jennifer commonly being referred to as Jeffrey in the press, it is easy to understand how this change affected her and those around her. U.S. Marine Joseph Pemberton allegedly killed Jennifer in a hotel room on the night of October 11. The murder had everything to do with perception. Pemberton must have had a keen eye in order to remark about the “pretty gays in the Philippines.” Thus proving he was aware of the difference in sex workers that approached him after docking, many of which were transgender.
Later that evening, Pemberton met Jennifer at the Ambyanz Night Life Bar where they arranged to retreat to a small hotel across the street. To my knowledge, Pemberton believed Jennifer to be a female by birth. Her last profile picture on Facebook exuded both confidence and femininity. Her soft skin, long hair, and busty chest are all keystones of femininity. The image appears to be a selfie taken on a boat, proving her commitment to being perceived as a fun, comfortable, and “normal” woman. Her self-image is very humanizing and provides no question of deceitfulness. Jennifer saw herself as a woman, and that’s whom she wanted others to perceive her as.
Pemberton initially saw her as this woman, but after getting more intimate and realizing her transgender status, became irate and took to the extreme of murder. Because Pemberton believed Jennifer to be a woman by birth, when he found out she wasn’t, he believed this to be deceit and his lawyers are now using treachery as the basis for his actions.
This concept of treachery provides the assumption that there was trust between Laude and Pemberton. Having met not even an hour prior to their sexual encounter, it is hard to prove how much trust was actually established between the two persons involved, thus the only established trust is due to the confidence in Pemberton’s perception of Jennifer at the bar. The trans panic defense, which can be defined as using Laude’s failure to disclose her trans status as grounds for Pemberton’s innocence, is absurd. If Laude wants to be perceived as a woman, she has every right to, and her failure to talk about whom she was should not be grounds for innocence for a murder.
The Jennifer Laude case now holds much significance because it has sparked a major uproar regarding the Visiting Forces Agreement the U.S. has with the Philippines. This agreement essentially gives U.S. jurisdiction over crimes their military commits in the Philippines. It is unfortunate that positive change was sparked due to the tragic loss of a human life. Something must change, starting with the attitudes towards transexuality.
