Metro Manila (CNN Philippines Life) — As stated in our primer about the Anti Discrimination ordinances, “the first version of ADB, House Bill 09095, filed by then-Akbayan Representative Etta Rosales sought to proscribe discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Though the bill may have been limited in terms of its coverage, its mere filing marked the start of the long crusade of LGBTQ+ Filipinos towards legal protection against discrimination.”

“Since then, ADB has been filed and re-filed in each Congress. Through the efforts of the LGBTQ+ community, led by LAGABLAB Network — a network that focuses its advocacy on passing the ADB — the bill has grown and evolved to become more inclusive and far-reaching.”

The recent online hearing regarding the bill, now called the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill presented more misconceptions about the gender orientation, the bill and the LGBTQIA+ community itself — even linking pedophilia and necrophillia.

Here are 11 articles from CNN Philippines Life to understand more why the SOGIE bill is an essential part of Philippine society and how it will help the struggles of the LGBTQIA+ community. It should be noted that, as these articles explain, the community does not ask for special treatment but equal rights with everyone else.

Equality Bill Rally: ‘Hindi lang naman LGBT people ang may SOGIE — everyone has SOGIE.’

“We're just really fighting for equality. What we want is equality — protection of our rights, assurance na we would be able to exercise our rights, our rights na we have because we are human, because we are Filipinos. We just need the protection from the law that we can actually exercise these rights and that we will be protected from discrimination. Ang dami nang kinuha ng discrimination from us na opportunities — our childhood, our dreams, our youth, our time in this advocacy, in this activism.”

Read more here. 

With no national law, can we rely on local ordinances to protect LGBTQs against discrimination?

Due to the continuing failure of Congress to pass a national anti-discrimination law, LGBTQ+ advocates sought other ways of protecting the community from discrimination. As they wait for the law to catch up, they turned to their local government units to provide them with protection, albeit limited.

It was in 2003 when the Quezon City government approved the country’s first local anti-discrimination ordinance (ADO). According to Angie Umbac, former president of Rainbow Rights Philippines, instances of harassment and bullying in dormitory restrooms experienced by several LGBTQ+ university students brought about discussions of having a city ordinance to address such acts of discrimination. The then-pending ADB in Congress served as basis in crafting the ordinance.

Despite the limited protection it may have provided, Quezon City’s first anti-discrimination ordinance paved the way for other local governments to enact their own ordinances to protect LGBTQ Filipinos from discrimination. A more comprehensive ADO was later passed by Quezon City in 2014.

Read more here. 

Coming out and coming of age outside Manila

While Metro Manila is by no means an absolutely safe space — this is a country where you hear stories of LGBTQ children being told that they should be nailed to a cross and where, on one occasion, “a lower court dismissed the case of child abuse committed by a school principal against a young girl who refused to wear skirts and was made to parade in school grounds wearing a curtain” — much of what is recognized as the mainstream LGBTQ advocacy is based here. Indeed, much of the historicizing LGBTQ Filipinos do see Metro Manila, specifically Quezon City, as the birthplace of Asia’s first Pride March.

However, in many places inside and outside Manila’s walls, you do hear stories that make one realize that keeping the rainbow flag furled is still the safer bet for many people. “The LGBT youth continue to suffer from stressors in the forms of discrimination, exclusion, and gender-based violence,” Prof. Hadji Balajadia of Ateneo De Davao University’s Department of Psychology tells. She puts the situation bluntly: “Their potentials and well-being are shattered and shaken.”

Read more here.

Survey finds that Filipino companies are not accepting of LGBTQ+

The first ever Philippine Corporate SOGIE Diversity and Inclusiveness (CSDI) Index — a study in 2018 conducted by the Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce and research firm Cogencia, and supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Philippines — surveyed 100 companies on their anti-discrimination and equal opportunity employment policies. Out of the 100, they found zero Philippine-based companies implementing policies meant to protect their employees from SOGIE-based discrimination.

Read more here.

Before ‘same-sex unions,’ let’s talk about the Anti-Discrimination Bill first

“Bakit pinupush ang Anti-Discrimination Bill, o ang SOGIE Equality Bill pero bakit hindi gaanong maingay tungkol sa marriage equality?” says Atty. Jazz Tamayo of legal literacy NGO Rainbow Rights Philippines during Pride Speaks, a discussion on LGBTQ+ activism organized by Metro Manila Pride. “Kasi may paniniwala kami sa advocacy na ‘yung SOGIE Equality Bill, it cuts across the board. Mas marami kasing nakaka-benefit doon.”

“Mayaman o mahirap, single o hindi, pwede kang gumamit ng batas kasi mapoproteksyunan ka niyan sa trabaho mo, sa eskuwelahan mo,” she adds. “Hindi ibig sabihin na hindi importante ang marriage equality. Ang ibig sabihin lang, in terms of prioritizing, mas mahalagang may trabaho ka, diba?”

Read more here.

‘Ang pamilya ay pagmamahalan, walang pinipiling gender’

For our 2019 Pride Month cover feature, CNN Philippines Life presented five stories of LGBTQ+ families to show that there is more to the meaning of family than the traditional concept of a mother, a father, and their children. Letting us into their homes, these families show us the challenges that are unique to the LGBTQ+ experience, and the joys of raising children as LGBTQ+ parents.

At its core, family is about love. “Ang pamilya ay pagmamahalan, pagtutulungan, walang pinipiling gender,” says gay father Edwin Quinsayas. “‘Yung pagpapamilya, pagmamahal talaga ‘yun. Pag-aaruga.”

Read more here.

Debunking myths about the LGBTQ+ bathroom debate

In 2019, when a cleaning crew at the Quezon City mall harassed trans woman Gretchen Custodio Diez as she tried to enter a women’s restroom, they violated the city’s Gender Fair Ordinance, which protects people from harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE). This incident sparked renewed debate about the SOGIE Equality Bill, which aims to provide protection to all Filipinos nationwide. However, online, offline, and even in the Senate, discussions took place on restroom rights, gender identity, and the need for a national Anti-Discrimination Bill.

To help everyone better understand the issue, as well as the call for protection against discrimination, here we debunk five myths and misconceptions about the LGBTQ+ bathroom issue.

Read more here.

‘The end goal is for people to see us as full human beings’: A transgender round table discussion

CNN Philippines Life sat down with six transgender individuals to better understand the trans Filipino experience, from trans men and women themselves.

“When people meet a trans person, I want them to focus on that person as a human being. Not as a trans person but as a human being,” says Naomi Fontanos during the roundtable discussion. “You treat them in a human way; you don't fixate on their genitals; you don't fixate on their bodies; you don't fixate on their identities, but you treat them with respect as a full human person.”

“The end goal of our activism is for people to see us as full human beings. Beyond our genitals, beyond our gender identities. Just as people in this world. But of course, we're very far from that.”

Read more here.

8 myths about asexuality

The Philippines has made great strides in terms of LGBTQ+ awareness, with pride marches attended by an estimated 25,000 people and policy changes reaching well outside Metro Manila. But for people who identify as asexual, theirs is an entire group that has remained largely invisible, despite more and more people becoming vocal about the advocacy.

Read more here.

What happens when your body is both male and female?

Ricalyn Cinco was raised as a boy, but it was when adolescence hit when she started developing breasts. “Syempre hindi naman ako pwede mag-bra, hindi ba?” she shares. “Alam nung mga kaklase ko, lalaki [ako]. Lalapitan ako tapos, ‘pag natuwa sila, dadakmain nila ‘yung suso ko. Tapos ako… magrereklamo ba ako?”

These are examples of what would only be the beginning of the unknown traumas that many intersex Filipinos experience in their day-to-day lives. For a majority of them, this “act” would go on well into adulthood — from stuffing bras with pan de sal just to pass as female for a job interview, to quitting swimming because wearing a swimsuit would attract too many questions, even to being undressed by the teacher behind a classroom door just because they needed to know : “Ano ba talaga, babae ka o lalaki?”

Read more here.

What does it mean to be ‘gender non-conforming’?

For the longest time, people were placed into boxes to fulfill a presumed pre-ordained role based on one’s sex — men were to work and provide for the family, women were responsible for bearing and raising children. But today, as science teaches us that sex and gender are separate from one another, one can choose to live a truth outside of the binary.

Read more here.