Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE): Equality in the Philippines

From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWl8ZUbTLpo

SEXUAL ORIENTATION

Slide #3
The first two letters are called Sexual Orientation.
Ano ba ang Sexual Orientation? Ang sexual orientation ay sumasagot sa katanungan sa
anong kasarian ka ba naaattract?

Slide #5
If you are a woman that identify as a woman but you’re attracted to other women and you
can only love as a woman, you are a lesbian.

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If you are a man to yourself as a man but you’re attracted to other men, you are gay.

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Kung ikaw naman ay pinagpala at you have the capacity and the orientation to fall inlove
with both men and women, you are a bisexual person.

Slide #8
Ano ba ang bisexual? Ito yung taong masayahin kasi pwede siyang mainlove sa lalaki at
sa babae.

Yun ang tinatawag na sexual orientation.

Nakakalungkot dahil maraming members pa rin ng LGBT community ang hindi

nakakaunawa ng SOGIE.

And I was even posing a challenge sa mga members of LGBT community, “kung kayo at
tayo mismo na nasa loob ng LGBT community ay hindi nakakaunawa kung ano ang
SOGIE…

Slide #9
how do we expect our straight friends, family members and relatives na makaunawa kung
ano ang SOGIE”.
Slide #10
Kapag ikaw naman ay lalaki na-inlove ka sa babae, you are Straight and vice versa.

Slide #11
Meron ding mga tao na for some reason or another, do not feel any kind of sexual or
romantic attraction to any gender. Or kahit sexy ka ng tao hindi pa rin na-iinlove.
Maaari sigurong Pari o may Psychological condition, these are asexual people.

Slide #12
Also, may mga queer na nagtatanong kung ano sila and still questioning.

Maaaring ma-confuse, o baka maging sarcastic na sasabihin na “ano ba yang

LGBTQIABCDEFG…

Slide #13
You know what my dear friends…
Human sexuality is diverse. It is a spectrum. Life is not just black and white. Life is
beautifully complicated. That’s why even when it comes to sexual orientation, gender
identity, our sexuality, in general, it is a spectrum which is filled with different color
which is called a rainbow.

Slide #14
Anyway, Pansexual ay nakakaranas naman ng romantic, physical or spiritual attraction sa
lahat ng uri ng kasarian maging ano man ang kanilang pagkakakilanlan sa kanilang sarili
o kanilang expression.

For Starters, lets start sa simple…

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual

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GENDER IDENTITY

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Ano ba ang pagkakakilala mo sa iyong sarili?
Slide #17
How do you identify?
What are your feelings? How do you think? It is a sense of self-awareness and
consciousness. It has nothing to do with the object of your attraction. This is directed
inwards.

Slide #18
Ngayon may mga tao na pinapanganak with a male anatomy but have the identity or the
self-awareness of the woman, ang tawag sa kanila ay Transwomen.
Meron din namang mga babae na pinapanganak with the anatomy of a woman pero sa
loob, ang kanilang psyche at pag-iisip, ang kanilang way to relief other people is that of a
male, ang tawag sa kanila ay Transman.

Example:
Ang iyong lingkod ay pinanganak with a body of a man but I had a heart and the mind of
a woman and eventually transitional.

Slide #19
Transgender
Ang pagkakakilanlan ng kasarian at pagpapahayag ay naiiba sa inaasahan sa kultura at
lipunan na batay sa kasarian noong kapanganakan.

I would say to not complicate us, transgender and transsexual, are terms that are
oftentimes interchange but the more modern term being used by American Psychological
Association is transgender.

Para wag nang ma-confuse, Transgender na lang ang ating gamitin.

Slide #20
Giving you other examples of transgender people like Charice Pempengco who became
Jake Cyrus, Angie King na pinanganak na lalaki but now she is living her life as a
transwoman. Nandyan din po si BB Gandanghari who is also a transwoman, Ice Seguerra
na famous singer but identifies as a man. They are transgender people.
Slide #21
Cisgender.
Ano ba itong Cisgender?
Ito po yung mga taong pag ikaw ay lalaki at pinanganak kang lalaki, ang tingin mo sa
sarili mo ay lalaki, ang gender identity mo ay lalaki, ikaw ay Cisman.
Pag ikaw ay babae, and your gender identity is a woman, you are a Ciswoman.

Slide #22
Kumbaga, it would be considered the norm in society.

Just to remind everyone…

Ito po ay nagpapatunay na ang ating gender identity is not lie in our genitals.

Kung magiging basehan ng gender identity is anatomical sex, wala tayong makikitang
LGBT. That we are part of nature. This is just the reality of things. We are equally as
valid as cisgender people.

Slide #23
Genderqueer
Life is not that simple. Its not black and white. There are people are still questioning and
kasama po sa category na ito ang tinatawag na Genderqueer.
Ang ibang tao nakikita ang kanilang sarili bilang lalaki at babae, hindi lalaki o hindi
babae. Sometimes its evolving their gender identity.
It is the complexity of the human psyche.

Slide #24
It takes times for some people to discover what their real gender identity is. Sometimes,
they just lie in between. Hindi sila nagi-identify totally as men or women just sometimes
in the middle and there are people like them.
Ang paalala ko sa mga nakikinig…
Alam ko iba sa inyo ay nagtatanong, “Why do you have to complicate things?”
Life is complicated. Sexuality is a wide spectrum. At nais ko lang ipaalala sa inyo,

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just because you are not genderqueer, not transgender, not lesbian or gay, it doesn’t
mean, we do not exist. We are as valid as who we are.
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Non Binary
Hindi sila nagcocomply whether they are totally male or female. Nasa pagitan lang sila.

Slide #27
Pangender
Nakakaranas ng lahat ng pagkakakilanlan ng kasarian sabay o sa paglipas ng panahon.
There are some people, at certain times, they feel more female and at certain times, they
would feel more male. Depende. Those people are called pangender.

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Intersex
It is more likely a biological condition.

Slide #29
Sabi nga nila, maraming nag quote, lalo na yung mga tumataligsa at humuhusga na mga
LGBT community. They offer inside the book of Genesis kung saan sinasabi na “God
only created men and women”. From the Biblical point of view before biology and
science advanced at ng panahon na wala pang medisina.

The truth of the matter is that there are people who are born intersex meaning mayroon
silang genitalia of men and women, mga tinatawag na Hermaphrodite.
There are also various levels of impaired sexuality. May mga tao na some sort of iba ang
shape ng kanilang genitalia is female kahit na chromosomally sila ay male.

Slide #30
So yung mga sinasabing “They ultimate measure of your gender identity should be your
chromosome”. That is wrong! But it only determines your biological sex.

Gender identity lies in the brain.

Pagbalik sa intersexuality naman, ano ang sasabihin natin sa mga tao na ito?
That you are not valid? That God did not create you? Di po natin pwede sabihin yan.

There are people who are born intersex.

Slide #31
Para kumpletuhin ang nasa book of Genesis, “God created man, woman and intersex
people”. Because this is the truth. From the Biology and Medicine point of view

And may I add, if God created intersex people at the level of chromosomes kasi mayroon
ding XXY at XYY and also create that intersex people at the level of hormones or at the
level of your genitals.

What makes you so sure that you will not also create people who are intersex at other
levels. Let’s say that is psychological level
Eto po ang nagpapatunay that God created a complex universe at bahagi rin po kami ng
universe na ito.

Slide #32
GENDER EXPRESSION

(Pass through the Gender Expression types)

Let’s move to our cases of discrimination.

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We keep on insisting that we are valid members of the LGBT community and I
consistently make appeals to everyone to understand us and not just to invalidate us, just
because you happen to be straight. The basis of all of this is the fact that we are human
beings. We are also Filipinos, therefore we have human rights and we also have civil
rights.

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Ano po ba ang discrimination?
When you treat someone differently? When you deprived that person with certain
privileges or rights or obligations? Simply because that person happens to be different
and that is called discrimination.

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So dito sa ating bansa, madalas sinasabi “Ang LGBT ay tanggap na sa lipunan.”
Accepted nga ba? That is the big question.
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I would say that more than being accepted, we are just being tolerated. Bakit naman hindi
niyo kami ito-tolerate? There are teachers, classmates, and workmates who are members
of the LGBT community. Masaya kami kasama diba? Kami ang beshies ng lahat ng tao.
We make you laugh, beautiful, we make your memorable events even more memorable
and more beautiful, we are your musicians, composers. We are present in all sectors of
society.

Kaya sasabihin niyo “Sige, accepted kayo”.

Slide #38
You know The true test of acceptance is basically when it comes to our rights.
Do we enjoy the same rights as you do?
If the answer is no, therefore you cannot be say that LGBT are accepted, we are just
tolerated. “Para lang kaming saling kitkit. You are okay as long as you stay in this certain
sector. Hanggang dun na lang kayo sa entertainment center. You’re okay basta kayo ay
naiinvolve sa beauty and aesthetics sector (inaayusan niyo kami), but if you want to go
mainstream sa politics (in my case). Joining politics, hirap na hirap ako kasi lagi na lang
tinutuligsa ng aking political rival ang aking gender identity and that was a painful
experience.

Slide #39
Tinatanong ko sa sarili ko, “Nasa 21st century na tayo, bakit ginagawang issue pa ang
aking gender identity?” “Why? Does it make me a less effective legislator or less
effective public servant?” Wala pong kinalaman ang aking gender identity.
Or in the cases of people or in companies or executives, they are forced to stay in the
closet, or if they come out in the closet, they begin to experience different kind of
treatment.
Like immature bullying, deprived of the opportunity to go up to the corporate ladder,
does not promote, do not go to the seminar (“dahil wala ka naman anak”)
When you give a different kind of treatment usually to the disadvantagement of the
person, you are discriminating against that person.

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The sad thing about discrimination in our country is …
Every nobody knows what discrimination is and nobody wants to experience it but when
it comes to the laws of our land, the women are the only ones protected.
Sa mahabang panahon, ang mga kababaihan ay dinidiscriminate yan. Bago pa man
bumoto ang mga babae, pinaglaban ito ng mga babae, para makaboto sila… to enjoy the
same rights as men. So its a long struggle.

Kaya naman nagkaroon ng special na mga batas para sa mga kababaihan. We have the
VAWC (Violence Against Women and Children). Marami pang mga batas na
nagpopromote ng gender equality when it comes to women.

Slide #41
How about the LGBT community? Mayroon bang batas?

Wala.

For example:
Pagbinugbog ang isang transwoman dahil isa siyang transwoman. What is that?

Result: Simple Physical Injury. Totally disregard that the motive of that violence is
gender-based. Therefore, it is not fair.

Slide #42
LGBTs “are by and large, subtly if not brutally, excluded from the mainstream,
discriminated against, and persecuted.” -Justice Robert Abad, concurring Ang Ladlad
LGBT Party v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 190582 (April 8,2010)

I remembered the 17th Congress ay naipasa namin ang laban na ito, unanimously and
nobody objected. Kaya nga lang, in the 18th Congress, passing a law is not as easy as
other people might think. It’s not because we are not doing our homework. Depende rin
po yan sa timpla ng Congress. Kung mas marami po sa isang kongreso, let’s say na mas
marami nga conservative ay talagang mahihirapan.

Slide #43
I am trying to analyze kung bakit sa 17th Congress ay hindi nahirapan ang SOGIE
Equality Bill. So for the information of many people because we recognize that there is
an absence of legislation that would protect particularly the LGBT community from
discrimination. Marami talagang nag-rerecommend at malinaw naman po.
SOGIE Equality Bill is basically an anti-discrimination bill. Marami pa pong
nacoconfuse sa atin kung ano yung SOGIE Equality Bill.

Especially in the light of kung anong nangyari dun kay Gretchen Diez, a transwoman
who wanted to use the ladies room in a mall in Cubao city. To just to refresh your
memory, ang nangyari po sa kanya, she identifies as a woman, she dresses as a woman,
she wanted to use the ladies room, so pina-alis siya ng janitress. Kinaladkad siya at dinala
sa police na walang malinaw na charges in violation of many, many protocols and also in
violation of an anti-discrimination ordinance sa Cubao at sa Quezon City. Nagkaroon po
ng backlash actually. And this backlash came from the conservative groups ng ating
lipunan. Ang mga religious fundamentalist but they were saying that ito daw na SOGIE
Equality Bill will be the gateway to Sodom and Gomorrah, it will bring the wrath of God
and bring the end of the world. May nagsabi pa that our SOGIE Equality Bill will allow
our children to decide kung ano ang kanilang gender…. It will lead to same-sex
marriages.

Slide #44
The Anti-Discrimination Law is simply Anti-Discrimination Law.
This law is not asking for special rights and privileges.

Sinasabi nila “bakit kayong mga LGBT, you want a special law, you want to be
privileged?”

Sa paggagawa ng batas at sa history ng paggagawa ng batas, talagang ang mga

marginalized groups ay nagkakaroon ng mga special na batas. Ang kababaihan, sa
mahabang panahon na didiscriminate ang kababaihan, so we have this myriad of laws to
protect women beginning with the VAWC law. Ang mga PWDs for the longest time na
didiscriminate. Kaya meron tayong mga espesyal na batas para sa mga PWD. Ganon na
rin ang mga teachers, senior citizens.

Lahat ng mga grupo ng lipunan na subject for the longest time of discrimination ay
nabibigyan ng espesyal na batas…

Pero pagdating sa LGBT community, mayroon mga nagrereklamo at nagsasabi na

humihingi kami ng special laws… feeling entitled with that privilege

ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW
So ano po bang nilalaman ng anti-discrimination bill?

It simply identifies ang iba’t ibang kaso ng discrimination sa loob ng trabaho

(workplace), school, sa nagbibigay ng serbisyo sa pamahalaan, pati rin po ang mga
discriminatory acts na nangyayari sa public places and public facilities.

Wala po yang kinalaman sa same sex marriage.

Anti-discrimination bill , you will not find a single provision that will allow two men or
two women to get married. That is a totally different matter.

Wala ring nakapaloob sa anti-discrimination bill that will allow a person to legally
change his or her legal sex. Hindi po ito gender recognition.

Kung susuriin niyo po ito, makikita niyo na ang hinihingi lang po namin ay sana
mabigyan po kami ng pantay-pantay na pagkakataon sa loob ng workplace at sa loob ng
paaralan, sa loob ng public and commercial establishments at sa pagtanggap ng serbisyo
mula sa pamahalaan. Hindi po ito something that is out of this world.

Medyo conservative lang po ngayon ang 18th Congress kaya hindi po umuusad ito plus
the fact that we are now suffering the COVID-19 crisis.

Nevertheless, mayroon pong ray of hope. Mayroon po tayong pag-asa sapagkat in lieu of
an anti-discrimination law ay marami naman pong LGUs ang nagpapasa ng ordinance na
anti-discrimination to given example in Quezon city, Laoag city, Davao city, Lipa city
and many LGUs has passed an anti-discrimination ordinance.

Maganda rin po na nakikita ni President Rodrigo Roa Duterte na hindi umuusad itong
anti-discrimination bill sa Congress kung kaya’t siya po ay pumirma sa executive order
100 which aims to create a diversity and inclusion program sa lahat ng government
agency including government companies and corporations.

Summary
There is an absence of laws that would protect the LGBT community, so we have filed
the anti-discrimination bill. It not the same with the same-sex marriage law nor it is a
gender recognition law. It simply seeks to protect the rights of the LGBT community at
the workplace, in schools, in the delivery of government services and so does in public
and commercial establishments. These are not special rights. These are the same rights
being enjoyed by the so-called straight people.

Support the Anti-discrimination Bill.

Tandaan po natin.
Wala pong mawawala sa ating bansa kung bibigyan natin ng pagkilala at pantay-pantay
na karapatan ang lahat ng tao maging LGBT man siya o hindi.