This story imagines my country, the Philippines, in a state that is far from being real — a liberal, progressive nation where the members of the LGBTQ+ community are treated fairly under the law.
When I was writing this story, news about a Filipina transwoman made the headlines — for a bad reason.
On August 13, 2019, Gretchen Diez, a transwoman, was prevented by a janitress to use the women's bathroom in a mall in Araneta City (then Araneta Center) in Cubao District, Quezon City. When Diez retaliated by aiming her phone camera to the janitress and asking her to repeat what she had told her, the janitress held her by the wrist and elbow and dragged her to the security office of the mall where she was detained for a couple of hours. Diez went live on Facebook and in that video, the insults of the janitress could be heard: "Huwag ka kasing nagsi-CR sa babae. Hindi ka naman babae." (You shouldn't have used the women's bathroom. You are not a woman.)
Diez knew that she was being illegally detained and requested to see the police, to which the janitress and her company complied with. Diez was ready to tell her story to the police and to file a complaint against the janitress and the mall administration; but to her surprise, she was handcuffed and arrested.
But because of her Facebook Live video, the public was made aware of her circumstances and demanded her immediate release. Bataan Province 1st District Representative Geraldine Roman, the first transwoman member of the House of Representatives, visited Diez in the Cubao police station where she was detained. Around 11:30 pm on the same day, Diez was released after the janitress decided to drop her complaint.
That night, that incident, revived the discussions, both in social media and in Congress, about the Anti-Discrimination Bill or more known as the SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression) Equality Bill.
While some localities, such as Quezon City where the incident happened, have anti-discrimination ordinances, there is no national law that protects the LGBTQ+ community against discrimination based on their sexuality and gender.
The SOGIE Equality Bill aims to address that.
The earliest version of the bill was filed in 2000 by the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago and former Akbayan representative Loretta Rosales under the 11th Congress. It was refiled in the 14th Congress but only reached the committee level. Similar versions were filed in the 15th and 16th Congresses but were snubbed. In 2017, under the 17th Congress, the bill was passed by the House of Representatives on its third and final reading with a 197-0 vote (see the External Link to see this version of the bill).
Unfortunately, the conservative block in the Senate, led by none other than Senate President Tito Sotto, blocked the passage of the bill in the upper chamber of Congress. The Roman Catholic Church and other religious groups also opposed the bill, saying that it violates their right to religious freedom. Even more surprisingly, some members of the LGBTQ+ community are also against the bill and said that it is "redundant" because there are existing measures against gender-based discrimination which are (vaguely) tucked inside current laws.
This story depicts the conservatism and bigotry which has been hindering the passage of the bill for years now.
It also explores the "what if": What if the SOGIE Equality Bill has been signed into law?
This is an attempt to show the importance of the law not only to protect LGBTQ+s from discrimination but also in helping a person navigate along the blurry lines of gender and sexuality.
This is a story of self-discovery — a story from A to Z.
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From A to Z
RomanceTwenty-two-year-old Adam Hidalgo is very secure of himself -- of his looks, of his future, of his sexuality. But his life was upended when a boy named Zach walked into his life. Date Started: November 24, 2019 Date Completed: May 10, 2020 Revised: S...
