ONE STEP FORWARD, THREE STEPS BACK

The recent proposition of House Bill No. 5717, known as the Heterosexual Act of 2022, sparked dissension among the members of the LGBTQ+ community. In recent years, the discrimination against groups such as homosexuals has decreased as they broke free from the binding chains of society’s homophobic views, making way for the LGBTQ+ sector’s freedom of expression. The bill threatens the progress made thus far, raising the question: “Are we truly moving forward?”

Filed by Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr, the bill aims to enforce the right of heterosexuals to freely express their views about homosexuality in accordance with their religious beliefs. This contradicts the declaration of the separation of church and state, from Article II, Section 6, as per the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. The prominence of Catholic ideologies in