SOGIE BILL A LAW THAT PRESERVES HUMANITY

Written by FRANCES FERNANDEZ

Visuals by VINCENT YAP

In celebration of Pride Month, let us explore some parts of the realities of our fellowmen within the LGBTQ+ community. Even before the mainstream was ready to embrace LGBTQ+ people as valid and acceptable members of society, the LGBTQ+ community has existed longer than society recognizes. Eventually, civil rights movements and gay rights activists began surfacing on society, and later the media spectacle. Equal rights for LGBTQ people (lesbians, homosexuals [homosexual males], bisexuals, transgender people, and queer people); calls for the repeal of sodomy laws; and demands an end to discrimination against LGBTQ people in work, credit, housing, public places, and other aspects of life.

Thus, the SOGIE Equality Bill aims to implement the 1987 constitution’s rights, particularly the equal protection clause. It treats LGBTQ+ people as equals and ensures that their rights are safeguarded. The bill also recognizes the Philippines’ international obligations, particularly under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity, should be granted as much rights as those who aren’t a part of the LGBTQ+ community. No one’s identity or preference should be up for anyone’s critique regardless of the religious values or beliefs they uphold.

The paper will be putting emphasis on the points that are about to be discussed and rationalized as to why the implementation and significance of the SOGIE Bill shouldn’t even be debatable. The religious doctrines, social and gender expectations, and the stigma surrounding the LGBTQ+ community will be addressed.

LGBTQ+ community are prone to dangerous and terrible misconceptions

The founder of Jesus Is Lord Church, Eddie Villanueva, presumably stated that the whole community should go through “mental, psychosocial, and emotional rehabilitation.” as if they are impaired by default because of who they are Lawyer Lyndon Cana claimed that the LGBTQ+ community are becoming more entitled and pretentious, as if simply fighting for their rights equate to wanting to become a “super special elite class”. This implies that simply protesting for basic human rights after being discriminated against for centuries put the entire community above others.

The most heinous misconception, in my own personal opinion, that the community is linked with is that necrophilia and pedophilia are mainly practiced and even endorsed by the members of the said community. These crimes should not be used to justify their discrimination, their identities, orientations and expressions should not be associated with these atrocities, their humanity should not be judged by who they love.

National Law has to be administered to combat discrimination

When the Quezon City government signed the country’s first local anti-discrimination ordinance (ADO), this enactment served as a pioneer for other local governments to implement their own ordinances to secure the LGBTQ Filipinos from discrimination. However, the ordinances could only go as far as making discrimination an offense and not all of them abided by the implementing rules and regulations (IRR). This diminishes the essence of their ordinances in the first place, which makes them ineffectual by practice.

The local ordinances could only protect 20 million Filipinos from discrimination, which leaves the rest from other regions without these ordinances still susceptible to it. As stated by Senator Risa Hontiveros “With a law, there is behavioral change that is expected at the societal level. Making discrimination a crime and not just a local offense is a strong human rights measure that will ensure people of diverse SOGIE will be protected, their rights respected, their aspirations of equality, realized.”

Filipino companies are not inclusive enough to accept the LGBTQ+

The general consensus surrounding the Filipinos’ attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community shows that we have not progressed enough to fully accept the members of this community, as our society is only tolerant but not welcoming of them. This is not only applied in social, interpersonal settings, but in the corporate world as well. This is detrimental to these people making a living, as our culture is still adhering to limiting and outdated traditional ideals.

As stated by Cogencia CEO Paulo Edrosolano, “It is not correct to say that companies are [tolerant]. We’re far from that, I think we should completely erase that mindset that the Philippines accepts LGBTQIA+. The data says otherwise.”. This is supported by the result that only 11 out of 17 companies explicitly use the terms “sexual orientation”, “gender identity”, and gender expression when presenting their anti-discrimination policies.

The companies from the BPO sector, which, more often than not, foreignheadquartered, are the ones containing SOGIE-inclusive, non discriminatory policy. No Philippines-based companies were recorded to have SOGIE-inclusive policies, but more than half of them are uninterested in considering establishing SOGIE-based anti-discrimination policies. No Filipino members who work for local companies are granted any rights or protection in the workplace, they have to lean on companies under the foreign sector, whose policies fall short because they weren’t explicit enough to express that their anti-discrimination policies also means SOGIE inclusivity among their environment as well

The overwhelming presence of heteronormativity in society

The restricting, traditional and heteronormative ideals are still embedded in Filipino culture, which are initially instigated by patriarchal religious beliefs. This sadly and effectively does impede our society’s way to progress, which does not only harm the LGBTQ+ members in social settings. The prejudice against them oppresses them by systemic design. This affects their overall living, and in the midst of striving for survival, they are condemned and vilified. Feeding ourselves with more information, listening to the voices of activists, and allying with them do equate to us fighting for fundamental human rights.

Everyone should have the same rights as individuals who aren’t members of the LGBTQ+ community, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Regardless of what religious ideals or views they have, no one’s identity or preference should be subjected to condemnation or even criticism. This is warranted by religion, which is the first, if not, the main factor of their oppression due to initial correlation of the church and the state. While the separation of the church and the state has hopes of being halted, there are still ways to go in order to fully eradicate the still-relevant issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community.

Let them make a living and roam around without being confronted with endless mockery, harassment, and inequality. Let them live, dream and love as freely as those who are not within their community. Being tolerant of the maltreatment they face does equal the ones who are committing violence against them, refusing to extend your hand with love and compassion to them means fully turning your back on the most foundational human rights. Let us always choose to have empathy and humanity in our fellowmen, so equality binds us with love as a whole.

References

Bilon, X. J., & De Leon, C. (2018, June 25). With no national law, can we rely on local ordinances to protect LGBTQs against discrimination? CNN Philippines Life. https://www.cnnphilippines.com/life/ culture/2018/06/25/antidiscrimination-billlgbtq.html

Casal, C. (2018, November 14). Survey finds that Filipino companies are not accepting of LGBTQ+. CNN Philippines Life. https://www. cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2018/11/14/ Filipino-companies-not-accepting-LGBTQ. html

CNN Philippines Life Staff. (2020, November 5). 11 articles to understand why the SOGIE bill is important. CNN Philippines Life. https://www.cnnphilippines.com/life/ culture/2020/11/5/understanding-SOGIEbill-importance.html

Deslate, A. F. (2020, May 19). The SOGIE Equality Bill. DivinaLaw. https://www. divinalaw.com/news-and-updates/sogieequality-bill/

Martirez, J. R. (2020, December 18). Terrible misconceptions: Why we need the Sogie Equality Bill. INQUIRER.net. https:// opinion.inquirer.net/136224/terriblemisconceptions-why-we-need-the-sogieequality-bill

Being tolerant of the maltreatment they face does equal the ones who are committing violence against them, refusing to extend your hand with love and compassion to them means fully turning your back on the most foundational human rights.

Being tolerant of the maltreatment they face does equal the ones who are committing violence against them, refusing to extend your hand with love and compassion to them means fully turning your back on the most foundational human rights.

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