#hanzios

The Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill was first filed by former Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago in 2000 (Elemia, 2016). It aims to prevent discrimination against people based on their sexuality and gender, and protect their rights on the economic and political stage. Twenty years later, after two decades of fighting for the bill to be passed, the battle for equal rights still persists. 

A 2018 survey by the Philippine Corporate SOGIE Diversity and Inclusiveness (CSDI) Index on 100 companies revealed that 25% of their respondents have experienced harassment from their employers, 33% have experienced harassment from colleagues, and 60% have had hateful slurs and jokes thrown at them. This disappointing, yet unsurprising date, is one proof that the need for the SOGIE Bill continues to rise. 

Despite the Philippines claiming to be accepting of people with diverse SOGIEs, in truth, it is only tolerant of the LGBTQ+ community. Not only are people misinformed about the difference between sexual orientation, gender expression, and gender identity, they also only view queer people as sources of entertainment. People use the community as the butt of their homophobic jokes within and outside social media, mocking us as if we aren’t humans ourselves. In extreme cases, this blatant ignorance leads to dangerous situations – ones where queer folk are targeted, harassed, and even killed just for being alive.

There is a grave need to protect LGBTQ+ people from blatant discrimination in and out of the workplace. 

Although the church is trying to push back on the bill's passage, it has no right to do so since Article II, Section 6 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution clearly states that “The separation of Church and State is inviolable.” There is no doubt that religion and faith play a huge role in the lives of millions of Filipinos, but there is no room for biblical arguments inside matters of the state. Especially when fundamental human rights are being discussed. 

Moreover, the SOGIE Equality Bill does not only apply to us queer people, as many people falsely presume. Everyone has SOGIE. If passed into law, this would protect anyone from being unfairly discriminated against solely based on their sex and gender. 

It is infuriating to know that people’s basic human rights and existence are still topics of debate and discussion in 2020. One would have thought that we’d be more progressive twenty years after the bill was originally filed, but alas. I will not hide my disappointment at the many people still managing to come up with baseless arguments – mostly based on religious beliefs – against queer people. 

It’s 2020.

We should be better.