The UP Center for Women’s and Gender Studies expresses its vigorous and unwavering support for a national law that protects all Filipinos from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression (SOGIE). We recognize that everyone has their own SOGIE, but lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) people are discriminated against, marginalized, and oppressed for theirs in a society that privileges those who are cisgender, heterosexual, and gender-conforming. In the absence of a national law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of SOGIE, the unjust treatment towards LGBTQI people continues to severely impact their well-being and overall quality of life. The passage of the SOGIE Equality Bill is a matter of national urgency, as more than 80 million Filipinos reside in areas without anti-discrimination ordinances, with 25.8 million of them living below the poverty threshold.

As an institution that champions gender equality, we acknowledge that cisgender-heterosexual women and LGBTQI people experience similar forms of sex- and gender-based discrimination. We assert that upholding the rights of LGBTQI people must run parallel to upholding the rights of women. 

LGBTQI rights are human rights. Pass the SOGIE Equality Bill now!