SOGIE Bill and Discrimination of Transgender People

The discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community is an increasingly significant issue in our country. A recent news story has brought attention to the need for the SOGIE Bill argumentative essay. The incident involved Gretchen Diez, a transgender woman who was denied entry to a women's restroom by a janitress. This event has gained attention from senators and other cabinet members, and the government is currently discussing the implementation of the SOGIE equality bill. It is essential to recognize that discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community is a violation of their human rights, and the SOGIE Bill argumentative essay aims to address this issue by promoting equality and justice for all individuals regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression. The passage of this bill would be a significant step forward in creating a more inclusive and accepting society.

Our country has an overwhelming number of transgender women. As we all know, it is not uncommon to see trans women in public toilets for women. There is an instance where trans women had harassed, attacked, or assaulted women and children in ladies' public toilets in the Philippines and other country. And while it is a fact that transgender people are way more likely to get assaulted than cisgender people, many people still hold the belief that trans women are a threat to women's public toilets, a belief that is a product of unfounded fears around sexual victimization. Trans women are women. They are not men who want access to women's public toilets to sexually assault women. Have we not come to realize yet that men need not pretend to be women to carry out assaults? In this heteropatriarchal society, men will sexually assault women if they want to. They do not need the excuse of pretending to be women because that will only degrade their machismo. Moreover, it is interesting to note that most cases of sexual assault happen in private in lieu of public spaces.

Sizing it up, it seems a bit of a stretch to think that trans women should be banned from using women's restrooms because they are men who would go as far as wearing dresses, high heels, and makeup only to sexually assault women. The life expectancy of transgender women of color in the US is 35 years old due to high rates of suicide and hate crimes. Transgender people are also 9 times more likely to commit suicide than the rest of the population, and a staggering 40% of transgender people have attempted suicide in their lifetime. As for hate crimes, 1 in 4 transgender people are assaulted for simply being transgender. The number of transgender people murdered has also hit record highs in recent years, and is expected to continue.

A British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) report shows that crimes against transgender people this year increased by 81% in the UK alone. So what is the point of saying this? First, I want you to know the appalling truth and realize how vulnerable transgender people are to suicide and violence simply for living their truths. Second, I want you to acknowledge that we all share the moral responsibility of allowing transgender people to use the public toilet that matches their gender identity, because this is part of protecting them from violence. So for those cisgender women who feel uncomfortable by the presence of trans women in women's public toilets, The safety and security of trans women are more important than your comfort. A lot number of people had already expressed their support for the construction of gender-neutral toilets in public spaces to provide a safe haven for transgender and gender nonconforming people.

Why build toilets with different categories when our toilets at home are not even categorized according to gender identity? Building gender-neutral toilets while maintaining the heteronormative ones is not the best solution to the problem of where we should put transgender and gender nonconforming people in the binary categories of toilet segregation. This segregation should not even exist in the first place, because separating men and women in public spaces is sexism. We should abolish this segregation and build instead a single gender-neutral toilet for everyone’s use. This would be a progressive step towards gender equality because this would address the problem of space equity between men and women's toilets, which is the cause of women waiting in longer toilet lines than men; normalize gender as a non-binary concept and affirm that public spaces should not be gendered; and provide the inclusion of people of all SOGIESCs (sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics).

Since this will not happen in the near future, it is only right that transgender people be entitled to use the toilet that matches their gender identity. So what is SOGIE equality bill? The SOGIE (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression) Equality Bill, also known as the Anti-Discrimination Bill (ADB), is a proposed legislation of the Congress of the Philippines. It is intended to prevent various economic and public accommodation-related acts of discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

The current versions of the bill are championed by Kaka Bag-ao, Geraldine Roman, and Tom Villarin in the House of Representatives, and Risa Hontiveros in the Senate. The version in the House of Representative passed its third reading most recently on September 20, 2017, but died in the Senate. It has been refiled for the 18th Congress. The SOGIE Equality Bill is meant to fulfill the rights set forth in the 1987 constitution, particularly the equal protection clause. It recognizes the LGBTQ++ as equals and ensures that their rights are protected inasmuch as everyone’s is.

The bill also acknowledges the Philippines duties under international law particularly the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It thus recognizes the non-discrimination of the LGBTQ++ as both a national and international duty. The bill first introduces and defines the concepts of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, as well as other terms that are pertinent to the aforementioned.

With all that being said, I stand in strong solidarity with Ms. Gretchen Diez. This issue may have divided Filipinos, but at the very least, I hope that we can all agree that the experience of Diez only demonstrated the urgent need for the passage of the SOGIE equality bill in the country. Her experience is a call for the LGBTQIA+ communities and our allies to be vigilant and proactive in advocating for the SOGIE equality bill because we LGBTQIA+ individuals do not need tolerance nor acceptance. We need our civil rights. Let us also take this opportunity to educate people about the experience of transgender people and campaign for the protection of transgender people against violence. Human rights are transgender rights and transgender rights are human rights. There are other problems in our country that government should address.