PCW to lawmakers: Pass the SOGIE Law

The Philippine Commission on Women reiterates its call to end gender-based discrimination and uphold the basic human rights of persons with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity and expression (SOGIE).

The recent incident involving a transgender woman who was discriminated when she tried accessing a female toilet in a Quezon City mall proves that there is a need to seriously look into the issues that the proposed Anti-Discrimination Based on SOGIE Law intend to address. 

“We should go beyond trying to mask the biases that our society has over people of diverse SOGIE by poking fun at how they want themselves called. Instead, we should listen to the legitimate issues that they are calling on our law makers to understand — something as basic as being accorded the dignity and right to do something as basic as peeing, or going to public places without fear of being ridiculed, humiliated, or deprived of access,” PCW Chairperson Rhodora M. Bucoy said. 

The proposed law will ensure that all people, regardless of  their SOGIE are able to exercise their rights to life, education, employment, and expression without fear of reprisal or discrimination.

“LGBTs have equal human rights and society needs to recognize their rights because as long as there is no law that recognize and protect them, they remain invisible in the eyes of the law,” Bucoy added.

The enactment of an anti-discrimination based on SOGIE law is one of the Women’s Priority Legislative Agenda of the PCW.

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