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Kababihan

Miyembro ng LGBTQ

Ang mga tao na hindi sumailalim ang identidad nila sa kumbensyonal (babae o lalaki)

Pagsanib sa mga nakabatay sa taas

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Explained | Why Women Are Paid Less | FULL EPISODE | Netflix

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YOUTUBE: COVID-19 Hits LGBTQ+ Communities Harder Than Most

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YOUTUBE: COVID-19 Hits LGBTQ+ Communities Harder Than Most

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COVID-19 Hits LGBTQ+ Communities Harder Than Most | NowThis

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ARTICLE: 11 articles to understand why the SOGIE bill is important

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ARTICLE: 11 articles to understand why the SOGIE bill is important

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines Life) - As stated in our primer about the Anti Discrimination ordinances, "the first version of ADB, House Bill 09095, filed by then-Akbayan Representative Etta Rosales sought to proscribe discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Though the bill may have been limited in terms of its coverage, its mere filing marked the start of the long crusade of LGBTQ+ Filipinos towards legal protection against discrimination."

"Since then, ADB has been filed and re-filed in each Congress. Through the efforts of the LGBTQ+ community, led by LAGABLAB Network - a network that focuses its advocacy on passing the ADB - the bill has grown and evolved to become more inclusive and far-reaching."

The recent online hearing regarding the bill, now called the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill presented more misconceptions about the gender orientation, the bill and the LGBTQIA+ community itself - even linking pedophilia and necrophillia.

Here are 11 articles from CNN Philippines Life to understand more why the SOGIE bill is an essential part of Philippine society and how it will help the struggles of the LGBTQIA+ community. It should be noted that, as these articles explain, the community does not ask for special treatment but equal rights with everyone else.
Equality Bill Rally: 'Hindi lang naman LGBT people ang may SOGIE - everyone has SOGIE.'
"We're just really fighting for equality. What we want is equality - protection of our rights, assurance na we would be able to exercise our rights, our rights na we have because we are human, because we are Filipinos. We just need the protection from the law that we can actually exercise these rights and that we will be protected from discrimination. Ang dami nang kinuha ng discrimination from us na opportunities - our childhood, our dreams, our youth, our time in this advocacy, in this activism."

Read more here.
With no national law, can we rely on local ordinances to protect LGBTQs against discrimination?
Due to the continuing failure of Congress to pass a national anti-discrimination law, LGBTQ+ advocates sought other ways of protecting the community from discrimination. As they wait for the law to catch up, they turned to their local government units to provide them with protection, albeit limited.

It was in 2003 when the Quezon City government approved the country's first local anti-discrimination ordinance (ADO). According to Angie Umbac, former president of Rainbow Rights Philippines, instances of harassment and bullying in dormitory restrooms experienced by several LGBTQ+ university students brought about discussions of having a city ordinance to address such acts of discrimination. The then-pending ADB in Congress served as basis in crafting the ordinance.

Despite the limited protection it may have provided, Quezon City's first anti-discrimination ordinance paved the way for other local governments to enact their own ordinances to protect LGBTQ Filipinos from discrimination. A more comprehensive ADO was later passed by Quezon City in 2014.

Read more here.
Coming out and coming of age outside Manila
While Metro Manila is by no means an absolutely safe space - this is a country where you hear stories of LGBTQ children being told that they should be nailed to a cross and where, on one occasion, "a lower court dismissed the case of child abuse committed by a school principal against a young girl who refused to wear skirts and was made to parade in school grounds wearing a curtain" - much of what is recognized as the mainstream LGBTQ advocacy is based here. Indeed, much of the historicizing LGBTQ Filipinos do see Metro Manila, specifically Quezon City, as the birthplace of Asia's first Pride March.

However, in many places inside and outside Manila's walls, you do hear stories that make one realize that keeping the rainbow flag furled is still the safer bet for many people. "The LGBT youth continue to suffer from stressors in the forms of discrimination, exclusion, and gender-based violence," Prof. Hadji Balajadia of Ateneo De Davao University's Department of Psychology tells. She puts the situation bluntly: "Their potentials and well-being are shattered and shaken."

Read more here.
Survey finds that Filipino companies are not accepting of LGBTQ+
The first ever Philippine Corporate SOGIE Diversity and Inclusiveness (CSDI) Index - a study in 2018 conducted by the Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce and research firm Cogencia, and supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Philippines - surveyed 100 companies on their anti-discrimination and equal opportunity employment policies. Out of the 100, they found zero Philippine-based companies implementing policies meant to protect their employees from SOGIE-based discrimination.

Read more here.
Before 'same-sex unions,' let's talk about the Anti-Discrimination Bill first
"Bakit pinupush ang Anti-Discrimination Bill, o ang SOGIE Equality Bill pero bakit hindi gaanong maingay tungkol sa marriage equality?" says Atty. Jazz Tamayo of legal literacy NGO Rainbow Rights Philippines during Pride Speaks, a discussion on LGBTQ+ activism organized by Metro Manila Pride. "Kasi may paniniwala kami sa advocacy na 'yung SOGIE Equality Bill, it cuts across the board. Mas marami kasing nakaka-benefit doon."

"Mayaman o mahirap, single o hindi, pwede kang gumamit ng batas kasi mapoproteksyunan ka niyan sa trabaho mo, sa eskuwelahan mo," she adds. "Hindi ibig sabihin na hindi importante ang marriage equality. Ang ibig sabihin lang, in terms of prioritizing, mas mahalagang may trabaho ka, diba?"

Read more here.
'Ang pamilya ay pagmamahalan, walang pinipiling gender'
For our 2019 Pride Month cover feature, CNN Philippines Life presented five stories of LGBTQ+ families to show that there is more to the meaning of family than the traditional concept of a mother, a father, and their children. Letting us into their homes, these families show us the challenges that are unique to the LGBTQ+ experience, and the joys of raising children as LGBTQ+ parents.

At its core, family is about love. "Ang pamilya ay pagmamahalan, pagtutulungan, walang pinipiling gender," says gay father Edwin Quinsayas. "'Yung pagpapamilya, pagmamahal talaga 'yun. Pag-aaruga."

Read more here.
Debunking myths about the LGBTQ+ bathroom debate
In 2019, when a cleaning crew at the Quezon City mall harassed trans woman Gretchen Custodio Diez as she tried to enter a women's restroom, they violated the city's Gender Fair Ordinance, which protects people from harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE). This incident sparked renewed debate about the SOGIE Equality Bill, which aims to provide protection to all Filipinos nationwide. However, online, offline, and even in the Senate, discussions took place on restroom rights, gender identity, and the need for a national Anti-Discrimination Bill.

To help everyone better understand the issue, as well as the call for protection against discrimination, here we debunk five myths and misconceptions about the LGBTQ+ bathroom issue.

Read more here.
'The end goal is for people to see us as full human beings': A transgender round table discussion
CNN Philippines Life sat down with six transgender individuals to better understand the trans Filipino experience, from trans men and women themselves.

"When people meet a trans person, I want them to focus on that person as a human being. Not as a trans person but as a human being," says Naomi Fontanos during the roundtable discussion. "You treat them in a human way; you don't fixate on their genitals; you don't fixate on their bodies; you don't fixate on their identities, but you treat them with respect as a full human person."

"The end goal of our activism is for people to see us as full human beings. Beyond our genitals, beyond our gender identities. Just as people in this world. But of course, we're very far from that."

Read more here.
8 myths about asexuality
The Philippines has made great strides in terms of LGBTQ+ awareness, with pride marches attended by an estimated 25,000 people and policy changes reaching well outside Metro Manila. But for people who identify as asexual, theirs is an entire group that has remained largely invisible, despite more and more people becoming vocal about the advocacy.

Read more here.
What happens when your body is both male and female?
Ricalyn Cinco was raised as a boy, but it was when adolescence hit when she started developing breasts. "Syempre hindi naman ako pwede mag-bra, hindi ba?" she shares. "Alam nung mga kaklase ko, lalaki [ako]. Lalapitan ako tapos, 'pag natuwa sila, dadakmain nila 'yung suso ko. Tapos ako... magrereklamo ba ako?"

These are examples of what would only be the beginning of the unknown traumas that many intersex Filipinos experience in their day-to-day lives. For a majority of them, this "act" would go on well into adulthood - from stuffing bras with pan de sal just to pass as female for a job interview, to quitting swimming because wearing a swimsuit would attract too many questions, even to being undressed by the teacher behind a classroom door just because they needed to know : "Ano ba talaga, babae ka o lalaki?"

Read more here.
What does it mean to be 'gender non-conforming'?
For the longest time, people were placed into boxes to fulfill a presumed pre-ordained role based on one's sex - men were to work and provide for the family, women were responsible for bearing and raising children. But today, as science teaches us that sex and gender are separate from one another, one can choose to live a truth outside of the binary.

Read more here.

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11 articles to understand why the SOGIE bill is important

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines Life) - As stated in our primer about the Anti Discrimination ordinances, "the first version of ADB, House Bill 09095, filed by then-Akbayan Representative Etta Rosales sought to proscribe discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

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YOUTUBE: Ano ba ang ibig sabihin ng SOGIE?

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YOUTUBE: Ano ba ang ibig sabihin ng SOGIE?

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ARTICLE: Texas Law Bans Abortion at Six Weeks: What this Means

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ARTICLE: Texas Law Bans Abortion at Six Weeks: What this Means

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Demonstrators protest a Texas law that effectively bans nearly all abortions. Sergio Flores for the Washington Post via Getty Images

The new law, which took effect on Sept. 1 in Texas, bans abortion at 6 weeks when a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

The bill makes no exceptions for pregnancies that resulted from rape or incest.

The Supreme Court is hearing another case in Mississippi on the state's 15-week abortion ban.

A Texas law banning abortion at 6 weeks, which is before most people even realize they're pregnant or have missed a period, officially took effect on Wednesday, Sept. 1, months after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed it last May.

Until September 2021, Texas permitted abortions up to 20 weeks. After 20 weeks pregnant people could get an abortion only if they had a life-threatening medical condition or the fetus had a severe abnormality.

The U.S. Supreme Court did not rule on the constitutionality of the law before it took effect.

On Wednesday in a 5 to 4 decision, the court voted against blocking the implementation of the law before legal challenges could be heard in court. This vote does not decide if the law is constitutional or not, just that it can be implemented before the full case is heard in court.

This is not the only reproductive rights case being heard by the Supreme Court. The court is also hearing an abortion case in Mississippi - Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization - regarding the state's law that bans abortions after 15 weeks.

Depending on the decision, the court will either reaffirm or overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that protects the constitutional right to have an abortion.

If Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, more states may sign restrictive and extreme laws blocking access to abortions. Just in 2021 at least 90 state laws have been passed that restrict access to abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights.

The new law in Texas bans abortion at 6 weeks when a fetal "heartbeat" can be detected. The bill makes no exceptions for pregnancies that resulted from rape or incest.

At 6 weeks, many people do not realize they are pregnant. Pregnancy is counted from a person's last menstrual cycle. That means once a person misses their first period they may be considered 4 weeks pregnant whether or not conception actually occurred 4 weeks prior.

The law also categorizes abortion after 6 weeks as a civil violation, not a criminal ban, which essentially allows people to sue anyone who may have helped people get an abortion, such as abortion providers or abortion care advocates.

The threat of a lawsuit could push some abortion providers to shut down.

This bill "means that patients only have about 2 weeks from their missed period to recognize and confirm the pregnancy, decide they want an abortion, find a clinic, arrange time off from work or school and childcare, if needed, as well as organize transportation since many people live far from the nearest clinic in Texas," said Dr. Daniel Grossman, a professor in the department of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.

Under current Texas laws people would need to visit a clinic 24 hours before their abortion for an ultrasound and state-mandated counseling.

They'd also need to secure enough money to cover the abortion since abortion care is not covered by insurance in Texas, according to Grossman.

The law makes abortion care extremely difficult, if not impossible, to access.

"Because most people do not realize they are pregnant at that point, it functions as a de facto ban on all abortion," said Jill Adams, JD, the executive director of the reproductive justice organization If/When/How.

Abortion care advocates are preparing to challenge the law so the courts can rule on its constitutionality.

"We are endeavoring every day to halt the criminalization of self-managed abortion so that all people can self-determine their reproductive lives free from the threat of criminalization," Adams told Healthline.

The Supreme Court is currently hearing another case based in Mississippi - Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization - that could potentially weaken Roe v. Wade.

A federal district court and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals both found the law unconstitutional since Roe v. Wade protects the constitutional right to an abortion up to the point in pregnancy when a fetus would be viable outside the body, which is around 24 weeks.

According to Adams, the 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi further limits access to abortion care in a state where it's already very difficult to get an abortion.

"This case presents the frightening opportunity for the high court, now comprised of a majority of vehement abortion opponents, to reverse Roe v. Wade," Adams said.

If the Mississippi law holds up in court, it would effectively overturn Roe v. Wade.

"If that were to happen, it could open the door for extreme laws like this one in Texas to stand up in court," Grossman said.

States have never been able to pass a law banning abortion before fetus viability.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization is the first abortion case that will be reviewed by the Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority.

If Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, or if the restrictive laws in Texas and Mississippi hold up, people will find ways to end their pregnancies at home. In a 1976 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of illegal abortions in the United States estimated prior to the decision of Roe v. Wade was 130,000 in 1972.

At least 39 deaths were also reported in 1972 underscoring how abortions without medical oversight could be dangerous.

According to a 2017 report from the Guttmacher Institute, nonhospital facilities saw a rise in people who had tried to self-induce an abortion without medical oversight. In 2012, 12 percent of these facilities saw one or more patients for a missed or failed abortion due to self-induction. By 2018, it was 18 percent, with these patients more likely to be located in the South.

"Throughout the world, resourceful and determined people have always found ways to end pregnancies, and they will do that here," Adams said.

Others will be forced to continue their pregnancy, which has higher health risks than abortion, noted Grossman.

"Patients forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term also face higher socioeconomic risks compared to those who obtain a wanted abortion," Grossman said.

People may also turn to self-managed abortions, which means there is no medical oversight of the abortion. Today these self-managed abortions are likely to be accomplished with FDA-approved medications, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Unlike more invasive abortions that occurred prior to Roe vs. Wade, according to Adams, these self-managed abortions have the potential to be safe and effective with the right information, resources, methods, and reliable backup care.

Self-managed abortions can, however, come with legal risks.

"People throughout the country, including in Texas, have been arrested, prosecuted, and incarcerated for ending their own pregnancies outside the formal medical system or for helping another person do so," Adams said.

Anyone who has been criminalized or is interested in the legal rights and risks of abortion care and self-managed abortion can get free advice from the Repro Legal Helpline by calling 844-868-2812.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed in May a law that bans abortion at 6 weeks, which is before most people even realize they are pregnant or have missed a period. The law officially went into effect on Sept. 1.

Abortion advocates may have a hard time challenging the law because of the way it is written.

The Supreme Court is hearing another case in Mississippi on the state's 15-week abortion ban. The ruling will either overturn or reaffirm Roe v. Wade, which protects the constitutional right to abortion before fetus viability outside the body.

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Texas Law Bans Abortion at Six Weeks: What this Means

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A law that bans abortion at 6 weeks, which is before most people even realize they are pregnant or have missed a period, has officially gone into effect as of September in Texas, months after Gov. Greg Abbott signed it. The Supreme Court is hearing another case in Mississippi on the state's 15-week abortion ban.

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ARTICLE: What you need to know about SOGIE

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ARTICLE: What you need to know about SOGIE

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Sam Killermann, an artist, author, and activist, introduced the Genderbread person as a way to teach SOGIE. The Genderbread person is a visual guide to explain the 4 components of gender: Sex, Identity, Expression, and Attraction.

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EXPLAINER: What you need to know about SOGIE

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Sam Killermann, an artist, author, and activist, introduced the Genderbread person as a way to teach SOGIE. The Genderbread person is a visual guide to explain the 4 components of gender: Sex, Identity, Expression, and Attraction.

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ARTICLE: ‘Ang pamilya ay pagmamahalan, walang pinipiling gender’

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ARTICLE: ‘Ang pamilya ay pagmamahalan, walang pinipiling gender’

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Manila (CNN Philippines Life) - This year, three countries ruled to legalize marriage equality. Ecuador, Taiwan, and Austria joined 26 other countries around the world that have moved to legally recognize marriages between same-sex couples. Yet in the Philippines, the Anti-Discrimination Bill, which should grant everyone the basic legal protection from Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE)-based discrimination, remains the longest running bill in the period of interpellations.

Still, there is no shortage of LGBTQ+ Filipino families here - from gay dads, lesbian moms, to trans parents, and nonbinary guardians. For Pride Month, CNN Philippines Life presents five stories of LGBTQ+ families to show that there is more to the meaning of family than the traditional concept of a mother, a father, and their children. Letting us into their homes, these families show us the challenges that are unique to the LGBTQ+ experience, and the joys of raising children as LGBTQ+ parents.

At its core, family is about love. "Ang pamilya ay pagmamahalan, pagtutulungan, walang pinipiling gender," says gay father Edwin Quinsayas. "'Yung pagpapamilya, pagmamahal talaga 'yun. Pag-aaruga."
Trans parenting
Deejei Reyes, Eunice Estrella, and Aniel, Yano, and Jiggy
In a 2018 report by the United Nations Development Programme on how the law affects and protects transgender individuals in the Philippines, it states that "full recognition of the gender identity of transgender people remains elusive."

Currently, there is no such thing as a gender recognition law in the country, and changing your gender marker on your birth certificate is often an impossible task. For many trans folks, this can lead to harassment and discrimination when it comes to renewing IDs, applying to government services, seeking employment, and traveling abroad.

For trans man Deejei Reyes, this absence in the law creates a disparity in his two-year-old son Jiggy's documents. Deejei is listed as Jiggy's "mother," but at home, Jiggy recognizes him as his daddy, and sees Deejei's wife, Eunice, as his mama.

"Ako ang daddy, at siya talaga ang mama niya. Kasi sobrang mas malapit [siya] sa kanya. As in talagang 'pag tinignan niyo silang dalawang magkasama, nandiyan man ako or wala, iisipin niyo na nilabas niya 'yung bata," Deejei shares.

Aside from Jiggy, the couple is raising two children, nine-year-old Aniel and eight-year-old Yano, whom Eunice had in a previous relationship. Though they can't marry, the pair refer to each other as "wifey" and "hubby."

"We have kids, we are a family, so for us mas comfortable kami na tawagin ko siya na wife instead of girlfriend," says Deejei. "Parang, okay, tatlo na 'yung anak niyo tapos 'girlfriend' lang?"

Even before they met, both Deejei and Eunice have always longed to raise a family. As fate would have it, the two got to know each other through an online dating app and quickly fell in love. Eunice shares that it was discovering that Deejei was raising a son that drew her to him. For Deejei, part of it was also seeing how Eunice wholeheartedly accepted her son Yano when he revealed that he was transgender himself.

"Nung nagkakilala kami, nalaman ko na ganun nga si [Yano], tuwang-tuwa ako! Natuwa ako in the sense na, hindi dahil katulad ko siya, kung hindi dahil nakita ko na accepting [si Eunice] as a parent," says Deejei.

"Kasi, nung panahon ko, hindi ganoon kadali na natanggap ng magulang ko kung ano ako," he adds. "Kaya sabi ko, sobrang suwerte ng anak namin na hindi na siya mahihirapan mag-out sa pamilya kasi hindi na niya pagdadaanan 'yun. Three years old pa lang siya, alam na niya kung ano siya, ang tingin niya sa sarili niya, at tinanggap siya ng buong angkan."

Deejei says that he is happy to be there to guide Yano through the experience of growing up trans. When Yano gets older, Deejei hopes to be able to impart wisdom from his own experiences to help him navigate a world that might not be as accepting as their home.

"Ang pagdadaanan na lang niya ngayon is 'yung challenge sa labas ng bahay. 'Yung sa school, sa mga magiging kaibigan niya, sa mga makaka-relasyon niya in the future," says Deejei. "Ang gusto kong ituro sa kanya 'pag may isip na siya, is ... just be himself. Na kung ano talaga 'yung tingin mo sa sarili mo, 'wag kang mahihiya, express yourself kung paano mo nakikita 'yung sarili mo. Huwag mong papansinin 'yung mga nag-di-discriminate sa iyo."

"As long as hindi ka nakakatapak ... ng ibang tao, okay lang 'yun," he adds.

Yano and Aniel study in Bicol, and although generally provincial environments are more traditional and conservative than the city, Eunice shares that Yano has not experienced discrimination from students or teachers. In fact, the school allows him to wear pants rather than a skirt.

When asked if the couple have any fears when it comes to raising a family like theirs, Deejei says that he worries their children will question why they're so different, especially when they come face to face with bullies and bigots.

"Pero again, habang lumalaki sila, ang gusto namin is ipaintindi sa kanila na ganito tayo, ito kami, and gusto lang naming siguraduhin na lumaki sila ng punung-puno ng pagmamahal," he says. "Kumbaga, pare-pareho lang tayo ng kinakain [ng ibang mga pamilya]. Gusto kong maintindihan nila na normal pa rin 'yung buhay namin kahit na ganito 'yung setup ng family namin because merong love within the family."

"Pinapaintindi ko naman na normal naman talaga kami," says Eunice. "Wala naman 'yung porke't ganyan si Yano, na iba na kami. Hindi. Pinapaintindi [ko sa kanila] na pare-pareho lang naman ang tao."
Moms and me
Sandy Aloba, Ida Ramos, and Liam
When Ida Ramos was working as a professional dancer in 2009, she was hoisted in the air and fell 36 feet after her harness broke. Around this time, she and her partner, Sandy Aloba, were finally ready to have kids. Everything was set, they had already found a potential sperm donor, then the accident happened. Suddenly, their priorities had to change.

Ida had broken several bones and had to endure a year-long recovery period. But this time didn't just lead them to take a step back and reevaluate their lives, it also shone a light on the many legal barriers they would have to face as a same-sex couple.

Because marriage equality does not exist in the Philippines, LGBTQ+ couples cannot be recognized as each other's legal spouses. This means that in the case of hospitalization, same-sex partners cannot give consent on medical decisions if the patient is incapacitated.

After each of Ida's many surgeries, Sandy had to wait outside the recovery room until Ida's mother arrived. She also couldn't sign for anything for Ida or make decisions on her behalf, despite already having been together for 13 years at the time.

Luckily for the two, Ida's family wholly accepts their relationship. Hence, Ida's mother would consult with Sandy before signing anything. Some couples with less than tolerant parents would not have been as lucky.

Though the accident had altered their chances of having a biological child, Liam entered their lives just a year later. Liam's birth mother, Ida's cousin, was a teen mom, and Liam was being cared for by Ida's grandmother. It was upon her insistence that the couple decided to raise Liam as their own.

"Her lola kept teasing us na kunin na namin si Liam ... that he was born for us," says Sandy, who shares that even when he was just a baby, she already felt a special connection. "We had a love affair from the beginning. When we would visit him on the weekends, kapag nag-a-eye contact na kami nito, meron kaming something."

"So finally when he was two, we [said], 'What are we waiting for?'"

The couple has been taking care of Liam since then, and has been very open with him about their "unconventional" situation, from the circumstances of his birth and care, to his mothers' relationship.

When asked whether there are any unique challenges to raising Liam as two moms, Ida says, "[There's] nothing special just because we're two moms."

"I think, for us, we face the same challenges other parents do," says Sandy. "Plus, we don't really [adhere to] these archaic gender stereotypes," she adds.

"We did our best with him ... to try not to teach him gender with toys, colors," says Ida. "Kaya lang ... ang lakas din ng pull ng [society]. So, he's gonna turn out the way he's gonna turn out."

"[We wanted him to] not be afraid of femininity ... Like, there's nothing wrong with liking pink and there's nothing wrong with trying to play with a doll, things like that," says Sandy.

At the end of the day, the couple says that just like any other set of parents, they want Liam to learn the importance of respect.

Right now, Sandy and Ida are in the process of adopting him. However, the couple faces another legal challenge. Though Philippine adoption laws don't disallow adopters on the basis of sexual orientation, same-sex parents cannot adopt jointly because they are not married. Instead, only one of them can apply as a solo parent.

In Liam's eyes though, Sandy and Ida are both his mothers.
It takes a village
Tey Lopez, Edwin Quinsayas, and Ania
There's a saying that goes, "It takes a village to raise a child." For five-year-old Ania, she has a mama, a dads, a tatay, and a papa.

Tey Lopez and Edwin Quinsayas are Ania's tatay and papa. The couple met in 2009 through friends and wed in an intimate, informal ceremony surrounded by loved ones the year after. Even before getting together, Tey had already wanted to be a father. But after three failed attempts, the couple had grown weary.

"['Yung third time], sobrang devastating nun sa amin, lalo na sa akin na longing for a kid for such a long time," says Tey. "Talagang down kami for weeks noon."

But three months later, Tey's sister gave birth to Ania. At the time of her birth, Ania's biological father was working in Mindanao. So Tey and Edwin offered to take care of her and her mother in the meantime. In those two months, Tey says they felt an instant connection with her.

"Lalo na sa akin kasi 'yung biological father niya noon takot pa siyang hawakan kasi ang liit pa ni Ania," says Tey. "So ako 'yung unang lalaking humawak sa kanya. Tapos nung nahawakan ko siya, para siyang ngumiti."

"May lukso ng dugo," Edwin remarks.

"Doon ko ... na-realize na, 'Anak ka namin,'" says Tey.

Tey says that in the first few years, there was no conscious understanding yet of how involved the couple would be in raising Ania. "Mas 'yung talagang tito [kami]. Kapatid ko ['yung mama niya], so i-su-support ko siya."

"Pero habang lumalaki siya, dahil pareho silang nagtatrabaho, tapos mas flexible 'yung oras namin, maraming times talaga na nasa amin si Ania," says Tey. "So hanggang nag-grow na siya with us, tapos ... biglang siya na rin mismo tinawag niya na akong tatay. Tinawag na niyang papa si Edwin. Tapos parang nagkaroon na ng shift sa dynamics ng relationship namin. Pati sa kapatid ko parang, okay, para na rin kaming magulang ni Ania."

The transition wasn't always smooth, and the couple share that they went through a period of questioning the extent to which Ania's biological parents and other relatives considered them her co-parents.

But Tey shares that nowadays, Ania's parents fully recognize them as her tatay and papa. "Nung Father's Day binati ko... 'yung bayaw ko ... Tapos bumati rin sila sa amin na 'Happy Father's Day sa dalawa pang tatay ni Ania.'"

When asked how they helped Ania understand their set-up, Edwin explains: "Alam niyang kami 'yung parents niya at pareho kaming lalaki. Pinapaliwanag namin na ganun talaga, na iba't-iba 'yung situations. Sa situation niyo sa bahay, meron kang si mama at si dad, tapos pwede rin na ang magulang mo ay si tatay at si papa. Mahal ka ni dads, mahal ka ni mama, ganun din 'yung pagmamahal sayo ni papa at saka ni tatay."

The discussions also open up the concept of gender roles, which Tey says they try to unpack with her. Though they say that sometimes it becomes confusing for her, they also understand that she's only five. Instead, they look to her actions.

"Para sa akin, 'yung response niya, 'yun na 'yung sagot. Kasi how she shows her love to us din, ibig sabihin nun [whether we're gay or straight] doesn't matter," says Tey. "Siguro may tanong siya dahil bata siya at nakikita niyang hindi [ito] ordinary set up, pero the fact na 'pag kasama namin siya tapos tinatawag niya kaming tatay ... para sa amin enough na 'yun na naiintidihan niya 'yun."

"Actually, minsan susunduin ko siya [sa school]. Sabi nung classmate niya, 'Nandiyan na 'yung tito mo.' Tapos sabi ni Ania, 'hindi ko siya tito, tatay ko siya. Meron akong tatlong tatay. Meron akong dads, may papa ako, at saka may tatay ako.'"

Tey and Edwin split their time with Ania with her biological parents, who have her on weekdays. The pair also contribute to financial matters like school tuition and ballet lessons. And as cultural workers and activists, Tey and Edwin are also raising Ania to be more exposed not only to more extra-curricular activities but to different social realities as well.

"'Yung influence namin sa kanya, 'yung pagsasayaw niya, 'yung pagiging exposed niya sa iba't ibang mga activities, iba't-ibang tao, sa urban poor community man 'yan or sa isang sosyalan na event, dinadala namin siya kung saan-saan ... Kaya talagang nag-grow na rin siya sa amin," says Tey.

"Pati sa mga rallies kasama siya. Kahit five years old pa lang siya, talagang in-e-expose na rin namin siya sa mga social realities," he says. "Kasi naniniwala kami na hindi pwedeng sabihin na, 'bata pa yan.' Para sa amin, bata yan, matalino yan. Kaya nga nila makaaral ng five languages diba? 'Yun pa kayang makikita nila' yung situation [sa iba't ibang communities]?"
Of faith and fatherhood
Jhun Amado, Jenny, Duday, and Tita Bening
Once you enter 50-year-old Jhun Amado's home, you will immediately notice the altar taking up a large portion of the living area. A large statue of the Virgin Mary stands at the center next to other religious figures and family photos. Yet even though Jhun and his family are Catholic, he also attends a Christian church called Open Table Metropolitan Community Church (MCC). The church is known as one of the few in the Philippines that has a "specific outreach to LGBTQ+ families and communities." MCCs pastor is openly gay. As an active member of both congregations, Jhun sings in the choir of his church in Sta. Mesa on Sunday mornings (he has been doing so since 1991), and attends Sunday service at MCC in the afternoon.

In spite of this strong conviction to his faith, Jhun supports the call for marriage equality, saying, "Oo naman, agree ako sa [same-sex] marriage kung nagmamahalan naman."

But the single 50-year old says that he has no time for dating or long-term boyfriends, as his focus is on taking care of his family. Jhun looks after his 84-year-old aunt Tita Bening, as well as his two nieces, 21-year-old Jenny and 17-year-old Duday. Before his parents and two aunts passed away, he was taking care of them as well.

"Sa ngayon talaga, wala pa sa isip ko 'yung ganun," he says. "Basta mas priority ko 'yung family ko."

Both nieces were placed in Jhun's care at a young age. Duday was only a baby when Jhun took her in as her mother was very young when she had her, while Jenny was 10 years old when she started living with them. Jhun serves as a father figure to the two - Duday refers to him as "Papa" - but he is also reluctant to call himself their father.

"'Di naman totally na ama [ako nila], parang naging ama na lang rin ako kasi naging responsibilidad ko sila," Jhun says.

Jhun says that because he spends most of his time working, being the sole breadwinner of his family, he feels that his biggest contribution to his nieces are financial. "Sa tuition, sa mga baon, ganun," he says. "Pero 'yung advice hindi masyado, kasi usually gabi na ko nakakauwi."

Though their set-up is different, and the hardships of life get in the way of bonding, there is respect and love, perhaps best said with small gestures rather than words.

"Naiintindihan nila 'yung sitwasyon ... Actually proud nga sila sa akin," he says. "Minsan na-su-surprise nga nila ako, binibigyan nila ako ng cake."
Queer people get to choose their families
Poison Wednesday's Drag Cartel
Over the last couple of years, "RuPaul's Drag Race" has become a cultural phenomenon, catapulting the art of drag outside of nightclubs and into the mainstream. And though the prominent images of drag today are glamorous outfits, jaw-dropping performances, and a high stakes competition, the evolution of drag stemmed from a need for a place where one could express oneself and challenge gender norms without reproach, judgment, or discrimination.

For party group Panty Monsters, which has been hosting queer-inclusive parties for the past 10 years, their formation came from a similar place.

"At that time, establishments wouldn't let gay men who dress flamboyantly inside [clubs], especially not our trans sisters, specifically our trans sister Xtina Superstar," says member Paulo Castro. "It was the reason that we started doing parties. Para if we were excluded from the bigger clubs, we could create our own party and be inclusive for our community."

Panty Monsters parties became a haven for young queer people who wanted to have a fun night out in a place that felt safe and accepting. Guests were encouraged to come as they are, and would show up in all kinds of garb, including drag.

Fast forward to today, and a trio from Panty Monsters - DJ Mike Lavarez, emcee Peabo Orilla, and Castro, who is the host and promoter - is now hosting Nectar nightclub's weekly gay party, Posion Wednesdays, where they hold an amateur drag competition called Drag Cartel every last wednesday of the month. With Drag Cartel, amateur and aspiring drag performers have not only a venue to showcase and hone their talents, but a place to find one's "chosen family."

"There have been friendships formed there na because of the party. And I think there's really this sense of family in the party that we do, kasi we were all outcasts ourselves," says Castro.

For Drag Cartel queen ØV Cunt, who also performs at Nectar as a Nectarine, the people she has met and worked with at the club are "basically my brothers and sisters."

ØV's biological family knows and accepts that they are gay, but aren't aware they do drag. "It's not every time that ... [biological] family accepts [everything about] who you are, and sometimes, your chosen family gives you the love, the care na hinahanap mo," she says. "Hindi naman sa pagkukulang ng totoo kong pamilya, pero 'yung [may] hinahanap ka sa kanila na [understanding]."

"[My drag family] gives me the strength, the happiness that sometimes I need, especially with depression, anxiety, all the psychological things that break people down," she says. "Sometimes they're even the first person na lalapitan mo kung may problema ka."

Drag queen Luka shares that the Drag Cartel queens also help each other out by pointing out ways they can improve as performers, offering advice and even dresses and wigs for their next performances. "I appreciate that [about the other queens]," says Luka. "That [there are] moments where they want you to improve your craft."

You could say that Poison Wednesdays is an extension of that safe space Panty Monsters carved out - one that queer folk can keep coming back to to make friends and gain a community that will have your back in the face of stigma and discrimination.

"We also talk about things like activism, HIV, mental health in the middle of the party. Even politics," says Lavarez. "That's the type of community that we have. Hindi lang siya fun-fun. We also want to educate."

Castro shares that during bathroom breaks, younger guests would often come up to him to confide about personal problems such as not being able to come out to their families and being HIV positive. "Every week someone would talk to you like that," he says.

"I believe that that's the importance of queer people finding and creating their own families. Kasi so many of these kids are not accepted, not just in their families, they grew up just not being accepted everywhere," says Castro.

"Like being bullied in school, I was beaten by my father, the adults when I was growing up didn't listen to me. So you'll find a lot of people in the queer community say, 'I just want to be the adult that I needed when I was growing up. I want to love and take care of kids the way that I wasn't nurtured and taken care of when I was younger.'"

Drag queen Aries Night puts it best: "I learned this quote from 'Drag Race' actually. RuPaul said, 'We as gay people get to choose our family and the people we're around. I am your family. We are a family here.' At the end of the day, we're a community, at tayo-tayo lang din eh."
***
Produced by CHANG CASAL
Photos by JL JAVIER
Videos by SAMANTHA LEE

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'Ang pamilya ay pagmamahalan, walang pinipiling gender'

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Manila (CNN Philippines Life) - This year, three countries ruled to legalize marriage equality. Ecuador, Taiwan, and Austria joined 26 other countries around the world that have moved to legally recognize marriages between same-sex couples.

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ARTICLE: LGBTQ Acceptance Can Save Lives — And Is Crucial During Covid-19

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ARTICLE: LGBTQ Acceptance Can Save Lives — And Is Crucial During Covid-19

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This spring, thousands of college students found themselves forced back into their parents' homes, displaced from school environments, social networks, and newfound independence. This scenario was hugely difficult for young people across the country, but for LGBTQ students it was particularly complicated. Many LGBTQ college students faced family rejection upon returning home, and students in middle and high school must endure similar harm and end up hiding their true selves from their families.

According to The Trevor Project's 2019 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, only 68% of LGBTQ youth disclosed their sexual orientation to their parents, and 51% disclosed their gender identity. Another study that examined the parental acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender identities found that only one-third of LGBTQ youth experience parental acceptance; one-third experience rejection; and one-third may need to hide their identities for safety reasons. That means that approximately two-thirds of LGBTQ youth live in a home environment where they either need to hide their authentic selves or face outward rejection - even abuse - by family members or guardians. This is an exhausting feat during non-pandemic times, when school takes place outside the home and social and extracurricular activities are allowed. Considering the past few months of lockdown and "safer at home" orders, it is easy to see how the COVID-19 pandemic is taking a dangerous toll on the mental health of LGBTQ youth.

Another worrying study found that queer young adults who report high levels of parental rejection are eight times more likely to report attempting suicide and six times more likely to report high levels of depression. At The Trevor Project, demand for crisis services increased significantly after the pandemic began - at times double the normal volume. The themes of the conversations are as troubling as they are unsurprising; we are hearing about isolation and the loss of social support systems; fear and anxiety around economic insecurity and contracting the virus; and, recently, from Black LGBTQ youth struggling to process news reports, images, and videos about the senseless murders of Black people in America. Research on the mental health of Black LGBTQ youth shows that they experience rates of depressive symptoms and suicide attempts similar to all LGBTQ youth but are significantly less likely to receive mental healthcare.

The consequences of rejection can be life-threatening. The intensity of the COVID-19 home experience for all LGBTQ youth - and especially for Black LGBTQ youth experiencing racial trauma in a time of heightened attention on racial injustice and senseless murders of Black Americans - underscore the need for accepting adults to make themselves available for support. The attitudes and words of adults can seriously influence an LGBTQ young person - positively or negatively. For example, in a 2019 survey, 2 in 3 LGBTQ youth reported that someone had tried to convince them to change their sexual orientation or gender identity. Youth who experienced this type of rejection were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide as those who did not.

Fortunately, communicating acceptance can be equally powerful. LGBTQ youth who report having at least one accepting adult were 40% less likely to report a suicide attempt in the past year. Importantly, this accepting adult can be a relative, a teacher, a counselor, a coach, or another trusted adult. These social connections are vital for suicide prevention - and you do not need to be a mental health expert or know everything about LGBTQ identities in order to make a difference.

If you are an adult seeking to understand more about caring for the mental health of either your own child or someone in your life who identifies as LGBTQ, start by listening, being affirming, and having empathy. Educate yourself on the basics of LGBTQ identity. There is a clear lack of public education around issues of sexual orientation and gender identity and the challenges faced by LGBTQ young people. Learning more about LGBTQ identities will help you better understand and support the LGBTQ young people in your lives. And when you make a mistake, the key is to listen, take responsibility, and commit to doing better. Keep an open mind and be there to provide support - your acceptance of an LGBTQ person can literally save a life.

The ultimate goal is that we all become champions for all forms of diversity - including race, gender identity, sexual orientation, and neurodiversity.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

... Read More

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LGBTQ Acceptance Can Save Lives - And Is Crucial During Covid-19

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This spring, thousands of college students found themselves forced back into their parents' homes, displaced from school environments, social networks, and newfound independence. This scenario was hugely difficult for young people across the country, but for LGBTQ students it was particularly complicated.

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Jonathan Van Ness Talks to Trevor: Chasing Passions and Finding Safe Spaces

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If you shop at any online retailer or brick-and-mortar store, you'll get a crash course in advertising based on gender.

"Masculine" products come in black or navy blue packaging with boutique brand names like Bull Dog, Vikings Blade, and Rugged and Dapper. If the products have a fragrance, it's a muskier scent.

Meanwhile, "female" products are hard to miss: an explosion of pink and light purple, with an added dose of glitter. If scented, the fragrances are fruity and floral, like sweet pea and violet, apple blossom, and raspberry rain - whatever that is.

While scent and color are perhaps the most obvious difference between products traditionally aimed at men and women, there's another, subtler difference: the price tag. And it's costing those who buy products aimed at women significantly more.

Gender-based pricing, also known as "pink tax," is an upcharge on products traditionally intended for women which have only cosmetic differences from comparable products traditionally intended for men.

In other words, it's not actually a tax.

It's an "income-generating scenario for private companies who found a way to make their product look either more directed to or more appropriate for the population and saw that as a moneymaker," explains Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, a lawyer, vice president for the Brennan School of Justice at NYU School of Law, and co-founder of Period Equity.

"I think the motivations around the pink tax come more explicitly from a classic capitalist stance: If you can make money off of it, you should," she continues.

Yet pink tax is not a new phenomenon. Over the past 20 years, California, Connecticut, Florida, and South Dakota have released reports on gender pricing in their states. In 2010, Consumer Reports highlighted the matter nationally with a study that found, at the time, women paid as much as 50 percent more than men did for similar products.

The issue was delineated more finely in 2015 when the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs released a report about price disparities for 794 comparable products from 91 brands sold throughout the city.

The report examined five different industries, such as personal care products or senior/home healthcare products. These encompassed 35 product categories, such as bodywash or shampoo. In every single of those five industries, consumer goods marketed to women and girls cost more. The same was the case in all but five of the 35 product categories.

Researchers looked at 106 products in the toys and accessories category and found that, on average, those intended for girls were priced 7 percent higher.

The most egregious upcharges, however, were among personal care products.

For example, a five-pack of Schick Hydro cartridges in purple packaging cost $18.49, while the same count of Schick Hydro refills in blue packaging cost $14.99.

Again, other than their packaging color, the products look exactly the same.

NYC's report found women faced an average price difference of 13 percent for personal care products among the 122 products compared in the study. And the authors aptly noted that these items, such as shaving gel and deodorant, are the ones purchased most frequently compared with other categories - meaning that the costs add up over time. While this is unfair for all those shopping for these products, that 13 percent price increase hits women and girls who come from lower income households even harder.

Legislative attempts, however, could correct the pink tax. In 1995, then-Assemblywoman Jackie Speier successfully passed a bill that forbade gender pricing of services, such as haircuts.

Now as a Congresswoman, Rep. Speier (D-CA) is going national: She reintroduced the Pink Tax Repeal Act this year to specifically address products subject to the pink tax. (An earlier version of the bill introduced in 2016 failed to make it out of committee). If the new bill passes, it would allow state attorneys general "to take civil action on consumers wronged by discriminatory practices." In other words, they can go directly after businesses that charge men and women different prices.

The pink tax isn't the only upcharge that affects women. There's also the "tampon tax," which refers to the sales tax applied to feminine hygiene items such as pads, liners, tampons, and cups.

Currently, 36 states still apply sales tax to these necessary menstrual items, according to data from Weiss-Wolf's organization Period Equity. The sales tax on these products vary and are based on the state's tax code.

So what? You might wonder. Everyone pays sales tax. It seems fair that tampons and pads have a sales tax, too.

Not quite, said Weiss-Wolf. States establish their own tax exemptions, and in her book Periods Gone Public: Taking A Stand for Menstrual Equity, she elaborates on some very not-so-necessary exemptions some states have.

"I went through every tax code in every state that didn't exempt menstrual products to see what they did exempt, and the list is ridiculous," Weiss-Wolf tells Healthline. The tax-exempt items, listed both in Weiss-Wolf's book and ones Healthline tracked down, range from marshmallows in Florida to cooking wine in California. Maine is snowmobiles, and it's barbecue sunflower seeds in Indiana and gun club memberships in Wisconsin.

If barbecue sunflower seeds are tax-exempt, argues Weiss-Wolf, then feminine hygiene products should be, too.

The tampon tax is often incorrectly referred to as a luxury tax, Weiss-Wolf explains. Rather, it's an ordinary sales tax applied to all goods - but since only people who menstruate use feminine hygiene products, the tax disproportionately affects us.

Just like the upcharge on personal care items geared for women, the small amounts of sales tax we shell out every month to manage Aunt Flo adds up over a lifetime, and this adversely affects women from low-income households.

"This issue has real resonance for people," Weiss-Wolf tells Healthline. "I think partly because the experience of menstruation is so universal for anybody who's experienced it, as is the understanding that being able to manage it is so essential to one's ability to participate fully in daily life and have a dignified existence."

Both men and women of all political stripes understand that the "economics of menstruation," as Weiss-Wolf calls it, is involuntary. Her group Period Equity took this issue nationwide in 2015 by partnering with Cosmopolitan magazine on a Change.org petition to "axe the tampon tax." But sales tax must be addressed by advocates state by state.

And there's a long way to go.

Five states - Alaska, Delaware, New Hampshire, Montana, and Oregon - don't have a sales tax to begin with, so pads and tampons aren't taxed there. Meanwhile, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania had previously legislated on their own to remove sales tax from these items, according to Periods Gone Public.

Since 2015, thanks to increased advocacy around period equity, 24 states have introduced bills to exempt pads and tampons from sales tax. However, only Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, and New York have been successful in making these sanitary necessities tax-exempt so far. That said, Arizona, Nebraska, and Virginia introduced tampon tax bills in their legislatures in 2018.

So, why has it taken this long to even have this conversation?

"The most realistic scenario is that most of our legislators don't menstruate, so they weren't really thinking about it in any sort of constructive way," says Weiss-Wolf.

In addition to the tampon tax, menstrual equity advocacy is really gaining steam around the accessibility of feminine hygiene products for homeless women and women in prisons and public schools.

"They're as necessary as toilet paper," said a City Councilwoman in 2016 when NYC voted to make feminine hygiene products free in schools, shelters, and jails. Reportedly 300,000 schoolgirls ages 11 to 18 and 23,000 women and girls living in shelters in NYC were affected by this groundbreaking bill.

Having access to these sanitary items grant dignity and enable women and girls to fully participate in society.

"Even in this current political environment, which is so toxic and so polarized... this is one area [of accessibility that has] proven to transcend partisanship and have really strong support on both sides of the aisle," says Weiss-Wolf.

This year, New York State voted to provide free feminine hygiene products in girls' restrooms for grades 6 through 12.

"This issue has real resonance for people. I think partly because the
experience of menstruation is so universal for anybody who's experienced it, as
is the understanding that being able to manage it is so essential to one's
ability to participate fully in daily life and have a dignified existence." -
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf

In 2015 and 2017, a Wisconsin lawmaker introduced a bill to make pads and tampons available for free at public schools, schools that use the state's voucher program, and in government buildings. In Canada, a city councilor in Toronto proposed a similar bill for homeless shelters.

Menstrual equity has ways to go in the majority of America's states, and we can look to other countries to for inspiration of what could be.

Kenya ditched
its sales tax on feminine hygiene products in 2004 and has allocated millions
towards distributing pads in schools in an effort to boost girls' attendance.

Canada ditched
its goods and services tax (similar to sales tax) on tampons in 2015. Australia
voted
to do the same just last month, although it needs further approval by
individual territories.

A pilot program in Aberdeen,
Scotland is distributing
feminine hygiene products to women in low-income households as a test for a
possible larger program.

The United Kingdom also eliminated the tampon
tax, although there are Brexit-related reasons it won't go into effect yet. To
compensate, several major chains in the UK, such
as Tesco, have cut prices on feminine hygiene products themselves.

The United States is finally having a long overdue discussion about the costs associated with our biology. As many of us have grown to love a floral-scented deodorant, there's not much incentive for companies to stop making them different - but at least they can stop upcharging us for it.

And while having a period (and the cramps that go with it) may never be a pleasant experience, discussion around the economics of menstruation seems to be prompting more practicality and compassion for those that need products to manage it.
Jessica Wakeman is a writer and editor focusing on women's political, social, and cultural issues. Originally from Connecticut, she studied journalism and gender and sexuality studies at NYU. She has previously been an editor at The Frisky, Daily Dot, HelloGiggles, YouBeauty, and Someecards, and has also worked for Huffington Post, Radar Magazine, and NYmag.com. Her writing has appeared in a number of print and online titles, including Glamour, Rolling Stone, Bitch, the New York Daily News, the New York Times Review of Books, The Cut, Bustle, and Romper. She's on the board of directors of Bitch Media, a feminist media nonprofit. She resides in Brooklyn with her husband. See more of her work on her website and follow her on .

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Gender-based pricing, also known as "pink tax," is an upcharge on products intended for women with only cosmetic differences than products intended for men. In other words, it's not actually a tax but a way for private companies to make more money. Find out how these price discrepancies affect consumers.

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ARTICLE: The Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People

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ARTICLE: The Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People

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The struggle of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people for equal rights has moved to center stage. LGBT people are battling for their civil rights in Congress, in courtrooms and in the streets. Well-known figures are discussing their sexual orientation in public. Gay and lesbian people are featured in movies and on television - not as novelty characters, but as full participants in society.

Despite these advances into the American mainstream, however, LGBT people continue to face real discrimination in all areas of life. No federal law prevents a person from being fired or refused a job on the basis of sexual orientation. The nation's largest employer - the U.S. military - openly discriminates against gays and lesbians. Mothers and fathers lose child custody simply because they are gay or lesbian, and gay people are denied the right to marry.

One state even tried to fence lesbians and gay men out of the process used to pass laws. In 1992 Colorado enacted Amendment 2, which repealed existing state laws and barred future laws protecting lesbians, gay men and bisexuals from discrimination. The U. S. Supreme Court struck it down in the landmark 1996 Romer v. Evans decision.

We must conclude that Amendment 2 classifies homosexuals not to further a proper legislative end but to make them unequal to everyone else. This Colorado cannot do. A State cannot so deem a class of persons a stranger to its laws.
-- Justice Anthony Kennedy
Majority Opinion in Romer v. Evans I

The modern gay rights movement began dramatically in June 1969 in New York City's Greenwich Village. During a typical "raid," police tried to arrest people for their mere presence at a gay bar, but the patrons of the Stonewall Inn fought back - and the gay rights movement was launched. Using many of the grass-roots and litigation strategies employed by other 20th century activists, gay rights advocates have achieved significant progress:

Ten states, the District of Columbia, many municipalities and hundreds of businesses and universities now ban employment discrimination.

"Domestic Partnership" programs exist in dozens of municipalities and hundreds of private institutions, including many of the country's largest corporations and universities.

Sodomy laws, typically used to justify discrimination against gay people, once existed nationwide; they are now on the books in only 18 states and Puerto Rico.

But the increased empowerment of LGBT people has brought about even more open and virulent anti-gay hostility:

Although unrelated to an individual's ability, sexual orientation can still be the basis for employment decisions in both the public and private sectors in most states and municipalities.

Violent hate crimes, such as the 1998 murder of Wyoming student Matthew Shepherd, depict a grisly backlash against LGBTs or people perceived to be gay.

LGBT students and teachers face daily harassment and discrimination in the schools, and LGBT student groups in high schools and colleges still face roadblocks.

In 1986, after more than two decades of support for lesbian and gay struggles, the American Civil Liberties Union established a national Lesbian and Gay Rights Project. Working in close collaboration with the ACLU's affiliates nationwide, the Project coordinates the most extensive gay rights legal program in the nation. Increasing opposition from a well-organized, well-funded coalition of radical extremists and fundamentalists promises many battles and challenges ahead.
WHAT IS THE CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS FOR LGBT EQUALITY?
The struggle for legal equality for LGBT people rests on several fundamental constitutional principles.
Equal protection of the law is guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments and reinforced by hundreds of local, state and federal civil rights laws. Although the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified at the end of the Civil War, was designed to ensure legal equality for African Americans, Congress wrote it as a general guarantee of equality, and the courts have interpreted the Equal Protection Clause to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender, religion and disability. The ACLU believes the Equal Protection Cluase prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation as well. The right to privacy, or "the right to be left alone," is guaranteed by the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments. In 1965, Griswold v. Connecticut struck down a state law that prohibited married couples from obtaining contraceptives, citing "zones of privacy." In 1967, Loving v. Virginia decriminalized interracial marriage. The 1972 Eisenstadt v. Baird decision recognized unmarried persons' right to contraceptives. And in 1973, Roe v. Wade recognized women's right to reproductive choice. All of these Supreme Court decisions underscore the principle that decisions about intimate relationships are personal and should be left up to the individual. Freedom of speech and association are protected under the First Amendment. This Amendment protects the right to organize and urge government to end discrimination, to recognize lesbian and gay relationships, and to adopt laws prohibiting discrimination in the private sector. It also includes the rights to form social and political organizations, to socialize in bars and restaurants, to march or protest peacefully, to produce art with gay themes and to speak out publicly about LGBT issues.

In the Schools

Nothing is more important than making schools safe and welcoming places for gay and lesbian youth, who often face tremendous hostility from their family and community during their formative years. This means protecting students from violence, guaranteeing their right to organize events and clubs like other students, and making sure that gay teachers who might serve as healthy role models are not themselves victimized by discrimination. The ACLU has fought harassment of students in California, Nevada, Ohio and Washington, defended gay teachers in California, Idaho and Utah, and advocated for gay student groups in Alabama, Indiana, Minnesota, Utah and Wisconsin.
Harassment on the job
Mary Jo Davis had high hopes when she accepted a job offer with the Radiology Department of Pullman Memorial Hospital in Whitman County, Washington. All that changed after her supervising doctor discovered she was a lesbian. The doctor started calling her a "dyke" and "faggot," and wouldn't work with her or even speak to her. When Mary Jo protested this harassment, she was fired. Represented by the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, Mary Jo hopes to establish that public employees have a constitutional right to be free from discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
Sodomy and Homophobia
David Weigand could take it no longer. His son was living in the home of his former wife, along with the boy's stepfather - a convicted felon with a drinking and drug problem who was beating his wife in the presence of the child. Things got so bad that the boy had to call 911 to save his mother's life, and as a result of all the violence, the family was ultimately evicted from their home.

David asked a Mississippi family court to give him custody of his son. The court refused to do so, in essence saying that living in a home wracked with violence was preferable to living with a father who is gay and "commits sodomy." In addition to representing David before the Mississippi Supreme Court, the ACLU will continue fighting on behalf of lesbian and gay parents, and to eliminate state sodomy laws.
In the Child's Best Interest
States are supposed to make rules on adoption and foster care to protect the best interest of children in need of loving homes and families. But somehow it does not work out that way in states like Florida and Arkansas, which ban gays and lesbians from adopting and being foster parents, respectively. By challenging the discriminatory policies of these states, the ACLU is working hard to prevent similar policies from being adopted in other parts of the country.

As a reminder of what is supposed to be the essence of child-welfare policy, the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project in 1998 published a report entitled In the Child's Best Interest: Defending Fair and Sensible Adoption Policies. To order this, the 1998 videotape Created Equal about employment discrimination against LGBTs, or any other ACLU publication, please contact ACLU Publications at 1-800-775-ACLU.

AREN'T LGBT PEOPLE DEMANDING SPECIAL RIGHTS AND PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT?
As the Supreme Court explained in Romer v. Evans, there is nothing "special" about laws which prevent people from losing jobs and homes because of who they are. Most of us take the right to participate in daily life on an equal footing for granted, the Court said, either because we already have the right under the law, or because we are not subjected to that kind of discrimination. Laws which prohibit discrimination simply give LGBT people that basic right to be equal participants in the communities in which they live.

Most Americans do not realize that many LGBT people who face discrimination - in areas from housing and employment to parenting - have no legal recourse since federal law does not prohibit discrimination against LGBT people. Extending such protection from discrimination to LGBT people is one of the many important battles ahead for the ACLU and other advocacy organizations.

ARE LGBT PEOPLE PROTECTED AGAINST DISCRIMINATION ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY?

Yes, twelve states (California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin), the District of Columbia, many municipalities, and hundreds of businesses and universities have enacted laws that protect gay, lesbian and bisexual people from employment discrimination. A smaller number of jurisdictions protect transgender people.

But in most locales in the remaining 38 states discrimination against LGBT people remains perfectly legal. Businesses openly fire LGBT employees, and every year, lesbian and gay Americans are denied jobs and access to housing, hotels and other public accommodations. Many more are forced to hide their lives, deny their families and lie about their loved ones just to get by.

The ACLU believes the best way to redress discrimination is to amend all existing federal, state and local civil rights laws and all existing business and university policies to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.
WHAT ABOUT DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS?
Many cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, the District of Columbia and Minneapolis, have created "domestic partnership" registries. They give official status to same-sex couples who register with the city. Scores of government and private companies recognize the domestic partnerships of their employees. The state of Hawaii recognizes domestic partners.

While these laws do not confer most of the rights and responsibilities of marriage, they generally grant partners some of the recognition accorded to married couples - typically, the right to visit a sick or dying partner in a hospital, sometimes sick and bereavement leave and in a few cases, health insurance and other important benefits.

Perhaps as important, these policies give some small acknowledgement to the intimate, committed relationships central to the lives of so many lesbians and gay men, which society otherwise ignores.
WHY SUPPORT SAME SEX MARRIAGE?
Denying lesbian and gay couples the right to wed not only deprives them of the social and spiritual significance of marriage; it has serious, often tragic, practical consequences. Since they can not marry, the partners of lesbians and gay men are not next of kin in times of crisis; they are not consulted on crucial medical decisions; they are not given leave to care for each other; they are not each other's legal heirs, if, like most Americans, they do not have wills. Marital status is often the basis on which employers extend health insurance, pension and other benefits. The ACLU believes that since we have attached such enormous social consequences to marriage, it violates equal protection of the law to deny lesbian and gay couples the right to wed.

WHAT ARE "SODOMY LAWS" AND WHY BOTHER WORKING TO REPEAL THEM?

Sodomy statutes generally prohibit oral and anal sex, even between consenting adults. Penalties for violating sodomy laws range from a $200 fine to 20 years imprisonment. While most sodomy laws apply to both heterosexuals and lesbians and gay men, they are primarily used against gay people. For example, some courts say sodomy laws justify separating gay parents from their children. Some cities use sodomy laws to arrest gay people for talking with each other about sex, in conversations which parallel those heterosexuals have every day.

In recent years, the legislatures of Pennsylvania, Nevada and Rhode Island joined the 23 other state legislatures which repealed sodomy laws in the 60s and 70s. Courts in Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana and Tennessee have struck down the statutes. The remaining sodomy laws will be challenged in the legislatures and the courts until they are all eliminated.

"We must conclude that Amendment 2 classifies homosexuals not to further a proper legislative end but to make them unequal to everyone else. This Colorado cannot do. A State cannot so deem a class of persons a stranger to its laws."

- Justice Anthony Kennedy
Majority Opinion in Romer v. Evans

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The Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People

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The struggle of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people for equal rights has moved to center stage. LGBT people are battling for their civil rights in Congress, in courtrooms and in the streets. Well-known figures are discussing their sexual orientation in public.

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ARTICLE: Discrimination Against LGBT Students in the Philippines

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ARTICLE: Discrimination Against LGBT Students in the Philippines

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[Senator and boxing legend] Manny Pacquiao says we're not human. They should just let us be.

- Edgar T., an 18-year-old gay high school student in Manila, February 2017

Schools should be safe places for everyone. But in the Philippines, students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) too often find that their schooling experience is marred by bullying, discrimination, lack of access to LGBT-related information, and in some cases, physical or sexual assault. These abuses can cause deep and lasting harm and curtail students' right to education, protected under Philippine and international law.

In recent years, lawmakers and school administrators in the Philippines have recognized that bullying of LGBT youth is a serious problem, and designed interventions to address it. In 2012, the Department of Education (DepEd), which oversees primary and secondary schools, enacted a Child Protection Policy designed to address bullying and discrimination in schools, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The following year, Congress passed the Anti-Bullying Law of 2013, with implementing rules and regulations that enumerate sexual orientation and gender identity as prohibited grounds for bullying and harassment. The adoption of these policies sends a strong signal that bullying and discrimination are unacceptable and should not be tolerated in educational institutions.

But these policies, while strong on paper, have not been adequately enforced. In the absence of effective implementation and monitoring, many LGBT youth continue to experience bullying and harassment in school. The adverse treatment they experience from peers and teachers is compounded by discriminatory policies that stigmatize and disadvantage LGBT students and by the lack of information and resources about LGBT issues available in schools.

This report is based on interviews and group discussions conducted in 10 cities on the major Philippine islands of Luzon and the Visayas with 76 secondary school students or recent graduates who identified as LGBT or questioning, 22 students or recent graduates who did not identify as LGBT or questioning, and 46 parents, teachers, counselors, administrators, service providers, and experts on education. It examines three broad areas in which LGBT students encounter problems-bullying and harassment, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and a lack of information and resources-and recommends steps that lawmakers, DepEd, and school administrators should take to uphold LGBT students' right to a safe and affirming educational environment.

The incidents described in this report illustrate the vital importance of expanding and enforcing protections for LGBT youth in schools. Despite prohibitions on bullying, for example, students across the Philippines described patterns of bullying and mistreatment that went unchecked by school staff. Carlos M., a 19-year-old gay student from Olongapo City, said: "When I was in high school, they'd push me, punch me. When I'd get out of school, they'd follow me [and] push me, call me 'gay,' 'faggot,' things like that." While verbal bullying appeared to be the most prevalent problem that LGBT students faced, physical bullying and sexualized harassment were also worryingly common-and while students were most often the culprits, teachers ignored or participated in bullying as well. The effects of this bullying were devastating to the youth who were targeted. Benjie A., a 20-year-old gay man in Manila who was bullied throughout his education, said, "I was depressed, I was bullied, I didn't know my sexuality, I felt unloved, and I felt alone all the time. And I had friends, but I still felt so lonely. I was listing ways to die."

The mistreatment that students faced in schools was exacerbated by discriminatory policies and practices that excluded them from fully participating in the school environment. Schools impose rigid gender norms on students in a variety of ways-for example, through gendered uniforms or dress codes, restrictions on hair length, gendered restrooms, classes and activities that differ for boys and girls, and close scrutiny of same-sex friendships and relationships. For example, Marisol D., a 21-year-old transgender woman, said:

When I was in high school, there was a teacher who always went around and if you had long hair, she would call you up to the front of the class and cut your hair in front of the students. That happened to me many times. It made me feel terrible: I cried because I saw my classmates watching me getting my hair cut.

These policies are particularly difficult for transgender students, who are typically treated as their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity. But they can also be challenging for students who are gender non-conforming, and feel most comfortable expressing themselves or participating in activities that the school considers inappropriate for their sex.

Efforts to address discrimination against LGBT people have met with resistance, including by religious leaders. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has condemned violence and discrimination against LGBT people, but in practice, the Roman Catholic Church has resisted laws and policies that would protect LGBT rights. The CBCP has sought to weaken anti-discrimination legislation pending before Congress, for example, and has opposed implementation of comprehensive sexuality education in schools. Representatives of the Church warn that recognizing LGBT rights will open the door to same-sex marriage, and oppose legislation that might promote divorce, euthanasia, abortion, total population control, and homosexual marriage, which they group under the acronym "DEATH." In a country that is more than 80 percent Catholic, opposition from the Church influences how LGBT issues are addressed in families and schools, with many parents and teachers telling students that being LGBT is immoral or wrong.

One way that schools can address bullying and discrimination and ameliorate their effects is by providing educational resources to students, teachers, and staff to familiarize them with LGBT people and issues. Unfortunately, positive information and resources regarding sexual orientation and gender identity are exceedingly rare in secondary schools in the Philippines. When students do learn about LGBT people and issues in schools, the messages are typically negative, rejecting same-sex relationships and transgender identities as immoral or unnatural. Juan N., a 22-year-old transgender man who had attended high school in Manila, said, "There would be a lecture where they'd somehow pass by the topic of homosexuality and show you, try to illustrate that in the Bible, in Christian theology, homosexuality is a sin, and if you want to be a good Christian you shouldn't engage in those activities." Virtually all the students interviewed by Human Rights Watch said the limited sexuality education they received did not include information that was relevant to them as LGBT youth, and few reported having access to supportive guidance counselors or school personnel.

When students face these issues-whether in isolation or together-the school can become a difficult or hostile environment. In addition to physical and psychological injury, students described how bullying, discrimination, and exclusion caused them to lose concentration, skip class, or seek to transfer schools-all impairing their right to education. For the right to education to have meaning for all students-including LGBT students-teachers, administrators, and lawmakers need to work together with LGBT advocates to ensure that schools become safer and more inclusive places for LGBT children to learn.

To the Congress of the Philippines

Enact an anti-discrimination bill that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, including in education, employment, health care, and public accommodations.

To the Department of Education

Create a system to gather and publish data about bullying on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. Revise forms to more clearly differentiate and record incidents of gender-based bullying on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity, and include these categories on all forms related to bullying, abuse, or violence against children.

Revise the standard sexuality education curriculum to ensure it aligns with UNESCO's guidelines for comprehensive sexuality education, is medically and scientifically accurate, is inclusive of LGBT youth, and covers same-sex activity on equal footing with other sexual activity.

Issue an order instructing schools to respect students' gender identity with regard to dress codes, access to facilities, and participation in curricular and extracurricular activities.

To Local Officials

Enact local ordinances to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, particularly in education, employment, healthcare, and public accommodations.

To School Administrators

Adopt anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies that are inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity, inform students how they should report incidents of bullying, and specify consequences for bullying.

Human Rights Watch conducted the research for this report between September 2016 and February 2017 in 10 cities on the major islands of Luzon and the Visayas in the Philippines. To identify interviewees, we conducted outreach through LGBT student groups, particularly at the university level. Human Rights Watch interviewed members of those groups as well as students who were known to those groups, whether or not they had experienced discrimination in school. We sought interviews with students of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, but gay boys and transgender girls were disproportionately represented among the students identified by LGBT groups and the students who attended the group discussions.

Human Rights Watch conducted a total of 144 interviews, including with 73 secondary school students or recent graduates who affirmatively identified as LGBT or questioning, 25 students or recent graduates who did not affirmatively identify as LGBT or questioning, and 46 parents, teachers, counselors, administrators, service providers, and experts on education. Of the LGBT students, 33 identified as gay, 12 identified as transgender girls, 10 identified as bisexual girls, 6 identified as lesbians, 4 identified only as "LGBT," 3 identified as transgender boys, 2 identified as bisexual boys, 2 identified as questioning, and 1 identified as a panromantic girl.

Interviews were conducted in English or in Tagalog or Visayan with the assistance of a translator. No compensation was paid to interviewees. Whenever possible, interviews were conducted one-on-one in a private setting. Researchers also spoke with interviewees in pairs, trios, or small groups when students asked to meet together or when time and space constraints required meeting with members of student organizations simultaneously. Researchers obtained oral informed consent from interviewees after explaining the purpose of the interviews, how the material would be used, that interviewees did not need to answer any questions, and that they could stop the interview at any time. When students were interviewed in groups, those who were present but did not actively volunteer information were not counted in our final pool of interviewees.

Human Rights Watch sent a copy of the findings in this report by email, fax, and post to DepEd on May 15, 2017 to obtain their input on the issues students identified. Human Rights Watch requested input from DepEd by June 2, 2017 to incorporate their views into this report, but did not receive a response.

In this report, pseudonyms are used for all interviewees who are students, teachers, or administrators in schools. Unless requested by interviewees, pseudonyms are not used for individuals and organizations who work in a public capacity on the issues discussed in this report.

Synonym in many parts of the world for homosexual; primarily used here to refer to the sexual orientation of a man whose primary sexual and romantic attraction is towards other men. In the Philippines, the term "gay" can also refer to a person who is assigned male at birth but expresses themselves in a feminine manner or identifies as a woman.

A descriptor for people who do not conform to stereotypical appearances, behaviors, or traits associated with their sex assigned at birth.

A sexual orientation in which a person's primary sexual and romantic attractions are toward people of the same sex.

The Philippines has a long history of robust LGBT advocacy. In 1996, LGBT individuals and groups held a solidarity march to commemorate Pride in Manila, which many activists describe as the first known Pride March in Asia. Lawmakers began introducing bills to advance the rights of LGBT people in the country in 1995, including variations of a comprehensive anti-discrimination bill that has been reintroduced periodically since 2000.

In the absence of federal legislation, local government units across the Philippines have begun to enact their own anti-discrimination ordinances that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. As of June 2017, 15 municipalities and 5 provinces had ordinances prohibiting some forms of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Attitudes toward LGBT people are relatively open and tolerant; a survey conducted in 2013 found that 73 percent of Filipinos believe "society should accept homosexuality," up from 64 percent who believed the same in 2002. President Rodrigo Duterte has generally been supportive of LGBT rights as well. During his time as mayor, Davao City passed an LGBT-inclusive anti-discrimination ordinance, and on the campaign trail, he vocally condemned bullying and discrimination against LGBT people.

The anti-discrimination ordinances that have passed in the absence of federal legislation remain largely symbolic, as Quezon City is the only local government unit to follow the passage of its ordinance with implementing rules and regulations that are required to make such an ordinance enforceable. Even if fully enforced, these municipal and provincial ordinances would collectively cover only 15 percent of the population of the Philippines.

In spite of this opposition, activists' lengthy efforts to engage policymakers on LGBT issues have led to important protections for LGBT youth, as discussed below. But these protections have not been effectively implemented. They will need to be strengthened and expanded if they are to uphold the rights of LGBT youth in schools.

Existing Protections for LGBT Youth and Their Limitations

Child Protection Policy

In 2012, DepEd enacted a Child Protection Policy, which it describes as a "zero tolerance policy for any act of child abuse, exploitation, violence, discrimination, bullying and other forms of abuse." Among the acts prohibited by the policy are all forms of bullying and discrimination in schools, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Anti-Bullying Law

Comprehensive Sexuality Education

Effects of Bullying and Discrimination

As DepEd and the Congress recognized with their initial efforts to address bullying in schools, exclusion and marginalization can exact a damaging toll on the rights and well-being of LGBT youth. In addition to the documentation contained in this report, data collected by the Philippine government, academics, and civil society organizations illustrate how bullying and harassment, discrimination, and a lack of access to information and resources are adversely affecting LGBT youth across the Philippines.

In the Philippines, as elsewhere, violence and discrimination place LGBT youth at heightened risk of adverse physical and mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicide. As the Psychological Association of the Philippines has noted, "LGBT Filipinos often confront social pressures to hide, suppress or even attempt to change their identities and expressions as conditions for their social acceptance and enjoyment of rights. Although many LGBTs learn to cope with this social stigma, these experiences can cause serious psychological distress, including immediate consequences such as fear, sadness, alienation, anger and internalized stigma." This has been borne out in small-scale empirical studies on LGBT youth and mental health in schools. One such study found that LGBT high schoolers were preoccupied with stigma, violence, bullying, discrimination in school, and anxiety over their future career prospects. Nor do these problems end upon graduation from high school; another study determined that "LGBT college students exhibited extremely underdeveloped emotional and social capacity because they continue to experience stigma, prejudice and discrimination in the Philippine society that served as specific stressors that have an impact on their emotional and social intelligent behaviors."

On a broader scale, the increased risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts for LGBT youth is evident in nationally representative data. The results of the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey 3, for example, indicate that 16 percent of young gay and bisexual men in the Philippines had contemplated suicide, while only 8 percent of young heterosexual men had done so. Young gay and bisexual men were also more likely to attempt suicide, with 39 percent of those who had contemplated suicide actually attempting suicide, compared to 26 percent of their heterosexual peers. A similar trend was evident for young lesbian and bisexual women; 27 percent of young lesbian and bisexual women contemplated suicide compared to 18 percent of young heterosexual women, and of those who considered suicide, 6.6 percent of lesbian and bisexual women made suicide attempts compared to only 3.9 percent of their heterosexual peers. GALANG, a Philippine nongovernmental organization that works with lesbian and bisexual women and transgender people, found even higher rates among their constituencies. In a survey conducted in 2015, researchers from GALANG found that 18 percent of LBT respondents, who were almost all between the ages of 18 and 29, had attempted suicide.

Physical Bullying

As detailed below, very few of the students interviewed reported bullying to teachers, either because they felt that reporting would not resolve the bullying or because they feared that reporting would lead to retaliation by other students and make the situation worse. In some instances, teachers also participated in harassment. Such behavior is not only discriminatory toward students of different sexual orientations and gender identities, but deters students from turning to teachers and administrators for help when they are bullied or harassed by their peers.

Sexual Assault and Harassment

Verbal Harassment

The most common form of bullying that LGBT students reported in interviews with Human Rights Watch was verbal harassment. This included chants of " bakla, bakla," " bayot, bayot," "tomboy," or " tibo," using local terms for gay, lesbian, or transgender students in a mocking fashion.

Daniel R., an 18-year-old gay student in Bacacay, said "People will say gay-they'll say 'gay, gay,' repeating it, and insulting us." Ernesto N., a gay teacher in Cebu City, observed, "Here in the Philippines, being called bayot, it's discrimination. It's being told you're nothing, you're lower than dirt. That you're a sinner, that you should go to Hell."

Many students described being labeled as sinners or aberrations. Leon S., a 19-year-old gay student from Malolos, said that "[s]tudents would say that homosexuality is a sin." Marco L., a 17-year-old gay student in Bacacay, said that "[p]eople say ipako sa krus, that you should be crucified." Gabriel K., a 19-year-old gay student who attended high school in Manila, said people told gay students "that you have to be crucified because you're a sinner."

Others described how they were treated as though they were diseased or contagious. Felix P., a 22-year-old gay high school student in Legazpi, noted: "Here, they call us 'carriers'-there's a stereotype that gays are responsible for HIV." Benjie A., a 20-year-old gay man in Manila, recalled a classmate telling him "don't come near me because you'll make me gay."

Some students altered their behavior or personality in an attempt to avoid disapproval from classmates. Patrick G., a 19-year-old gay man who had attended high school in Cainta, said:

They were teasing me for being effeminate. I developed this concept of how a man should walk, how a man should talk. It became-maybe because of them calling me malamya [effeminate], I became the person that I'm not. I was forced to be masculine, just for them to stop teasing me.

In addition to verbal harassment by peers, many LGBT students described verbal harassment and slurs from teachers and administrators. Patrick G., a 19-year-old gay man, said that at his high school in Cainta, "[s]ometimes teachers would join in with ' bakla, bakla.'" Jerome B., a 19-year-old gay man from Cebu City, said that "it really feels bad, because the only figure you can count on is your teacher, and they're joining in the fun, so who should I tell about my problems?"

Cyberbullying

As students interact with their peers on social media and in other virtual spaces, cyberbullying has increasingly impacted LGBT youth in schools. LGBT students described anti-LGBT comments and slurs as well as rapidly spreading rumors facilitated by social media.

Leon S., a 19-year-old gay student from Malolos, said: "They would post things online, which is a far easier thing to do than say it personally.... I would post something, and they would comment about my sexual orientation. It was the usual, bakla, bading." Marisol D., a 21-year-old transgender woman, similarly noted, "Some of my friends would put comments like bakla, bakla on my posts. You just ignore it... [b]ecause if they see that you're being affected they'll bully you more." Carlos M., a 19-year-old gay student from Olongapo City, said, "My classmates would post stuff online-memes against LGBT, Satan saying 'I'm waiting for you here.'"

Cyberbullying also draws on stereotypes about LGBT students, and particularly transgender women and girls, with harsh disapprobation for those who were perceived to fall short of social expectations. Geoff Morgado, a social worker, observed that:

Intervention and Reporting

Human Rights Watch heard repeatedly that schools fail to instruct students about what bullying entails, how to report incidents when they occur, and what the repercussions will be. As a result, many schools convey tacit acceptance to perpetrators and leave victims unaware of whether or how they can seek help.

When students do not know how to report bullying and harassment or do not believe that reporting would be effective, they are unlikely to bring incidents to the attention of teachers and administrators. Jerome B., a 19-year-old gay man from Cebu City, said:

Interviews with LGBT students indicate that many teachers fail to intervene when they witness bullying or harassment occurring or it is brought to their attention, even since passage of the Anti-Bullying Law, which in turn discourages students from reporting cases of bullying. Analyn V., a 17-year-old bisexual girl in Mandaue City, said, "Teachers don't step in. They think it's a joke. But some jokes are below the belt. We conceal being hurt because maybe they think it's overreacting." "The teachers don't say anything or get mad -if they hear people saying bakla, they just smile or laugh," said Felix P., a 22-year-old gay high school student in Legazpi. "Teachers might ask the students to stop, but they don't punish them. And as soon as they leave, the bullying happens again."
***
As a coalition of Philippine organizations has noted, in many instances, "[b]ullying and other forms of violence within the schools or education settings is steered by institutional policies," for example, "through gender-insensitive curricula, SOGI-insensitive school policies (e.g. required haircuts and dress codes), and [a] culture of bullying." As evidenced in the following sections, the many forms of exclusion and marginalization that LGBT youth experience in Philippine schools can reinforce one another. In schools where LGBT youth lack information and resources, for example, they may struggle more deeply with their sexual orientation or gender identity or be unsure where to turn for help. In schools where policies discriminate against LGBT youth, they may be placed in situations where bullying by peers is likely to occur and may feel administrators are unlikely to help them.

In addition to bullying and harassment, LGBT students encounter various forms of discrimination that make educational environments hostile or unwelcoming. To ensure that all youth feel safe and included in schools, school administrators should examine policies and practices that punish LGBT students for relationships that are considered acceptable for their heterosexual peers, restrict gender expression and access to facilities, and stereotype LGBT youth in a discriminatory manner.

School Enforcement of Stereotyped Gender Norms

Uniforms and Hair Length Restrictions

It is common practice for secondary schools in the Philippines to require students to wear uniforms. Under these policies, the attire is gender-specific and the two options, male or female, are typically imposed upon students according to the sex they were assigned at birth.

In addition to clothing, many secondary schools have strict hair-length restrictions for their students, particularly for boys. Almost all interviewees reported that boys could not grow out their hair past ear-length or dye their hair at their schools, and many also noted that girls were prohibited from wearing their hair shorter than a permissible length.

Students whose gender expression differed from the norms associated with their sex assigned at birth told Human Rights Watch how these restrictions impeded their education. Students reported that being forced to dress or present themselves in a manner that was inconsistent with their gender expression made them unhappy and uncomfortable, lessened their confidence, and impaired their concentration. As Del M., a 14-year-old lesbian student who was allowed to wear the boys' uniform, remarked, "It's easier for me to learn wearing the boys' uniform."

At many of these schools, students who did not conform to the uniform and hair-length requirements faced disciplinary action. Common punishments included being sent to the guidance or discipline offices and mandatory community service. Ella M., a 23-year-old transgender woman who had attended high school in Manila, described being punished solely on this basis of her general gender presentation. She said that her school's handbook punished an "act of effeminacy," not further defined, with "a conduct grade of 75, which basically means you did something really really bad. I might as well have cheated."

Marisol D., a 21-year-old transgender woman, said:

Other interviewees reported similar incidents in which teachers or prefects would publicly call out students in violation of the restrictions and forcibly cut their hair in front of the class.

Jerome B., a 19-year-old gay man, said that in his high school in Cebu City:

It applies for all boys. If [your hair] touches the ear and you don't cut it, the school will cut it for you, and they do it in front of your classmates. The Student Affairs Officer who enforces the rules, once a month he would go to each classroom and knock, and say, "All those with long hair go outside," and he would go one by one with these large, rusty scissors like the kind you see in horror movies, and they'd cut our hair in front of everybody....
I think on purpose, he'd cut it very badly.

In most cases, teachers and administrators provided little to no explanation for the hair-length requirements when students asked about the policies at their respective schools. Felix P., a 22-year-old gay high school student in Legazpi, told Human Rights Watch:

As Lyn C., a 19-year-old transgender woman in Manila, recounted, gendered clothing requirements also extended to school-sponsored events such as prom nights:

Even when students are formally permitted to wear the uniforms of their choice, however, school personnel at times harass or humiliate them in practice. Gabby W., a 16-year-old transgender girl in high school in Bayombong, told Human Rights Watch:

Uniform and Hair Length Restrictions in Universities

Although this report focuses on secondary schools, many interviewees said they had experienced similar issues with uniform and hair-length restrictions at the university level.

In some extreme cases, students who repeatedly "cross-dressed"-a term that schools and some students used to describe gay, lesbian, or transgender students expressing their gender in school-were suspended or even expelled. According to Danica J., a 19-year-old lesbian woman at a university in Manila, "people are punished if they violate the uniform policy. It's like a disciplinary action. They won't let you in if you're cross-dressing, and after a couple times, you can be suspended or expelled."

As one 19-year-old university student in Caloocan told Human Rights Watch,

In our school, there are policies that if you cross-dress you will be suspended for one day. Your freedom of expression is very limited. I know we had policies against LGBTQ. We had hair-length restrictions-for guys, the shaved hair has to be three inches on the side, four inches in the back. So every time, if the hair passes three to four inches, the faculty will cut our hair. And even here in the university, the handbook says male students must only have hair to their ears.

Even in universities without formal uniform or hair-length policies, however, transgender and gender-fluid students sometimes reported harassment or reprisals from teachers, classmates, and administrators when they expressed their gender. Patrick G., a 19-year-old gay man in Manila, said that despite a policy at his university guaranteeing students the freedom to dress based on their gender expression, he was aware of one case in which the Discipline Office (DO) summoned a transgender woman to interrogate her about her clothing: "She was within the scope of the policy, but the DO said, 'Are you not ashamed of what you're wearing? Are you not thinking of how others will think about how you dress?'"

Dalisay N., a 20-year-old panromantic woman at a university in Caloocan, said:

When I enrolled in college, I even talked to the head of the office for student affairs, and told her I'm not comfortable wearing a skirt. They allow us to wear

slacks, but it's different from the male uniform. And she said, "What are you, you're a female, right?" I was speechless.

The guards are also a headache. They'll ask, "Why are you wearing slacks? Why aren't you wearing women's shoes?" I tell them I'm not comfortable wearing that. And sometimes they'll even look me up and down from head to toe, which is really uncomfortable.

Carlos M., a 19-year-old gay student at the same university, said that university security guards forced transgender women to go home if they were wearing makeup or long hair.

According to Lyn C., a 19-year-old transgender woman at a university in Manila:

The first three years of my school days we were just hiding ourselves, because if the guards and administration know that we're transgender we'll be punished. When the guard knows you're transgender, you'll be sanctioned. They'd send you to the discipline office... you'd get community service or suspension. It was really difficult for us, to hide our very identities.

Lyn's university removed its uniform and hair-length restrictions in January 2017 after years of persistent advocacy from student groups. However, even after the changes, some students still faced discrimination from teachers.

Several interviewees also told Human Rights Watch that they or their classmates had dropped out of classes or transferred sections at their universities to avoid conflicts with professors who were hostile to transgender students.

Certain departments and colleges also tend to have more stringent uniform and hair-length restrictions than their affiliated universities, often forcing transgender students to conform in order to matriculate. Some students and professors identified colleges of hospitality, management, and education among those requiring gendered clothing, irrespective of the broader university's policies.

Access to Facilities

For students who are transgender or identify as a sex other than their sex assigned at birth, rigid gender restrictions can be stressful and make learning difficult. One of the areas where gender restrictions arose most often for LGBT interviewees was in access to toilet facilities, known in the Philippines as "comfort rooms" (CRs). Most interviewees said that their schools required students to use CRs that aligned with their sex assigned at birth, regardless of how they identified or where they were most comfortable. Some said that both female and male CRs posed safety risks or made them uncomfortable, but that all-gender restrooms were scarce.

Some schools punish students for using the CRs where they felt comfortable. Ruby S., a 16-year-old transgender girl who attended high school in Batangas, said:

I was called by the administration when I used the CR for the girls. They said you're not allowed to use it just because you feel like you're a girl. They used that as a black mark on my campaign for student council. They said, even though he wants to be student council president, he doesn't follow the rules.

Access to Facilities in Universities

Policies that prevent students from accessing restrooms consistent with their gender identity exist in post-secondary institutions as well.

Dalisay N., a 20-year-old panromantic woman at a university in Caloocan, said:

Some of the trans women in our support group, the guards would shout, "Why are you using that restroom? You're not allowed in there," which for me is disrespectful. Why do they care? They're just putting on makeup, and they just want to feel safe when they pee. Because there's a lot of teasing and bullying in the men's room.

Marisol D., a 21-year-old transgender woman, said that in her university, instructors reported transgender students to the discipline office for using the "wrong" restroom. Ace F., a 24-year-old gay man in Manila, noted that another member of his university's LGBT group "was apprehended by our school administration-she's a transgender woman and she used a girl's bathroom. The office of student behavior gave her a minor disciplinary offense."

As in secondary schools, university policies that prevent students from accessing facilities on the basis of their gender identity are discriminatory and function to undermine student safety, health, privacy, and the right to education.

Gender Classifications

Hostility Toward Same-Sex Relationships

Many schools in the Philippines have policies restricting public displays of affection among students, and outline those policies in student handbooks or codes of conduct. Yet LGBT students reported that their relationships were policed more carefully or punished more harshly than their non-LGBT peers. In particular, young lesbian and bisexual women and transgender men who attended exclusive schools-those that are only open to one sex-reported that their friendships and relationships were closely scrutinized and policed by school staff.

Juan N., a 22-year-old transgender man who had attended high school in Manila, said:

Angelica R., a 22-year-old bisexual woman who had attended high school in Manila, said that more masculine girls were especially targeted to keep them from becoming close with other girls:

Pressure to Conform to Stereotypes

LGBT youth also described the pressure that teachers and administrators imposed on them to act in a stereotypical fashion.

Many of the LGBT youth interviewed by Human Rights Watch emphasized that, to the extent they were respected in school, they had earned that respect by being better students than their peers. Often, this meant that LGBT students were tasked with more work or responsibilities than other students as part of the price they paid to be accepted and respected. Eric Manalastas, a psychology professor at the University of the Philippines who has conducted research on LGBT youth issues, found that:

Manalastas found that the demand to be "respectable" put a heavy burden on LGBT students who did not conform: "It may be that gay students are warmly received, generally speaking, but if you're characterized as one of the indecent ones-perceived as very sexual, very loud, very gender non-conforming or outré, it's different." He added that LGBT people from lower socioeconomic strata often face double discrimination, as exemplified by the common insult baklang kalye-"you're bakla and also you come from the streets, you don't have a proper house, you're poor."

Some students were keenly aware of these conditions and expressed frustration with them, voicing a desire to be treated with the same inherent respect as their non-LGBT classmates. Felix P., a 22-year-old gay high school student in Legazpi, said:

Jerome B., a 19-year-old gay man from Cebu City, described another stereotype that he found oppressive: the idea that gay males should be entertainers, jokers, and talented performers. He said classmates and teachers:

Young lesbian women encounter different stereotypes. Dalisay N., a 20-year-old panromantic woman who had attended high school in Manila, observed that lesbian girls were particularly disadvantaged by teachers because "the lesbian community, they don't see us like that, like the gays, the creative ones who do something artsy, that gay people are at the top of the list."Instead, according to Eric Manalastas, "the stereotype with lesbians is that they're dangerous, a danger to other female students. Not in terms of being violent, but maybe as predatory. Or generally a bad influence-not good for moral development-as though they aren't also adolescents themselves." In interviews with Human Rights Watch, young bisexual women recounted how teachers scrutinized girls they considered "butch" or masculine, and took steps to separate them from other girls to prevent them from becoming close.

For youth who are transgender, pressure to "pass" according to their gender identity and, for transgender girls, to achieve high standards of physical beauty, were a serious source of stress for those who felt they lacked the ability or resources to meet the expectations of others.

These stereotypes were among the most consistent themes in interviews with LGBT youth. They illustrate how attitudes and informal practices, even when well-intentioned, can place heavy expectations on LGBT youth and undermine the notion that all youth are deserving of respect and acceptance. They underscore the importance of anti-bullying efforts, information and resources, and antidiscrimination policies that emphasize that all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, have rights that must be respected in schools.

When LGBT students face hostility in their homes, communities, and peer groups, access to affirming information and resources is vitally important. In interviews, however, few LGBT students in the Philippines felt that their schools provided adequate access to information and resources about sexual orientation, gender identity, and being LGBT.

School Curricula

Very few of the LGBT students interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they encountered positive portrayals of LGBT people as part of the school curriculum.

In many cases, LGBT people were simply invisible, with no acknowledgment that people are LGBT or discussion of LGBT history, literature, or other issues. One study found that, in elementary school textbooks required by DepEd:

Comprehensive Sexuality Education

In order to understand their own sexuality and to make responsible choices, LGBT students, as well as other students, need access to information about sexuality that is non-judgmental and takes into account the whole range of human intimacy. In recent years, many countries have moved toward providing comprehensive sexuality education, which UNESCO describes as an "age-appropriate, culturally relevant approach to teaching about sex and relationships by providing scientifically accurate, realistic, non-judgmental information."

In interviews with Human Rights Watch, students who received sexuality education described receiving that education at various grade levels, with varying degrees of comprehensiveness. But across the board, they stated that their sexuality education classes either excluded any discussion of LGBT people or conveyed inaccurate and stigmatizing messages about same-sex conduct and the existence of transgender people.

In many instances, sexuality education conveyed misinformation or disapproval about LGBT identities and relationships. Gabby W., a 16-year-old transgender girl at a high school in Bayombong, said that teachers "always say that gay is a disease, that it's a contagious disease. Or say being gay is a sin." Bea R., a 22-year-old transgender woman at another school in the area, said that although science teachers do cover safer sex at her school, "They say that LGBT are the ones spreading HIV and chlamydia." Francis C., a 19-year-old gay student from Pulilan, was similarly told by teachers "that there were same-sex who were doing those activities, but they would say that if two males or two female did those activities, they would become sick or ill." Jonas E., a 17-year-old gay boy in high school in Mandaue City, noted: "I get really offended when they talk about HIV. They say that gays are the main focus of HIV... I'm a bit ashamed of that, because I was once in section where I'm the only gay, and they kept pointing at me."

Counseling and Support

In addition to formal curricula, schools provide a variety of resources to students. Support from teachers, guidance counselors, school psychologists, and other school personnel is a valuable asset, and should be available to guide LGBT youth as well as their non-LGBT peers. According to UNESCO, "support from teachers can have a particularly positive impact on LGBT and intersex students, improving their self-esteem and contributing to less absenteeism, greater feelings of safety and belonging and better academic achievement."

Although some counselors have created successful programs for LGBT students, such as support groups, such efforts need to have support from the school administration to ensure counselors are recognized as affirming, non-judgmental resources. As one study found, "it has been the experience of gay students (or perhaps students in general) that the guidance counselor is associated with delinquent and problem students. This image of the guidance counselor may contribute to the problematization of gay identity in school settings, that being gay is something that has to be 'dealt with' with and by these counselors."

Interviews with LGBT youth in the Philippines underscore the urgent need for resources and support. Jerome B., a 19-year-old gay man from Cebu City, recalled that in secondary school, "I was questioning for a long time-is there something wrong with me? Am I mentally ill? I planned to talk to a psychiatrist because I thought I had a mental illness.... We had a guidance counselor. But I wouldn't go to them, because I was too ashamed." For some students, bullying and a lack of resources led to depression and thoughts of suicide. Benjie A., a 20-year-old gay student from Manila, recounted struggling to make sense of his identity until "I thought about getting a gun from a policeman and shooting myself."

Other LGBT students described going to counselors and facing outright hostility or condemnation. Ace F., a 24-year-old gay man who had attended high school in Manila, said that his school counselor used decades-old psychological materials:

What they taught us was DSM-3 or DSM-2-where being gay is still classified as a mental disorder. That's what they taught us. I was pretty well informed because I was a debater, so I would question them about it: it's already outdated, it's not the standard, it's not considered a mental disease. But they would institutionally still say that it was a disease, a mental disorder, it's bad.

Student Organizations

Student Organizations in Universities

LGBT organizations are increasingly prevalent at the university level, but many groups encounter obstacles from administrators in post-secondary settings as well. In interviews with Human Rights Watch, some university students also described difficulties forming or operating LGBT groups. Students from one university in Manila told Human Rights Watch that, after creating an LGBT organization in 2012, they were instructed in 2016 to rename the organization and work on the broad topic of "gender sensitivity," as the university did not want a group overtly focused on LGBT issues. Rosamie T., an 18-year-old bisexual woman, noted the group had been active and "well-known as an LGBT organization, and they wanted us to rebrand because it's known for that." She said that, after losing a large number of members and becoming less active as a result of the reorganization, "It's like we're starting again from zero." Although this report focuses on secondary schools, universities should also recognize the importance of LGBT organizations and take steps to foster and sustain them.

In recent years, the Philippines has enacted important laws and regulations that affirm the rights of LGBT learners in schools. DepEd's Child Protection Policy, the Anti-Bullying Law, and the Reproductive Health Law-as well as anti-discrimination ordinances at the local level-reiterate the government's commitment to ensuring that all youth are safe, healthy, and able to learn in schools.

Right to Education

LGBT students are denied the right to education when bullying, exclusion, and discriminatory policies prevent them from participating in the classroom or attending school. LGBT students' right to education is also curtailed when teachers and curricula do not include information that is relevant to their development or are outwardly discriminatory toward LGBT people.

Violence and Bullying

The terms of the Anti-Bullying Law and Child Protection Policy echo the Philippines' obligations under international law. The ICCPR states that "[e]very child shall have... the right to such measures of protection as are required by his status as a minor, on the part of his family, society and the State," while the CRC requires governments to "protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation." The government of the Philippines signed UNESCO's Call for Action on Homophobic and Transphobic Violence, issued in November 2016, which commits it to monitoring the prevalence of homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools, providing students with information about harmful gender-based stereotypes, training school personnel, and taking steps to make schools safe for LGBT youth.

Children who are especially likely to face violence, including bullying, merit specific attention and protection from the state. As the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UN body that monitors implementation of the CRC, has noted, "[g]roups of children which are likely to be exposed to violence include, but are not limited to, children ... who are lesbian, gay, transgender or transsexual." The committee has repeatedly described bullying, harassment, and violence against LGBT youth as violations of children's rights, and emphasized that "[a] school which allows bullying or other violent and exclusionary practices to occur is not one which meets the requirements of article 29(1)," the CRC provision specifying the aims of education.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has identified steps that governments should take to protect children from bullying, harassment, and other forms of violence. These include challenging discriminatory attitudes that allow intolerance and violence to flourish, establishing reporting mechanisms, and providing guidance and training for teachers and administrators to know how to respond when they see or hear about incidents of violence. When taking these steps, the committee has stressed that children themselves should be involved "in the development of prevention strategies in general and in school, in particular in the elimination and prevention of bullying, and other forms of violence in school."

Right to Health

Freedom of Expression

The right to free expression is violated when schools limit displays of same-sex affection or gender expression solely for LGBT youth. Schools need to ensure that LGBT students are able to participate in the school environment on the same terms as other students, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Freedom from Discrimination

Even as municipalities and provinces pass anti-discrimination ordinances to protect the rights of LGBT people, the Philippines has not passed comprehensive legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

...freedom from discrimination is a fundamental obligation of States under international law, and requires States to prohibit and prevent discrimination in private and public spheres, and to diminish conditions and attitudes that cause or perpetuate such discrimination. To this end, States should enact comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that includes sexual orientation and gender identity among protected grounds."

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has explained that discrimination in the school setting, "whether it is overt or hidden, offends the human dignity of the child and is capable of undermining or even destroying the capacity of the child to benefit from educational opportunities." Because of the dangers that discrimination poses to health and development, children at risk of discrimination are "entitled to special attention and protection from all segments of society." The committee has specifically expressed concern about discrimination against children on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity in its review of state policies.

To the President of the Philippines

Speak out, as you have done in the past, against bullying in schools, reiterating that bullying of LGBT youth is harmful and unacceptable.

Speak out in support of an anti-discrimination bill that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, including in education, employment, health care, and public accommodations.

To the Congress of the Philippines

Enact an anti-discrimination bill that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, including in education, employment, health care, and public accommodations.

Authorize funding for the implementation of the Reproductive Health Law and any necessary support for comprehensive sexuality education in schools.

To the Department of Education

Undertake a comprehensive review of school compliance with the provisions of the Child Protection Policy and the Anti-Bullying Law.

Collect and publish data on the number of schools nationally that address sexual orientation and gender identity in their Child Protection Policy and Anti-Bullying Law. Recommend that schools that do not address sexual orientation and gender identity revise their policies to do so.

Create a system to gather and publish data about bullying on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. Revise forms to more clearly differentiate and record incidents of gender-based bullying on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity, and include these categories on all forms related to bullying, abuse, or violence against children.

Immediately review all curricula, including textbooks and teaching materials, to ensure that LGBT issues are incorporated. Remove content that is inaccurate or derogatory toward LGBT people and include content that is relevant to LGBT youth and promotes respect for gender diversity.

Revise the standard sexuality education curriculum to ensure it aligns with UNESCO's guidelines for comprehensive sexuality education, is medically and scientifically accurate, is inclusive of LGBT youth, and covers same-sex activity on equal footing with other sexual activity.

Issue an order instructing schools to respect students' gender identity with regard to dress codes, access to facilities, and participation in curricular and extracurricular activities.

Conduct trainings, in collaboration with LGBT rights groups where possible, to familiarize DepEd personnel at the division and district levels with LGBT terminology and issues.

To Local Officials

Enact local ordinances to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, including in education, employment, health care, and public accommodations.

Promulgate implementing rules and regulations to ensure that existing anti-discrimination ordinances are applied and enforced.

To School Administrators

Adopt anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies that are inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity, inform students how they should report incidents of bullying, and specify consequences for bullying.

Conduct trainings, in collaboration with LGBT civil society groups where possible, for child protection committees and school staff to ensure that they are sensitive to the needs and vulnerabilities of LGBT youth. The trainings should inform school staff about proper terminology, the forms of bullying and discrimination that LGBT youth face, the rights that LGBT youth enjoy under domestic and international law, and resources and services available for LGBT youth.

Conduct trainings, in collaboration with children's rights groups where possible, for child protection committees and school staff to ensure they are able to recognize and intervene in bullying and harassment when they witness it occurring or it is brought to their attention.

Promulgate guidelines instructing school staff to respect the gender identity of students with regard to dress codes, access to facilities, and participation in curricular and extracurricular activities.

Commemorate occasions like Human Rights Day and National Women's Month with programming that promotes human rights and respect for gender diversity in schools.

Ensure that the school has resources available for LGBT youth, for example, books and printed material, access to counselors or other supportive personnel, and curricular resources that are inclusive of LGBT youth.

Ryan Thoreson, a researcher in the LGBT Rights Program, wrote this report based on research that he undertook from September 2016 to February 2017. Daniel Lee, associate with the Asia division, conducted additional interviews and wrote a section of the report.

The report was reviewed by Neela Ghoshal, senior researcher in the LGBT Rights Program; Michael Bochenek, senior counsel in the Children's Rights Division; and Carlos Conde, Philippines researcher in the Asia Division. James Ross, legal and policy director, and Joe Saunders, deputy program director, provided legal and program review, respectively. Production assistance was provided by Olivia Hunter, publications associate; Fitzroy Hepkins, administrative manager; and Jose Martinez, senior coordinator.

Human Rights Watch would like to thank the experts and organizations that provided information for the report, including ASEAN SOGIE Caucus, Babaylanes, Inc., Bisdak Pride, Bulsu Bahaghari, ChildFund Philippines, the Children's Legal Rights and Development Center, GALANG, Gayon Albay, Happy Hearts, Lagablab, MCC Marikina, Side B, TransMan Pilipinas, and UP Babaylan. Particular thanks go to the many students who shared their experiences with us.

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This report documents the range of abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students in secondary school. It details widespread bullying and harassment, discriminatory policies and practices, and an absence of supportive resources that undermine the right to education under international law and put LGBT youth at risk.

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ARTICLE: As The Economy Reopens, LGBTQ People Disproportionately Face Employment Challenges, HRC Study Finds

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ARTICLE: As The Economy Reopens, LGBTQ People Disproportionately Face Employment Challenges, HRC Study Finds

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Business people working at their desks with screen partition in between them. Startup business ... [+]
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A recent study by the Human Rights Campaign and PSB Insights found that the phased reopening of many states' economies has not stopped the LGBTQ community from disproportionately facing employment challenges due to COVID-19.

LGBTQ people already face increased risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as they are more likely to lack access to sufficient medical care, more likely to work in industries affected by the pandemic, and more likely to experience homelessness.

Now that many states have begun reopening, the study found that while pay cuts, loss of hours, and job loss are modestly improving overall, the LGBTQ community remains more likely to be affected by these issues.

Since states began reopening, the report said, LGBTQ people have been 20% more likely to experience a reduction in work hours than the general population, while LGBTQ people of color and transgender people have been 44% and 125% more likely to experience a loss of hours, respectively.

Since states began reopening, LGBTQ people have also been 30% more likely than the general population to lose their jobs, with the bisexual community being hit hardest.

Bisexual people have been 80% more likely to lose their jobs. LGBTQ people of color are also 70% more likely than the general population to have experienced job loss since states began reopening.

Pay cuts have also remained an issue for the LGBTQ community, the study found.

LGBTQ people were 50% more likely than the general population to have taken a pay cut since states began reopening, and LGBTQ of color have been 150% more likely to have taken a pay cut.

The study also found that while the percentage of LGBTQ people taking unpaid leave has decreased overall since states began reopening (by 27%, compared to 14% for the general population), it has increased by 4% for transgender people and 23% for LGBTQ people of color.

"As some communities start to go back to work, many times in fear and without choice, we're seeing that LGBTQ people, especially LGBTQ people of color and transgender people, are being left behind," said HRC President Alphonso David in a statement​.

"Moreover, LGBTQ people who are able to return to work are taking pay cuts in order to do so. The data continues to reinforce what we already know - that the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is not over because the pandemic is not over, especially for communities who were already marginalized in this country. Without leadership from the highest office of the land, we must make sure that elected officials at all levels are ensuring that LGBTQ people, especially the members of the community who are living at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities, receive the support they need."

After states began to reopen, the study also found that 69% of the general population and 80% of the LGBTQ population still wanted to prioritize containing the virus over reopening the economy.

HRC has released many more findings on the impact of COVID-19 on the LGBTQ community. The organization's other studies can be found here.

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As The Economy Reopens, LGBTQ People Disproportionately Face Employment Challenges, HRC Study Finds

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A recent study by the Human Rights Campaign and PSB Insights found that the phased reopening of many states' economies has not stopped the LGBTQ community from disproportionately facing employment challenges due to COVID-19.

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YOUTUBE: Women's rights in the Duterte era

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YOUTUBE: Women's rights in the Duterte era

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Women's rights in the Duterte era | Deciphering The Philippines with Atom Araullo

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ARTICLE: Why Is It That Women Are Seen As Less Competent?

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ARTICLE: Why Is It That Women Are Seen As Less Competent?

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In the middle of the meeting on a controversial financial proposal, "Jane" has a flash of insight into a problem. She looks at the men and women around the table as she enthusiastically elaborates on what she believes to be an important point that can bridge the conversation.

After she finishes speaking, she waits to hear responses to her comments. Crickets. No one responds. No one picks up on the idea. It was as if they didn't even hear what she had said.

Jane feels confused and frustrated. She thought she was bringing a lot to the table, but then why wasn't she getting any reinforcement? Maybe her observation wasn't really as worthwhile a contribution as she thought? Maybe she just doesn't have the leadership abilities needed?

Fifteen minutes later a male version of what Jane said, slightly reworded, is heard loud and clear. People think his idea is "brilliant!"

I bring up this vignette at many of my speaking engagements. It always receives many nods from the women in the audience: "Yeah, I've been there." So what is going on?

One way to explain it is "gender schemas."

In her book Why so Slow? The Advancement of Women, Virginia Valian, professor of Psychology and Linguistics at Hunter College, New York, explored why women's advancement has crept at such a snail's pace. Along the way she uncovered the world of what she called gender schemas: culturally bound assumptions about men and women that are unconscious.

One assumption is that women are first assumed incompetent until proven otherwise. It's the opposite for men. So right from the start women are not perceived as leaders. If a woman is successful it's because she's a hard worker (recent headline: "How BofA's Sallie Krawcheck Outworked Her Peers"), or was lucky; if she fails it's because she's incompetent. If a male succeeds, it's because he's competent; if he fails it's because of bad luck or a scandal (HP's Mark Hurd comes to mind).

Consequently, cultural biases consistently overrate men and underrate women. Self-assessment studies show that men and women do the same to themselves. Women tend to evaluate themselves two points lower than reality, while men will evaluate themselves two points higher.

Assumed incompetence puts women on the defensive and their struggle to prove themselves keeps them on a never-ending treadmill. So if you as a woman have felt held to a higher standard, it's not your imagination, you have been. It's the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers syndrome: Ginger has to do everything Fred does, except in high heels and backwards.

It's not just men assuming women are incompetent; women also fall prey to assuming incompetence in women. A woman may feel that she's competent but she won't assume that of other women. In one global experiment called the "Goldberg paradigm," researchers asked men and women in one group to evaluate a particular article or speech supposedly written by a man. Then they asked a similar group to judge the same material, this time supposedly authored by a woman. In countries all over the world, participants rated the very same words higher coming from a man than from a woman.

The fact that women often assume other women are incompetent may, in part, explain why women traditionally haven't been so great at helping each other up the ladder. That's changing however, with the plethora of organizations and initiatives dedicated to women supporting women. A revolution is underway; a level of collaboration among women as we have never seen before.

When I talk with younger women, some say they don't experience this assumption. And may they never! It's a pretty level playing field when entering the work force. After all, 46% of employees in Fortune 500 are women.

But the higher you climb, the wider the gap. Women make up only 15% of board seats, 14% of executive officers and a paltry 2% of CEOs. Another way of saying it: men hold 98% of Fortune 500 CEO positions. I don't think we can say assumed incompetence is no longer a battle ground for women.

Irven DeVore, a former professor of anthropology at Harvard University, once said to me: "We will have gender equality when half of Fortune 500 CEOs are mediocre women leaders." I guess we have a long way to go, Irv!

Some women use the negative gender schemas against them to their advantage. These women play along as if they don't know what's going on, when in reality they are five steps ahead of the guys. As Mae West put it, "Brains are an asset, if you hide them."

Being under-estimated can work to women's advantage when she is covertly outsmarting him, but that's a short-term benefit. In the end, feigning ignorance only helps perpetuate a misperception. As one of my favorite leaders, Linda Rusch, former VP of nursing in Hunderton Medical, told me, "What you permit, you promote."

So let's be conscious of this unconscious assumption. If your comments are overlooked, don't assume you have nothing to contribute or are not a leader. Rather assume an unconscious assumption has kicked in. If you agree with what a woman might be offering to the discussion, don't tell her at the water cooler. Speak up and stand beside her and giving her credit. If someone takes your idea and claims it as their own, do as one woman scientist who did research on cancer told me. Tell that person, "Thanks, I'm so glad you love my idea!"

Being conscious of gender schemas can give woman an advantage: heightened awareness can pull us out of the mire.

Birute Regine, Ed.D., a developmental psychologist, works as an executive coach, speaker and author. She previously co-authored the critically acclaimed The Soul at Work: Embracing Complexity Science For Business Success. Her new book, Iron Butterflies: Women Transforming Themselves and the World captures a powerful time of transition in our society, led primarily by women. View her website www.ironbutterflies.com and follow her on Twitter @ironbutterflies.

... Read More

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Why Is It That Women Are Seen As Less Competent?

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In the middle of the meeting on a controversial financial proposal, "Jane" has a flash of insight into a problem. She looks at the men and women around the table as she enthusiastically elaborates on what she believes to be an important point that can bridge the conversation.

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ARTICLE: The Impact of Stigma and Discrimination Against LGBT People in Texas

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ARTICLE: The Impact of Stigma and Discrimination Against LGBT People in Texas

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Ano? (Pagkakatulad ng Mga Miyembro ng Demographic)

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Ano? (Pagkakatulad ng Mga Miyembro ng Demographic)

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Itinuturing na mas mababa sa kalagayan, batay sa "tradisyon"

Diskriminasyon sa trabaho

Karaniwang biktima sa pang-aabuso ng mga relihiyosong autoridad

Limitado ang mga pagpipilian nila sa mga personal na bagay

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ARTICLE:Workplace Gender Discrimination: Where do we stand now?

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ARTICLE:Workplace Gender Discrimination: Where do we stand now?

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Workplace Gender Discrimination: Where do we stand now? - Evident Integrated Marketing and PR

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Evident project manager Vic Diesta shares three important insights from our work with Investing in Women

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ARTICLE: Gender pay gap still exists in the Philippines—study

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ARTICLE: Gender pay gap still exists in the Philippines—study

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ARTICLE: New Zealand bill to ban LGBTQ conversion practices receives record 100,000 submissions

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ARTICLE: New Zealand bill to ban LGBTQ conversion practices receives record 100,000 submissions

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More than 100,000 people have sent in submissions on New Zealand's plan to ban LGBTQ conversion practices - more than have ever been made on a piece of legislation.

"We've already made history with this movement and we're not even done," said Shaneel Lal, an activist and organiser in the movement to ban conversion practices. "People really and truly care about this because in 2021 it is not appropriate to erase queer identities."

The government received a total of 106,700 submissions on the bill, which will make it a crime to conduct conversion practices - or attempting to change someone's sexuality or gender identity.

It is more than double the submissions received on other recent controversial legislation, including the End of Life euthanasia bill, which Stuff reported was the previous record-holder at 40,000 submissions. It was close to five times the number of submissions received on the bill legalising same-sex marriage in 2013.

The submissions have not yet been processed, so it is unknown how many were in favour of a ban - but Lal was optimistic that the majority would be, after a large-scale social media campaign asking people to submit their support. About 160,000 people had signed a petition to ban the practice earlier in the year, and polling by TVNZ in September 2020 found 72% of New Zealanders favoured a ban, and just 14% opposed. Lal said the campaign's template for a submission to ban conversion practices had been opened more than 300,000 times.

For New Zealand's rainbow community, Lal said the news had been greeted with a mixture of celebration and trepidation - pleasure at seeing such a groundswell of engagement was tempered by concerns that it could lead to vitriol as the debate became increasingly prominent in the public eye.

"The select committee process is the more loud and traumatic part of the entire process. This is when people start very aggressively advocating for their side," Lal said.

For survivors of conversion practices, "it's like an emotional tsunami", Lal said. "People are feeling very anxious and nervous, and for me it is important to ensure that our community is safe within the process - while I was excited to see the number of submissions, I was also nervous and anxious, what this may mean for our community."

Justice select committee chair Ginny Andersen told TVNZ it would take about two weeks for 41 staff to process the submissions. She said the committee would also hear about 3,000 oral submissions.

Simon Bridges, the opposition National party's justice spokesperson, said "the likelihood is that a majority of these are critical" of the bill, and called for more time for the bill to be considered.

"Due to the Covid-19 lockdown and the unprecedented numbers who want to be heard, the submission process should be extended to take until at least the end of the year," Bridges said.

The legislation would make it an offence to perform conversion practices on anyone under 18, or with impaired decision-making capacity, with a sentence of up to three years' imprisonment. It also makes it an offence to perform conversion practices that cause "serious harm", irrespective of age. That carries a sentence of up to five years' imprisonment.

Conversion therapy is still legal is many parts of the world, including the UK and many states in the US.

The United Nations independent expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity found conversion practices caused "significant loss of self-esteem, anxiety, depressive syndrome, social isolation, intimacy difficulty, self-hatred, shame and guilt, sexual dysfunction, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder."

The National party voted against the bill at its first reading, and said they would not support the legislation unless it included an exemption to stop parents being prosecuted. With strong support from the Labour and Green parties, a second reading would have the numbers to pass without them.

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New Zealand bill to ban LGBTQ conversion practices receives record 100,000 submissions

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More than 100,000 people have sent in submissions on New Zealand's plan to ban LGBTQ conversion practices - more than have ever been made on a piece of legislation. "We've already made history with this movement and we're not even done," said Shaneel Lal, an activist and organiser in the movement to ban conversion practices.

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ARTICLE: The Relationship Between LGBT Inclusion and Economic Development: Emerging Economies

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ARTICLE: The Relationship Between LGBT Inclusion and Economic Development: Emerging Economies

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This study analyzes the impact of social inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people on economic development in 39 countries. When LGBT people are denied full participation in society because of their identities, their human rights are violated, and those violations of human rights are likely to have a harmful effect on a country's level of economic development.

Several theoretical frameworks argue that the inclusion of LGBT people is linked to a stronger economy. In the human capital approach, inclusion allows LGBT people to achieve their economic potential when they can get education and training that improves their productivity and when they are treated equally in the labor market. The capabilities approach suggests that greater rights and freedoms improve individual well-being by expanding individuals' capabilities to be and do what they value. The post-materialist demand for human rights theory suggests that greater economic development might make countries more likely to respect the rights of LGBT people, as LGBT people can freely organize and push for legal changes and as public opinion shifts to support greater individual autonomy and minority rights. And the strategic modernization approach posits that countries hoping to present themselves as more visibly "modern" and successful to potential trading partners might be using LGBT rights strategically as a way to promote and expand economic opportunities.

Up to this point, little empirical research has tested this theoretical connection, particularly for the emerging economies that are the focus of this paper. This study analyzes 39 countries, 29 of which are "emerging economies" (those countries that are experiencing high levels of economic growth and investment) and 10 of which are countries of interest (those that have active and engaged LGBT social movements and are of particular significance to global development institutions). Given both the potential for rapid change in rights and income-level for low and middle-income economies, this study provides a new perspective to identify the relationship between LGBT rights and economic development.

Research Design

In this study, we define "LGBT" to mean sexual and gender minorities. "Sexual minorities" include anyone whose sexual orientation includes people of the same sex or gender, and "gender minorities" include anyone whose gender identity and/or gender expression is different from the gender norms associated with their sex assigned at birth. To assess whether the theoretical link is confirmed by real-world data, we refine the concepts of "inclusion" and "development" into more concrete terms and measures. The analysis takes two approaches.

First, this study uses a "micro-level" approach that focuses on the experiences of LGBT individuals and defines inclusion as the ability to live one's life as one chooses (what Amartya Sen calls "freedoms" in the capabilities approach). In the micro approach, we conduct an extensive literature review of research on human rights to identify barriers to freedoms for LGBT people that can have an effect on economic development.

Under the "macro-level" approach, we define inclusion as the legal rights of LGBT people, measured through two newly-developed indices, one reflecting the rights of transgender people and the other the rights of LGB people. Economic development is the broad macroeconomic outcome, measured for each country by per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and the Human Development Index (HDI). In this statistical part of the study, multivariate regression is used to analyze the effect of LGBT rights on economic development after controlling for other factors that influence development.

The micro-level analysis found substantial evidence that LGBT people in our sample countries are limited in their freedoms in ways that also create economic harms:

Police officers unjustly arrest, detain, jail, beat, humiliate, and extort LGBT people, taking LGBT people out of productive employment.

LGBT people face disproportionate rates of physical, psychological, and structural violence, which can restrict someone's ability to work because of physical injuries and psychological trauma.

Workplace discrimination causes LGBT people to be unemployed or underemployed, which mean their full productive capacity is not being used.

LGBT people face multiple barriers to physical and mental health, which reduces their ability to work and their productivity in the workplace.

LGBT students face discrimination in schools by teachers and other students, which hampers their learning and encourages students to drop out, in turn reducing their skills and knowledge related to the workplace.

At this micro-level, the costs to the economy of just these five examples of exclusionary treatment include lost labor time, lost productivity, underinvestment in human capital, and the inefficient allocation of human resources through discrimination in education and hiring practices. The decreased investment in human capital and suboptimal use of human resources, in turn, act as a drag on economic output at the broader economy level.

The macro-level analysis reveals a clear positive correlation between per capita GDP and legal rights for LGB and transgender people across countries, as measured by the Global Index on Legal Recognition of Homosexual Orientation (GILRHO) and the Transgender Rights Index (TRI) respectively. The simplest correlation shows that one additional right in the GILRHO (out of eight rights included) is associated with $1,400 more in per capita GDP and with a higher HDI value. In other words, countries with more rights for LGBT people have higher per capita income and higher levels of well-being. The positive correlation between LGBT rights and the HDI suggests that the benefits of rights extend beyond purely economic outcomes to well-being measured as educational attainment and life expectancy.

The relationship remains strong for GDP per capita even after taking into account other factors that influence development, although the effect is smaller. The impact of an additional right on per capita GDP is approximately $320 after those controls, or about 3% of the average GDP per capita in our sample. A positive correlation with the HDI is not seen in some models, however.

Unlike with the micro-level analysis, in the macro-level analysis, we do not draw a firm conclusion about the direction of the causal link, that is, whether more rights cause higher levels of development or whether more developed countries tend to have more rights. The theoretical perspectives suggest that both directions are likely at work. The micro-level findings, aggregated up to an economy-wide level, support the idea that exclusion leads to lower levels of development, and are consistent with the macro-level findings.

Two additional findings emerge that bolster an interpretation of a strong link between rights and development. First, the correlation between rights and economic development appears to vary across different rights. In particular, the analysis suggests that anti-discrimination laws covering sexual orientation have an especially strong correlation with GDP per capita. The importance of nondiscrimination laws could be related to their stronger connection to the treatment of LGBT people in the workplace and other settings that have direct economic relevance. Second, the correlation of additional LGBT rights and economic development is not simply the result of increasing gender equity within a country, since the impact of LGBT rights is strong even when taking into account an indicator of gender equity in the statistical model.

Recommendations

We recommend further research and data development efforts in order to better understand the links between LGBT inclusion and economic development. Some extensions of this work are possible with existing data:

Expand the study to a broader set of countries and years; since the 39 countries in this study's sample were not randomly chosen, the generalizability of these findings is limited.

Use different economic outcome measures to compare to LGBT rights, such as GDP growth rates, tourism measures, and foreign direct investment.

Study the determinants of legal rights for LGBT people across the world.

Create a database of existing research from a wide variety of countries to use both for additional comparisons and to inform the creation of new indicators.

Other extensions of the research will require the collection of new data on the lived experience of LGBT people that can be compared across countries. New data will be especially important since formal legal rights on their own might not be good indicators of the lived experience of LGBT people and the degree of inclusion in society. In particular, these measures should capture life outcomes that are relevant to the economic contributions of LGBT people: health, education, earnings, poverty, family structure, living situations, access to social services, coming out, discrimination, and violence. This need for better data also provides an additional link and potential collaboration between human rights scholars and economic development researchers.

Finally, we strongly recommend that research within all development areas incorporate concerns about LGBT people. The findings in this study demonstrate links between LGBT people's lives and their potential economic contributions at the national level, making LGBT inclusion relevant for development agency programs. Mainstreaming the inclusion of LGBT people within development research would mean looking at the experiences of LGBT people in food policy, poverty alleviation, gender empowerment, democracy and governance, education, health, conflict situations, gender-based violence, and other areas in which LGBT people are likely to experience specific challenges to meeting their needs.

This study and a broadened research agenda can assist development agencies and other stakeholders to better understand how the full inclusion of LGBT people could improve economic outcomes for all countries, including developing countries, as well as provide evidence of the fulfillment of the human rights of LGBT people.
Download the full report

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The Relationship Between LGBT Inclusion and Economic Development: Emerging Economies - Williams Institute

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This study analyzes the impact of social inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people on economic development in 39 countries. When LGBT people are denied full participation in society because of their identities, their human rights are violated, and those violations of human rights are likely to have a harmful effect on a country's level of economic development.

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ARTICLE:REMEMBERING THE WOMEN IN MARTIAL LAW 

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ARTICLE:REMEMBERING THE WOMEN IN MARTIAL LAW 

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Written by Anna Divinagracia
Edited by Dona Marabe
Graphics by Xixi Tankiamco This article contains strong language, sexual content, graphic narratives, and other themes that may not be suitable for younger audiences. Kindly read at your own discretion.

What radicalized you? What experiences in your life made you think? Which moment changed you?

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT!

The stories of women in the Martial Law period, once an event memorized for a test, were stories that impacted the younger generation.

Lilosa Hilao was the first female and student-activist to be killed in detention during the Marcos era. She used her skill in journalism to draft essays against the Marcos administration.

Female victims of various torture methods would retell their stories amid their tears and anger in hopes of educating the younger generations to learn from the past.

Maria Lorena "Lorrie" Barros founded MAKIBAKA, an all-female organization dedicated to initiating discourse among women on their role in politics, activism, and democratic struggle. Her motto: "The Filipino woman's place is in the struggle."

We tell the stories of these unsung heroines, because we must never forget that we too must fight for our country and our freedom.

My story is that of another's. Textbooks in elementary were rather filtered and refined to be more suitable for young audiences. Thus, descriptions of relatively gory events in Philippine history hardly told actual stories of war and were only carefully comprised of notable names, dates, and places to simply memorize.

The Martial Law period was no exception. Ferdinand Marcos and Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Sr. were only names to be remembered for a test, the San Juanico Bridge was just the longest bridge in the country, and September 21, 1972 was simply when the then-President declared Proclamation 1081 - yet another random number most of us had to take note of. None of it mattered after the exam; Martial Law was finished long before I was born.

One month into high school changed that. Contrary to what elementary teachers told me, Ferdinand Marcos was not just another name I should have thrown out of my mind; neither was Imelda Marcos just some woman with a thousand shoes and bags. The Marcoses were suddenly rebranded in my mind as those who blatantly stepped on the rights of my people, the Filipino people, and conveniently got away with it.

That was not what radicalized me.

It's no secret that women have been victims of harassment and sexualization since the beginning of time. Women constantly fear for their lives as they walk down the streets, night or day, as men shoot suggestive looks and unsolicited comments on how they walk, what they wear, and God knows what else. Women constantly look over their shoulders, watching out for knives ready to strike or hands aiming to reach.

The women in the Martial Law period had it no different, if not much worse. With military officers monitoring the people's every move and Marcos's cronies looking for entertainment, young women braced themselves for the worst - although, who could prepare for the worst when it looms right over you?

The stories of their pain, their suffering, and their rage radicalized me.

Trials worse than death: recounting terror

She was an honor student, expected to be cum laude upon graduation. Being a member of multiple student organizations, the communication arts student was also the passionate editor-in-chief of her university's paper, HASIK. Although she was sickly, her prowess for the written word led her to composing several essays and articles against the Marcos administration. It wasn't long until she was recognized as a student activist; it wasn't long until she was found dead in detention, her body limp and with marks of torture all over.

Lilosa Hilao was the first female and student-activist to be killed in detention. Hers was a story cut short by the vicious hands. Hers was a story multiple women in the Marcos era shared - stories of trials worse than death.

As estimated by Amnesty International, 34,000 individuals were tortured in this harrowing era of the Philippines's history. Victims, some alive to tell the tales and others subsequently killed in the process, bore the marks of torture on their bodies: burns, injection marks, bruises, and, more common in women, sexual abuse.

They will never be prepared to recount and relive the memories of their suffering. In front of the Supreme Court, Trinidad Herrera, an urban poor leader, bravely stood and recalled her share of electrocution in the Marcos era: wires were attached to her fingers, electrocuted until bleeding point, and were transferred to her nipples. Loretta Ann Rosales similarly testified in court, recounting her experience with torture by electric shock. Both these testimonies were provided to prevent the dictator's burial in the Libingan ng mga Bayani - a feat that surprisingly failed.

Then-newlywed May Verzola-Rodriguez was arrested and repeatedly punched, slapped, and molested by her torturers. Luisa Posa recalled having been given the infamous "water cure," wherein gallons of water would be forced into her mouth. She was subsequently subjected to the Russian roulette, whereby the barrel of a revolver would be loaded with one bullet, leaving the victim wondering by which shot she would die.

The weights of their immeasurable suffering would be written in history books. Yet, the emotions and senses in those moments of suffering would be ingrained in their minds forever, leaving the victims of Martial Law scarred beyond our imaginations.

" Maging mayaman ka, maging mahirap, basta taliwas sa kagustuhan ni Marcos ang iyong ginagawa, pwede kang mamatay. "

These are the words of Maria Cristina Bawagan, a political prisoner and torture survivor during the Martial Law period. Bawagan and fellow survivor Hilda Narciso recalled their past experiences in detention for the younger generations "to reveal the truth, to learn from the past, to have respect for human rights, and to be willing to sacrifice for this cause."

An unsung heroine of heroines

True enough, the hundreds of student-activists in the Marcos era all sacrificed their lives for one cause: the freedom of the Filipino people from the clutches of the dictator. Without fear, young men and women would claim the streets as theirs, marching for Lady Justice. It was dangerous, but it was right.

Seeing life in poverty was what drove her to become one of those activists. At a young age, her thoughts were of the concerns of her fellowmen, bringing her deeper into activism. With discussions and demonstrations on political awakening, police brutality, and student organization, it was hard to turn a blind eye towards the amassing issues in the political climate.

It was then that she and other women started to discuss the role of women in politics, activism, and democratic struggle. She realized that establishing an all-female organization dedicated to initiating and engaging in discourse on women's rights and involvement in social and political affairs would serve as a hallmark and an avenue to raise concerns and actively abolish the oppression against women. It was then that Maria Lorena Barros, or Lorrie as her friends called her, founded Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan (Free Movement of New Women), or MAKIBAKA.

MAKIBAKA was not your ordinary student organization. Lorrie's organization articulated the oppression of women in all aspects and the need for women's liberation through participation in nationalist struggle. While the men around her constantly reminded her that "a woman's place is in the household," Lorrie's motto was one quite unlike expected: "The Filipino woman's place is in the struggle."

In the Philippine Martial Law era, Ferdinand Marcos suspended the writ of habeas corpus, therefore allowing warrantless arrests for "persons judicially charged for rebellion". In the dictator's handbook, Lorrie's involvement as a student-activist in MAKIBAKA was a cause for concern; her strength limited his power. She, along with 62 other student leaders, were charged with subversion, causing her to flee to the countryside and join the New People's Army to continue to aid in the national democratic movement.

Her strength brought her to an armed encounter in 1976, costing her life. She died an honorable death, with her beliefs and advocacies as aspirations, and her story as an inspiration for future generations. We tell her story to inspire others to do as she did: fight for just causes.

Never forget.

What radicalized you? What experiences in your life made you think? Which moment changed you?

The women in the Martial Law era suffered a great deal: torture, rape, death, rage, sorrow, and pain. Their stories remind us that erasing the past will erase their experiences - erase their rage, their sorrow, and their pain. Their stories remind us that 1972 isn't just a random year, that Ferdinand Marcos wasn't just a president of the Philippines, and that Martial Law isn't just an event to be memorized for a test. These unsung heroines remind us that we should do better as citizens of our country - that we should be as brave as they were, regardless of our background, social status, or gender.

Our elementary textbooks, our friends, and even our family will silence us, because the stories of Martial Law are 'too gory and grievous'; that's what makes them bold. These stories should be told because of the mere fact that they are 'too gory and grievous.' These stories make us uncomfortable, these experiences make us enraged, and these moments make us realize that these stories were those of people fighting for their freedom; that should never be seen as something wrong.

For the 48 th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law, let us never forget the injustices against our fellow men and women, let us never forget the bravery of our fellow men and women, and let us never forget the fire that burns within us.
Retell their stories. Never forget. REFERENCES
Hapal, D.K. (2016). Worse than death: Torture methods during martial law. Rappler. Retrieved from https://rappler.com/nation/torture-martial-law-marcos-regime

Olea, R.V. (2016). Martial law victims speak: 'Do not forget our suffering'. Bulatlat. Retrieved from https://www.bulatlat.com/2016/08/31/martial-law-victims-speak-not-forget-suffering/

University of the Philippines Los Banos. (2019). Survivors recall Martial Law ordeal. Retrieved from https://uplb.edu.ph/campus/survivors-recall-martial-law-ordeal/

Ledesma, C.K. (2015). Women in revolution: Maria Lorena Barros and MAKIBAKA. National Democratic Front of the Philippines. Retrieved from https://ndfp.org/women-in-revolution-maria-lorena-barros-and-makibaka/

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Written by Anna DivinagraciaEdited by Dona MarabeGraphics by Xixi Tankiamco This article contains strong language, sexual content, graphic narratives, and other themes that may not be suitable for younger audiences. Kindly read at your own discretion. What radicalized you? What experiences in your life made you think? Which moment changed you?

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