MANILA --

A bill seeking to eliminate gender-related discrimination has raised tough questions from
conservative legislators worried that it may inadvertently infringe on the rights of others
in the Philippines.

Senators have begun committee debates on the proposal to penalize discrimination

based on one’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression (SOGIE), a
divisive issue in a predominantly Catholic country where a birth control law was passed
just 6 years ago.

SOGIE supporters were hoping to build on that momentum, despite strong opposition
from the likes of Senate President Vicente Sotto III, who argued that a more
encompassing anti-discrimination bill might be a better option.

Sotto: A man will never be a woman

Sotto was also at the forefront of the campaign against the reproductive health law, and
now occupies a greater position of influence in the upper chamber.

But Sotto will have only 1 vote as any other senator, said Sen. Risa Hontiveros,
principal author of a version of the SOGIE bill, adding it had a “good fighting chance” in
the current Congress.

“I don’t consider it a roadblock,” she told ABS-CBN News.

“I know that they have opposing opinions, so I deal with them on that basis,” she said,
referring to fellow senators who had openly expressed misgivings over her bill.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he would certify the SOGIE bill as urgent.
But Malacañang later clarified he was referring to an anti-discrimination measure, not
the one specifically for LGBT people.

Duterte to certify as urgent anti-discrimination bill, not SOGIE: Palace

STIGMA

The proposal is seen as a protection for “individuals and communities that experience
human rights violations on the basis of SOGIE.”

But details of what would constitute “discriminatory practices” must be carefully

scrutinized, said Sen. Joel Villanueva, son of the leader of one of the biggest Christian
churches in the Philippines.

His father, evangelist Bro. Eddie Villanueva of the Jesus Is Lord church, sits in the
House of Representatives.
'What happens to Christians like me?' Eddie Villanueva says SOGIE bill 'imperils
freedom of religion'

The bill defines “stigma” as the “dynamic devaluation and dehumanization of an

individual in the eyes of others.”

Villanueva sought clarification on whether a religious institution’s scripture-based

teaching that same-sex relationship is a sin would constitute a “stigma” for LGBT
people.

Or can a Catholic school exclusive to girls be compelled to accept transgender women,

a question posed by Sen. Nancy Binay in a previous hearing?

Not just 'SOGIE': Bullied for her skin, Binay seeks 'universal' anti-discrimination bill

“Until now, ang hindi naipapaliwanag nang husto, meron bang matatapakan tayong
rights, because yung rights not to be discriminated, given yun e,” Villanueva told ABS-
CBN News.

(Until now, it has not been explained fully. Are there rights that will be violated because
the right against discrimination is a given.)

Hontiveros said her bill would not penalize schools run by religious organizations if they
opted not to accept transgender children, consistent with their beliefs.

CAKESHOP CASE

In 2012, a baker in the United State came under fire for refusing to make a wedding
cake for a gay couple. The couple refused to buy elsewhere and sued.

The US Supreme Court later ruled in favor of the cake shop owner, upholding his right
to his religious beliefs and free expression.

US top court rules for baker in gay wedding cake case

Villanueva said a similar case might arise in the Philippines pitting religious beliefs
against anti-discrimination guarantees, if the SOGIE was passed into law.

“These are very sensitive issues that should be addressed first,” he said.

“It’s sad that there are a lot of attacks—from both sides—without really looking
specifically into the provisions of the bill.”

Hontiveros said her proposal respected religious freedom.

But if the cake shop case happened here, the senator said the owner would have the
"legal obligation to practice non-discrimination," citing the business permit issued by the
local government.

"The principle of the bill is he would have to sell the cake," she said.

"If we are able to pass the bill into law and parts of the bill are assailed in court, then let
it be."

‘SUPERFICIAL DIFFERENCE’

The bill makes fine distinctions among gender expression, gender identify, and sexual
orientation.

In gender identity, an individual may have a “male or female identity with the
physiological characteristics of the opposite sex,” according to the bill.

It defines sexual orientation as the “direction of emotional sexual attraction or conduct.”

Gender expression is the “outward manifestation of the cultural traits that enable a
person to identify as male or female,” it said.

Such definitions are deemed as a “superficial difference,” according to Courage

Philippines, a Roman Catholic group “providing spiritual support for men and women
with same-sex attractions.”

“To classify individuals according to their sexual orientation is unreasonable,” it said.

“Notwithstanding the argument that sexual orientation can be changed, the indicators of
gender identity — manners of clothing, inclinations, and behavior — are also undeniably
factors in social science that can change relatively in time.”

FEELINGS

“It’s important to note that it’s very hard, perhaps it’s impossible for us to legislate a
measure based on feelings,” said Villanueva.

“If you say na I feel like I’m a woman but I’m actually a man, and then the next day, I say
otherwise, pano yun (what will happen)?” he added, warning of possible difficulties in
implementing a SOGIE law.

The bill, critics warn, may also raise complications in certain sports events if, say, a
trans woman sought to compete in the women’s category.
Hontiveros said she had read online about a trans woman who defeated a woman in a
mixed-martial arts bout.

Reports quoted the vanquished fighter as supposedly saying: “I’ve never felt so
overpowered ever in my life and I am an abnormally strong female in my own right.”

Hontiveros said concerns about ensuring fair play in sports could be tackled during
deliberations on the SOGIE bill.

“That’s a fair area for discussion and debate,” she said. “We could possibly put
safeguards... I believe, the community, the advocates would also be open to
amendments regarding physicality.”

BACKDOOR?

Critics of the bill warned it could essentially allow same-sex unions.

The provision in question will penalize a person who would “deny an application for or
revoke, on the basis of SOGIE, any government license, authority, clearance, permit,
certification, or other similar documents necessary to exercise a profession, business,
or any other legitimate calling.”

Rizalito David, executive director of Prolife Philippines, said a same-sex couple could
sue an agency for discrimination, if an application for marriage license was rejected.

"And if you have a Supreme Court that is liberal, mangyayari dyan, judicial legislation,
male-legalize ang same-sex marriage through judicial legislation, not by congressional
act," he said.

Hontiveros said the bill would not be a backdoor to legalize same-sex marriage,
insisting there was no mention of it.

"You can go through the SOGIE bill with a fine-tooth comb," she said.

"Although it was superfluous, we were willing to put in a specific provision that this does
not cover marriage licenses."

ANOTHER SOGIE BILL OPINION (© 2018 Philstar Global Corporation.)

Padilla: What’s with the SOGIE bill?

DAPHNE PADILLA (SUNSTAR NEWS PAPER)

Obiter Dictum

September 23, 2019

LET me begin with what the SOGIE bill is not. It is not about same-sex marriage and it
is not about changing the sex indicated in the birth certificate. Now, after having said
that, let’s do the specifics.

SOGIE stands for Sexual Orientation (SO), Gender Identity (GI) and Expression
(E). Sexual Orientation is to whom a person is sexually attracted and often this is
represented by the rainbow because of the different colors. The most common
sexual orientations are: Asexual (not sexually attracted to anyone or has no desire to
act on attraction to anyone; bisexual (attracted to people of one’s own gender and those
of other genders); gay (man attracted to another men; Lesbian (woman attracted to
another woman), straight (attracted to the opposite sex).

Gender Identity is about how a person presents/identifies gender. A cisgender feels that
the gender assigned at birth is true to what s/he is. A transgender is the opposite. The
birth assignment is different from what s/he feels. So in the Philippines we have
transmen and transwomen. Think of Aiza Seguerra, Jake Zyrus, Angie Mead-King and
Vice Ganda.

Gender Expression is how a person expresses self-image through appearance,

language and even lifestyle.

So, if one really thinks about it, everyone has SOGIE.

The SOGIE Bill protects Filipinos from anti-discrimination. It has no special rights for the
LGBTQIA but if they are maligned because of their SOGIE, the law, if passed, is a
safeguard. For example, when a transwoman is not allowed entry at a bar because of
her attire as she “should dress like a man”, that is discrimination and anti-SOGIE. When
someone who expresses one’s self akin to Aiza Seguerra or Jake Zyrus is banned from
using the fitting room for “not looking female” that is also discrimination and anti-SOGIE.
When I, a cisgender female, is cited for being un-feminine because I sit “de quarto”
while listening to a lecture, that is also discrimination and so is shaming a male speaker
for wearing a pink shirt and probably turning gay.

The violations would include: denial of access to medical and health services, refusal or
revocation of accreditation, formal recognition or registration of any organization, or
institution, forced medical or psychological examination to determine and/or alter a
person’s SOGIE, harassment by the police or military.

Those guilty then are fined (100k to 500k) or can be imprisoned (one to twelve years).
Passing a law then means that ignorance about SOGIE is not an excuse and would
then require institutions like schools to educate their students and organizations to
make their employees of SOGIE. As my favorite nun, Sister Mary John has expressed:
The SOGIE equality bill does not give special rights or any privilege to these people. As
a religious woman I believe in respect and compassion.”

You see, the bill goes beyond which toilet one goes to and really what could probably
solve that: a third rainbow (all gender) toilet.

ANOTHER SOGIE BILL OPINION

Congress divided on SOGIE bill

By Edu Punay (The Philippine Star) - September 8, 2019 - 12:00am

Several members of the lower house expressed support for the controversial measure,
while others have registered their strong opposition.

File

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers in the House of Representatives are divided over

the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression (SOGIE) bill.

Several members of the lower house expressed support for the controversial measure,
while others have registered their strong opposition.

Among the supporters of the SOGIE bill, Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor
believed that the proposed measure is necessary to address discrimination against
members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

“For me, I view this as protection of rights of LBGT. There’s a different

perspective saying this is imposing rights of LGBT on others. But for me that’s
not the case. This is just to address discrimination because in promotion or
designation in workplace there should be no discrimination based on gender
identity and biases,” he said during the airing of The Chiefs on One News last
Thursday night.

Defensor said he agrees with the concern of critics that the SOGIE bill has some
problematic provisions, including one that prohibits engaging in public speech to shame
LGBT members.

He conceded that such a provision would clash with religious freedom, as churches
normally attack the LGBT community in their worship activities.
 “But you can still pass this law because that provision is easy to fix. You can just put the
phrase ‘subject to recognition of religious freedom’,” he suggested.

On the other hand, Deputy Speaker and Cibac party-list Rep. Eddie Villanueva has led
the opposition to the SOGIE bills filed in Congress.

In his recent privilege speech, the television evangelist-turned-politician urged his

colleagues in lower congress to reject the proposed law that regained support following
the recent discrimination incident against transgender woman Gretchen Custodio Diez
in a mall in Quezon City.

The Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide founder stressed that such a measure is not
necessary since “all fundamental rights of a person – regardless of his/her ethnicity,
social class, religious affiliation or gender identity – are already enshrined in our existing
laws. Violation of such rights will be penalized accordingly. To enact another law that
upholds one sector’s perceived rights over the rights of other people who do not belong
to that sector is simply unfair and, in fact, equally discriminatory. It will be a law of
‘preferential rights,’ a ‘class legislation,’” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Sen. Imee Marcos said yesterday that the SOGIE bill is “dead” in the
Senate.

Marcos, who filed her version of the SOGIE bill, lamented that discussions on the
proposal in the Senate as well as outside Congress have become too acrimonious that
the measure has become a casualty.

She asserted her support for the bill, citing her roots in the creative industry. “We
certainly owe them a great deal,” the senator told the Manila Overseas Press Club. “But
at the same time, I believe the SOGIE bill in the Senate is dead. I think it is over,”
Marcos lamented.

“The politics or the strategy has been all wrong so that it’s become very, very
controversial, unnecessarily so,” she added.

She, however, is pinning her hopes on President Duterte’s promise to create a body for
the LGBT community.

“So it’s very important that we hang on to that. At the end of the day we are all for the
persecuted, the oppressed, the prejudiced and the abandoned,” the senator said.
Meanwhile, Senate President Vicente Sotto III hit back at those who criticized his
statement against the bill.

“I hate to say this but I have to. If you are a man, you will never be a woman. No matter
what you do, because you cannot reproduce, you cannot give birth, you do not have
ovaries, you will never be a woman,” Sotto told reporters on Wednesday.

“Can a man who feels he is a woman apply for maternity leave to be equal to biological
women?” he continued on Twitter yesterday after members of the LGBT community
maintained giving birth is not the only mark of being a woman.

Responding to the comments of Sotto, actor-comedian Vice Ganda, on his Instagram,

expressed a lengthy disagreement, asking the lawmaker if what he said was a joke.
“Are you saying you believe that, to be a woman, you have to have ovaries or a uterus
and have the ability to get pregnant or give birth?” he began, posting the caption in
Filipino.

Vice Ganda also asked Sotto if women who’ve had their ovaries removed due to illness,
or who are unable to get pregnant, could still be called “women.” – With Paolo Romero,
Cecille Suerte Felipe

ANOTHER SOGIE BILL OPINION

SOGIE Equality Bill (WIKIPEDIA SOURCE)

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the
talk page.

The Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE, Tagalog: Equality Bill ,
also known as the Anti-Discrimination Bill (ADB), is a proposed legislation of the
Congress of the Philippines. It is intended to prevent various economic and public
accommodation-related acts of discrimination against people based on their sexual
orientation, gender identity or expression. The current versions of the bill are
championed by Kaka Bag-ao, Geraldine Roman, and Tom Villarin in the House of
Representatives, and Risa Hontiveros in the Senate. The version in the House of
Representative passed its third reading most recently on September 20, 2017, but died
in the Senate. It has been refiled for the 18th Congress.

Legislative historyEdit

The bill was first filed in congress in 2000 by then-senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago
and then-Akbayan party-list Representative Etta Rosales. The bill passed 3rd reading in
the House but stalled in the Senate. Similar measures were filed by other senators in
the 15th and 16th congresses without success.The bill was re-filed by Defensor-
Santiago in every congressional period in the Senate until her last term in 2016. The
counterpart bill in the House was also filed continuously by the representatives of
Akbayan party-list.

17th CongressEdit

In 2017, House Bill No. 4982, sponsored by Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bag-ao (the
principal author of the measure since her first term), Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman,
Akbayan Party-List Rep. Tomas Villarin, and several others, was not approved on third
and final reading for the first time since 2001 with 198 members of the House of
Representatives voting for the bill and none opposing it, a historic pro-LGBT move from
the House of Representatives.

The counterpart bill in the Senate, filed by Senator Risa Hontiveros (the first Akbayan
senator), was in the period of interpolations by May 2018. It is backed by Senators
Loren Legarda, Grace Poe, Nancy Binay, Franklin Drilon, Bam Aquino, Chiz Escudero,
Ralph Recto, Sonny Angara, JV Ejercito, Francis Pangilinan, Juan Miguel Zubiri, and
Leila de Lima, although de Lima is barred from voting on the bill as she is currently in
police custody.It was opposed by Senators Tito Sotto, Manny Pacquiao, Cynthia Villar,
and Joel Villanueva (who signed up as a co-author of the bill).Other senators such as
Win Gatchalian, Koko Pimentel, Antonio Trillanes, Panfilo Lacson, and Richard J.
Gordon have not yet expressed their support or rejection of the bill. Senator Trillanes is
currently facing cases that may put him in jail, which may make him ineligible to vote for
the bill like senator De Lima if he is arrested. Additionally, Alan Peter Cayetano and
Gregorio Honasan no longer have voting rights on Senate measures as they declined to
be part of the presidential cabinet.Out of the existing 24 Senate seats: 12 seats support
and can vote on the bill; 1 seat supports but cannot vote on the bill (although the
number may rise to 2); 4 seats oppose and can vote on the bill; 5 seats can vote on the
bill but have not yet given their positions on it (although the number may be reduced to
5); and 2 seats are de facto vacated.[11] For a bill to pass the Senate, it needs a vote of
50% (12) of the body, plus one (1) vote for a total of thirteen (13) votes. The SOGIE
Equality Bill currently is supported by 12 seats that are allowed to vote on the measure.

The bill is also supported by the Catholic student governments of University of the
Philippines-Diliman (UPD), Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), De La Salle
University(DLSU)-Manila, De La Salle - College of St. Benilde (CSB), Far Eastern
University (FEU), Miriam College (MC), St. Scholastica's College (SSC)-Manila and San
Beda University (SBU). The longest running LGBT student organization, UP Babaylan,
has also been supporting the bill ever since it was first filed, as well as known celebrities
and icons such as Heart Evangelista, Nadine Lustre, Bianca Gonzalez, Iza Calzado,
Charo Santos-Concio, Dingdong Dantes, Joey Mead King, Divine Lee, Karen Davila,
Chot Reyes, Tootsy Angara, BJ Pascual, Samantha Lee, Christine Bersola-Babao, Rajo
Laurel, Tim Yap, Anne Curtis, Mari Jasmine, Laureen Uy, Pia Wurtzbach, Lorenzo
Tañada III, Vice Ganda, Arnold Van Opstal, and Chel Diokno

In March 2018, a small group of Christians protested at the Senate against the SOGIE
bill by calling the proposed legislation an 'abomination', adding that homosexuality is
allegedly a 'sin' citing that their hate is credible because it is supposedly written in the
Bible and that viewing that identifying as part of the LGBT community is a lifestyle.The
group also claimed that the bill relates to same-sex marriage, which is not found
anywhere within the bill.Senators Villanueva, Gatchalian, and Villar spoke against
same-sex marriage after the protest. In May 2018, senator Tito Sotto, who opposes the
SOGIE bill, became the new Senate President. In an interview, Sotto was asked on the
bill's passage, to which he responded, "Not in this congress."

In July 2018, various high-profile celebrities rallied for the passage of the SOGIE bill.
They also called out senators Sotto, Pacquiao, and Villanueva to end the debates and
pass the proposed legislation. In August 2018, on the height of the bill's postponed
debates, various discrimination events against the Filipino LGBT community surfaced,
causing public calling for the passage of the SOGIE Equality Bill in the Senate.
Numerous influential personalities, including political allies of the three senators who
oppose the bill, sided with the calls to pass the landmark proposal.

In January 2019, fake news and chain mail claiming that there are 'satanic' and 'same-
sex marriage' provisions in the SOGIE bill began circulating, a move to dislodge the
bill's progress. The actual bill does not have any satanic nor same-sex marriage
provisions.

In May 2019, the SOGIE Equality Bill officially became the longest-running bill under
the Senate interpellation period in Philippine history. Supporters of the bill have
remarked that the prolonged interpellation was intended by the dissenters to block the
passage of the historic anti-discrimination bill. The bill's principal author and sponsor in
the Senate, senator Risa Hontiveros, has again called on her Senate colleagues to
formally close the interpellation period, so that the bill can finally be subject for
amendments and voting. In June 2019, with the end of the session of the 17th
Congress, the SOGIE Equality Bill prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation, gender identity or expression -- after the lawmakers failed to tackle the bill in
this session of the Senate of the Philippines. The Senate version of the bill was first filed
in August 11, 2016. It was sponsored by Risa Hontiveros in December 14 of the same
year. The bill has become one of the slowest-moving bills in the country’s history. The
passed house version of the bill would have penalised discrimination with a fine of not
less than ₱100,000 but not more than ₱500,000, or imprisonment of not less than one
year but not more than six years or both, depending on the court's decision. However,
she said the bill had gained new allies and wider acceptance among policy makers and
the public and that she is confident the bill will pass in the next Congress. The bill was
archived, and the bill must again be refiled in the 18th Congress, starting over the one
to three-year process of enactment again.