Locsin: Sotto must be ‘Senate President for life’ for having ‘most sapience’
MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Thursday said that Senator Vicente Sotto III deserves to be “Senate President for life” for suggesting the term “Homo Sapiens” for all – lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, queers, intersexuals, and asexuals (LGBTQIA+) or not.
Sotto made the pronouncement during Wednesday’s Senate session when the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) Equality bill was discussed and some senators found themselves quite struggling with the definition of LGBTQIA+.
“Why the lengthy letters?” Sotto noted. “Why not just Homo Sapiens? We’re all the same.”
Putting his two cents on the matter, Locsin tweeted: “Beautiful. ‘Homo Sapiens. We are all the same.’ Can’t think of better word except ‘people’ – or ‘feefohl’ as we say it.”
Beautiful. "Homo Sapiens. We are all the same." Can't think of better word except "people"—or "feefohl" as we say it. We're all "homo"—with varying degrees of sapience. Sotto has the most sapience which is expressed by common sense. He should be Senate President for life. https://t.co/R8fWvJ8Yid
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) August 15, 2019
“We’re all ‘homo’ – with varying degrees of sapience. Sotto has the most sapience which is expressed by common sense. He should be Senate President for life,” he added.
SOGIE
Senator Risa Hontiveros delivered a privilege speech on Wednesday and renewed her call for the urgent passage of SOGIE bill, which criminalizes all forms of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. This cane after a transwoman was barred from using a toilet designated for women in a Quezon City mall.
READ: LGBTIQA+? ‘Why not just Homo Sapiens? We’re all the same’ – Sotto
While Hontiveros acknowledged Sotto’s point, she said it would have been unnecessary to coin such term to refer to a certain sector of society if only there were no discrimination against the LGBTIQA+ community.
“Hindi po sana kailangan mag-segregate kung ‘yung human civilization natin at mga societies natin ay nag-evolve to the point na walang discrimination, may equality among all, regardless of identity, regardless of expression,” she noted. /kga
