CHR: Killing of transgender in QC underscores need to pass SOGIE bill

MANILA, Philippines — The killing of a transgender man in Quezon City in what appears to be a hate crime only stresses the need to pass the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Equality (SOGIE) bill, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said on Saturday.

In a statement, CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said that the commission condemns the killing of online personality Ebeng Mayor.

“The [CHR, as the country’s Gender Ombud, denounces all forms of gender-based violence directed towards transgender and gender non-conforming people. For our part, we shall be conducting an independent investigation and shall work closely with the authorities in pursuing justice for Ebeng and their family,” De Guia said.

“The Commission has been relentless in pushing for the enactment of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill to provide legal mechanisms to hold to account perpetrators of gender-based discrimination,” she added.

A post from the Transman Equality and Awareness Movement – Philippines on Friday said that Mayor was missing for three days before his remains were found. 

He is also believed to have been a victim of rape.

According to the group, transgender men in the Philippines are very vulnerable to abuse, as the country supposedly condones rape culture.

“The trans masculine community is vulnerable to sexual violence in the Philippines, a country that condones rape culture and victim blaming and a president with a penchant for making rape jokes and derogatory remarks,” the group said.

“In a survey we conducted in 2017, 28% of college level LGBT students reported experiencing sexual harassment,” it added.

LINK TO POST:https://www.facebook.com/TEAMCebu.org/posts/3994162573964963

Currently, the SOGIE bill is still languishing in Congress amid debates on how the proposed measure would translate into same-sex marriage in the Philippines. 

According to SOGIE bill defenders, the legislation is merely an anti-discriminatory measure that would not only benefit members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA+) community.

In the Senate, an anti-discrimination bill by Senator Risa Hontiveros, which was derived from SOGIE ideologies, has hurdled the panel. 

This was after Senate President Vicente Sotto III said that the SOGIE bill itself would not go through the upper chamber, and that only a law that does not focus on the LGBTQIA+ community would be allowed.

 The CHR also noted the irony of the crime against Mayor, as it happened on the same week that the country celebrated the  International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT).

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