Escudero pushes for LGBT rights

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

SEN. FRANCIS “Chiz” Escudero is urging the government to take proactive steps in safeguarding the rights and welfare of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community by passing the anti-discrimination bill.

“I ultimately believe that each and every Filipino should have equal rights, access to basic social services, and should be protected from all kinds of discrimination,” said Escudero in a press statement. He is the front-runner in all preelection surveys for vice president.

In 2014, Escudero co-authored Senate Bill 2358, also known as the Anti-Discrimination bill, along with his presidential running mate Sen. Grace Poe, which makes any form of discrimination a “crime against humanity and human dignity.”

The bill prohibits discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, race, religion or belief, sex or gender or sexual orientation, language, disability, educational attainment and other forms of discrimination.

“I believe that whoever you are, wherever you are from, you should be treated equally and should enjoy the same rights as citizens,” he said.

Citing a basic principle in social justice that those who have less in life should have more in law, the veteran legislator said the LGBT community, a sector of society that is often neglected, is also repeatedly stigmatized by different discriminatory remarks.