Transgender House transformer

Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman

Geraldine Roman still keeps old snapshots of herself when she was identified as “Gerardo,” and had yet to make the transition to the woman she is today.

But the Bataan representative, the country’s first transgender elected official, does not bother to look at the photos anymore. “I am much more beautiful now,” she said with a laugh.

Since entering the public sphere, Roman, 49, has not shared her “before-and-after” pictures, believing they will serve no legitimate purpose except to “satisfy (people’s) baser instincts like curiosity.”

Articulate and charismatic, the neophyte congresswoman has spent the past three months learning the ropes of legislative work and getting to know fellow representatives at the House.

Roman, a Liberal Party member who belongs to President Duterte’s supermajority, hopes to win over her colleagues and muster support for the 24 bills she has filed so far, including the latest incarnation of the antidiscrimination bill for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, a measure that has languished in Congress for many years.

Last month, she defended during her first privilege speech the bill that would penalize discriminatory practices against LGBT individuals and offer them equal state protection.

Well-applauded

Her debut on the plenary floor was well-applauded. “(My colleagues) were very supportive. When I asked for signatures on the petition, they all signed, no questions asked,” she recalled.

Even the conservative Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza gave his support, with a caveat: “Geraldine, you can count on me for this but not for same-sex marriage.” Roman had replied: “That’s a totally different story.”

For all its reputation as a cradle of machismo, the House had welcomed her with open arms, Roman said. “[There has been] no sneering behind my back. Everybody has been respectful. I cannot complain,” she said.

She was most surprised about the acceptance she had least expected from her Muslim colleagues. “I thought Muslim women would be very conservative in their views but they’re very progressive,” Roman said, adding: “In the same way I have discovered this beautiful truth about my Muslim colleagues, they have also discovered the beautiful truth that a transgender woman like (me) is just an ordinary human you can work with,” she said.

Roman, now the face of transgender folk in Philippine politics, acknowledged that her election victory might have little to do with her gender.

“I won not because I am a transgender woman but because of the good record of my parents. They planted good seeds so I’m reaping the fruits. My being transgender (was) incidental,” she said.

Born on April 23, 1967, Roman is the second of four children of former Bataan Representatives Herminia Roman and the late Antonino Jr.

In 1989, she moved to Spain where she worked as a journalist after completing her master’s in Spanish at Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana, and getting a journalism degree at Universidad del Pais Vasco. She is fluent in Spanish, French and Italian.

It was at university where she met her Spanish partner. They have been together for 18 years.

In 2012, Roman returned home to care for her ailing father. In May this year, she won her seat by a landslide despite a smear campaign launched by her opponents who called her “a castrated chicken, (who would shortchange the public).”

But what hurt most, she said, was when they said “God does not like me (when) all my life I’ve tried to be a good Christian.”

Her sincerity must have gotten through to the voters, Roman said, adding that she presented her real self, campaigning with her pearls, makeup and Japanese umbrella despite people’s well-meaning advice against them. “(That) became a fashion statement, my branding,” she said.

Roman has lived as a woman for the past 22 years. In 1994, at 27, she had sexual reassignment surgery in New York and had her name and gender officially changed a year later. “Now my mind, heart, psyche are in harmony with my body,” she said.

When she attended her high school homecoming at Ateneo, Roman said she was “scared at first, thinking what their reaction would be.”

But her worries soon vanished. “It was so funny because my classmates did not recognize me. They thought I was the wife of one of them,” she said, laughing. “Then my best friends recognized me. They were very happy for me.”

Their principal, Fr. Alberto Ampil S.J. grabbed her arm and introduced her to the teachers as the “first alumna” of Ateneo High School, which has since become co-ed.  “I felt accepted,” she said.

Now if only the public would treat other LGBT the same way, Roman said.