LGBTQIA

• LGBTQIA+


  Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual
• Around the world, LGBTQIA+ Individuals continue to face widespread violence and discrimination
• In America, the first study to examine the issue was conducted in a year 2016 reported that 71.1% violent victimizations per 1,000 persons a year, compared with 19.2% per 1,000 a year to those non sexual and gender minorities
• In Asia, including the Philippines, a research coordinated by IGLHRC it found out that LGBT people faced this frequent violence and daily discrimination without any protection from the state
• International Human Rights Law


  Establishes legal obligations on States to ensure protection to the rights of LGBTQIA+ people experienced violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity around the world
• United Nations Human Rights Treaty bodies


  • United Nations Human Rights Committee
  • Committee in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
  • Committee on Rights of a Child
  • Committee Against Torture
  • Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
• These Committees have confirmed that Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity are included among prohibited grounds of Violence and Discrimination to the LGBTQIA+ People around the world
• Obligation to respect


  States must refrain from interfering with or curtailing the enjoyment of human rights
• Obligation to protect


  States must protect individuals and groups against human rights abuses
• Obligation to fulfil


  States must take positive action to facilitate the enjoyment of basic human rights
• According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights are the rights that inherent to all human beings and all equally entitled to human rights without discrimination, whatever nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any status, such as age, disability, health status, sexual orientation or gender identity
• Yogyakarta Principles


  A set of principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity
• The Yogyakarta Principles were developed and unanimously adopted by a distinguished group of human rights experts
• Yogyakarta Principles


  • They provide recommendations to non state actors
  • They do not create new rights
  • They address a broad range of human right issues
  • They essentially lay out the obligations States should fulfill to ensure that LGBTQ people can enjoy the same human rights as everyone else in society
• The report examines the protection of the rights of LGBT people in the Philippines under the broad categories of: Education, Health, Employment, Family Affairs, Religion, Media, Politics
• The 1985 Philippine Constitutions states that: "The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights"
• In the Bill of Rights Article 3, Section 1, it enshrines in its due process and equal protection clauses that: "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws"
• In the "Ang Ladlad" case, the Supreme Court ruled that the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender have the same interest in participating in the party-list on the same basis as other political parties similarly situated
• In March 2016, the Trans Murder Monitoring Project listed 41 reported cases of transgender people murdered in the Philippines since 2018
• The case of Jennifer Laude, a transgender woman who was brutally killed by Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, a US Marine in 2014
• The Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 (Republic Act 10627) includes gender-based bullying as a prohibited and punishable act in educational institutions
• The Monitoring Project listed 41 reported cases of transgender people murdered in the country since 2018 e.g. The case of Jennifer Laude
• Jennifer Laude, a transgender woman, was brutally killed by Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, a US Marine


  October 11, 2014
• The Regional Trial Court of Olongapo City ruled that Mr. Pemberton was guilty of homicide and not the murder, sentencing him for a period of 10-12 years and later reduced to 10 years


  December 1, 2015
• The court argued that it was the discovery of Jennifer Laude having male genitalia which disgusted and repulsed Pemberton and caused such heated passion
• The court decided that Pemberton has no malicious intent to kill, reducing the murder charge to homicide, and in September 2020 Mr. Pemberton was subject to absolute pardon
• The Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 (Republic Act 10627) includes gender-based bullying as a prohibited and punishable act
• Gender-based Bullying


  Any act that humiliates or excludes a person on the basis of perceived or actual orientation and gender identity (SOGI)
• Bullying is committed by a Principal, teacher or any other school personnel under the Department of Education Order No. 40 on the child policy protection
• The Special Protection of Children against Child Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act of 1992 (Anti-Child Abuse Act of Republic Act 7610) covers instances of Physical, Psychological Injury, or Cruelty on the basis of child's SOGI
• The Labor Code of the Philippines (PD 442) is the national law covering employment for the private sector in the Philippines
• The Labor Code declares that the "State shall afford protection to labor, promote full employment, ensure equal work opportunities"
• The reality shows a different picture since members of the LGBTQ+ encounter hardship in accessing work opportunities because of discrimination
• The Civil Service Commission's Policy on Anti-Sexual Harassment (CSC No. 01-0940) prohibits "derogatory and degrading remarks or innuendoes" directed toward the members of one's sex, or one's sexual orientation or use to describe a person
• Gender identity is not specifically mentioned as a ground in the CSC policy, so if a LGBTQ+ civil servant is harassed verbally by co-workers, they would be able to rely on the generic protection from "derogatory and degrading remarks"
• There is no specific national law to protect Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex or LGBTQIA+ people against discrimination in the Philippines
• A number of jurisdictions have effectively enacted the ANTI-DISCRIMINATION ORDINANCES that include Sexual Orientation and/or Gender Identity and Expression for human rights protection
• As of October 2015, 11.4% of Filipinos reside in areas protected against discrimination, while 88.6% or 82 million Filipinos are without protection against discrimination
• As of May 2017, several cities, provinces, municipalities and barangays in the Philippines have enacted Anti-discrimination Ordinances on the basis of SOGIE
• In October 2020, then-Manila mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso signed the Manila LGBTQI Protection Ordinance (Ordinance No. 8695)