Cover SOGIE Bill in 2024: Status, updates, and more (Photo: Dondi Tawatao / Stringer via Getty Images)
SOGIE Bill in 2024: Status, updates, and more (Photo: Dondi Tawatao / Stringer via Getty Images)
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This Pride Month, we take a look at how the bill protecting the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community—the SOGIE Bill—is faring in the lower and higher seats
They say there is no true equality in the world. Despite this, we find ways to level the playing field—supporting marginalised communities and advocating for inclusive policies that ensure equal opportunities for all. The LGBTQIA+ community, in particular, deserves these rights, especially in the Philippines, where tolerance is prevalent but acceptance remains elusive. In the 2021 Social Acceptance of LGBTI People report by the UCLA School of Law, we ranked 36th out of 175 countries, indicating a degree of societal openness. However, the lack of essential national laws undermines this supposed acceptance.
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Members of the community continue to be discriminated against. We see more and more people out of the closet, but some still face prejudice and even hostility. Filipino actor Ian Veneracion, for example, recently defended his daughter, Deirdre, from attacks on her sexuality. “Seriously, let’s all just cut the b*llsh*t,” he said. “People should be honoured and respected for their compassion, courage, and integrity—not for the choices they make in the privacy of their bedrooms. [I am] proud of my daughter for embodying these values. Who she loves is her business.”
Deirdre is not the only one. In a recent Tatler interview, trans-singer-songwriter Jake Zyrus reveals that after coming out, some people “were supportive, but many were negative.” It was and is a difficult time for him, personally and professionally.
Injustices also span from misgendering and harassment to being denied access to social services and healthcare and gatekeeping from jobs and learning opportunities.
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The SOGIE (sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression) Bill aims to provide members with their rights and protection and address these issues, but it has remained at a standstill in both the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines—for approximately 23 years now.
In 2022, progress came in the form of the SOGIE Equality Bill passed through the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality. Unfortunately, it has since encountered prolonged delays and delay tactics. The Department of Justice has also recently rejected the recommendations to accelerate efforts in passing the law from the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
On June 3 this year, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero shared how the anti-discrimination bill has a better chance of Senate approval than the SOGIE Bill. “Unless the proponents of the SOGIE Bill accede to some amendments, it will continue to face rough sailing in the Senate. The anti-discrimination bill, I believe, has a better chance of passing this year,” he explained.
“Nineteen of my colleagues signed the committee report on the SOGIESC Equality Bill. That should speak to its acceptability across the aisle,” said Senator Risa Hontiveros in response to the new leadership’s insights. “I have asked the Majority Leader to look into the committee report, which has remained pending in the Committee on Rules, and he has promised to do so,” she added.
Regardless of the hurdles, LGBTQIA+ groups and organisations remain steadfast in their hope for the passage of the SOGIE Bill—an anti-discrimination act solely focused on SOGIE. They are actively urging President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr to certify the bill as urgent.
“The bill, once enacted into law, will protect everyone, especially persons of diverse SOGIE, from discrimination, bullying, and harassment, in line with the goals of Executive Order No. 51,” stated the Equality Alliance, a coalition of allies supporting the cause. Additionally, the bill will “safeguard our country’s economy from the unnecessary costs of discrimination by promoting inclusive workplaces. It will also enhance LGBTQIA+ persons’ access to healthcare and education, ultimately improving the quality of life for Filipino families.”
Amnesty International fully endorses the cause: “We call on the members of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives to fulfil your obligation to ‘protect and enhance the right of all the people to human dignity,’ and to work swiftly towards the passage of the SOGIE Bill.”
With local government units like Quezon City taking action—holding commitment ceremonies for Filipino queer couples and graduation ceremonies for students barred from marching due to SOGIE—it’s high time the entire country follows suit.
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Angela Nicole Regis Guiral is the assistant digital editor of Tatler Philippines. She studied journalism and has since written features that look closely at how culture, lifestyle and social impact converge, while occasionally wandering into the worlds of style and travel.
