Transgender persons still invisible in the law — advocates

A United Nations Development Programme report released on June 22 has declared that "there is no comprehensive attention paid in any regulation, law or policy towards the protection from discrimination and legal gender recognition for transgender people."

The report, "Legal Gender Recognition in the Philippines: A Legal and Policy Review," examined the existing laws in the country that are meant to protect transgender persons and recognize their rights.

Currently, there are no available legal means for transgender persons to change their gender marker on their birth certificates and other documents.

The report specified the explicit prohibition to change gender in the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Clerical Error Law of 2001 as an example of the indifference of the state to the needs of transgender people.

Cabral lists the reasons why gender recognition is important | @gmanews pic.twitter.com/bUIxe7eQyd

— Aya Tantiangco Miura ?????‍???? (@ayaruim) June 21, 2018

"We really are invisible in the law and the law is not relevant to our need," Magdalena Robinson of the Cebu United Rainbow LGBT Sector said during the launch of the report at Balay Kalinaw at the University of the Philippines - Diliman.

"We are invisible and we are not recognized and we are perceived to be carrying false identities," she added.

Although there are provisions in the Labor Code and the Magna Carta of Women, as well as ordinances that exist to protect members of the LGBTQIA+ community from discrimination, transgender people's identities are still negated.

In an interview with GMA News Online, AR Arcon of TvT (Transrespect vs Transphobia) agreed and said that the gap is in the implementation of the law and the interpretation.

The laws focus on "human rights and dignity," but it might be failing to elaborate on what these human rights are and it also erases some identities because of its broad strokes.

How protected are members of the LGBTQIA+ community in the PHL? | @gmanews pic.twitter.com/MAIEsN3ZtD

— Aya Tantiangco Miura ?????‍???? (@ayaruim) June 21, 2018

How protected are members of the LGBTQIA+ community in the PHL? | @gmanews pic.twitter.com/LzYskjW7yb

— Aya Tantiangco Miura ?????‍???? (@ayaruim) June 21, 2018

"Alam ba nila kung ano 'yong meaning ng sexual orientation? Maybe not and if you ask on a community level, they don't know what gender identity is or what sexual orientation is... they just know tomboy or bakla," Arcon said.

Asked to comment on the incident where a guard at a branch of H&M Philippines prevented a transwoman from fitting a swimsuit because he insisted that she is male, Arcon said it's important to look at H&M's company policy and if it matches the guard's action.

"Alam ba nila kung may policy talaga 'yong H&M or any company or is it just their interpretation and their perception of gender," he said.

H&M Philippines indeed clarified that they a zero-tolerance policy against discrimination and the transwoman who was involved in the incident said that it would benefit the company to "orient their staff" about these policies.

Arcon said that iSOGIE (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression) training would have a tremendous impact towards a more accepting society, but this type of campaign requires commitment from different sectors.

"There are measures and programs that are being pushed for like the gender-sensitivity training in the PNP, but due to the limited funding, limited lang din 'yong reach ng mga program na gano'n," Arcon said. — RSJ, GMA News