The labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines said Wednesday the discrimination experienced by transgender Gretchen Diez exposed the country’s great awareness and policy gaps on sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression.
In a statement, TUCP Party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza said the incident, if unchecked, would continue to happen to more transgenders because there was lack of SOGIE sensitive and responsive awareness and orientation among the people.
The TUCP issued the statement after Diez was handcuffed and brought to the police station for using a female toilet in a mall in Quezon City.
In related developments:
• Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte denounced the discrimination against a transgender inside Farmers Plaza in Cubao despite an ordinance protecting the rights of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex community.
“We condemn this kind of discrimination toward members of the LGBT+ community,” she said, referring to the incident involving Diez.
She said the incident should have not occurred due to the existence of the Gender Fair Ordinance that prohibits all forms of discrimination against the LGBT+ sector.
Diez was detained by police after she was barred from using the ladies’ restroom by a female janitor inside the mall at Araneta Center, a commercial area known for its public displays of support for the LGBTQ+ community.
“This type of discrimination is bound to happen because there is also no mandatory SOGIE sensitive and responsive workplace and business policy standards that businesses and employers must abide to,” (sic) the TUCP said.
• Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman, replying to questions, said straight women who feel offended by the presence of transgender individuals should not use toilets in malls and other places where human beings congregate.
A reporter asked Roman, who admitted to having undergone a sex change operation, on what to do with women who are not present in the company of trans-women in the toilet for females.
Roman answered: “Why, do they go to the bathroom to get offended or whatnot. They should just use the cubicle to do their thing. They should not talk to the transgender.”
• Farmers Plaza Property Manager Morriel A. Abogado, in a statement released to media, said: “It’s an unfortunate incident that Farmers Plaza management would like to assure the public we could never condone.
“We would like to apologize to Ms. Diez for the treatment she has received from a member of the cleaning crew. We also would like to extend the apology not just to the LGBT community but to the public in general for the actions of said crew member.
“After reviewing all the reports, and the video Ms. Diez has uploaded on Facebook, we assure the aggrieved party and the public that we are looking into the matter, and will take appropriate action.
“We have also since contacted the agency that employs Ms. Ganal to demand that they take action as well. We wish to clarify that handcuffing Ms. Diez was not the idea of Farmers Plaza management, nor was it done within our premises. We are unaware of the reason or basis why the police thought this was necessary at all.”
Mendoza said it was high time to revisit the SOGIE-sensitive Anti-Discrimination Bill in both the Senate and the House of Representatives and to ensure high standards and immediate compliance for our transgenders alongside a serious nationwide awareness campaign.
The TUCP also called on the Department of Labor and Employment to immediately institute a SOGIE sensitive and responsive workplace policy in all workplaces including awareness among employers and employees nationwide.
“We have our ordinance that would look after their rights,” Belmonte said.
“Under the ordinance, discrimination against the LGBTQI is not allowed and is even a human rights violation,” she added.
The city mayor said the management of Farmers Mall “clearly” violated the ordinance for its failure to put up an “all-gender toilets” for the LGBT+ community.
“I have instructed the city’s Business Permit and Licensing Department to immediately ensure that all business establishments are complying with the Gender Fair Ordinance,” she said.
She gave the members of the LGBT+ community the assurance that Quezon City will always protect their rights and be a home for their sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression.“We do not support any kind of violence and discrimination in our city. Sa atin pong LGBT+ community, protektado ang karapatan ninyo sa QC,” she guaranteed.
A janitress of the mall supposedly forcibly pulled out Diez out of a comfort room for women on Tuesday.
