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The election of Geraldine Roman as Bataan representative has focused attention once more on the issue of transgender women. This time, under a more positive light, unlike the high profile death of another transgender in the hands of a young American soldier. Roman—who follows in the footsteps of her parents Antonino and Herminia who both served as Bataan 1st District representatives—has broken the proverbial glass ceiling as her win (by an overwhelming 62 percent of the votes) indicates that Filipinos are indeed becoming more accepting of the members of the LGBT community, seeing them for the individuals that they are and focusing on their qualifications instead of giving in to long-held biases. Not an easy feat considering that the Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country.
Roman after all has the credentials and qualification – not to mention the political pedigree which in this country, matters a lot to the electorate (whether for good or bad is on a case-to-case basis. Compared to other legislators (the Senate included), Roman has better qualifications. She is after all well educated, having attended Ateneo and the University of the Philippines, obtaining two master’s degrees from the University of the Basque in Spain according to her published CV. And oh, she reportedly speaks several languages—Spanish, French, Italian.
A journalist by profession, Roman is expected to add her voice to the 17th Congress and perhaps focus on issues close to the heart of the LGBT community like gender discrimination, for instance. During the campaign, she admitted having been bullied in school but it was her parents who gave her the confidence and the strength to stay true to her “identity.”
Geraldine (who had sex reassignment surgery and had her gender legally changed) of course is more fortunate than others who continue to suffer from discrimination and bullying. Even those who go through sex reassignment and other procedures to become totally female in appearance still go through rough times—and this usually happens the minute they open their mouths because the voice that comes out is that of a male’s (baritone for many).
Can you just imagine the moment when an attractive female in a sexy getup, who’s getting second and third looks from interested guys who try a pickup line suddenly responds in an unmistakably masculine voice? According to reports, this small clinic in South Korea is slowly gaining a reputation as the go-to surgical facility for “voice feminization” surgeries.
Known as the Yeson Voice Center (whose tagline goes “A Better Life With A Newer Voice”), this facility is said to be South Korea’s first and largest institution that provides specialized care and surgery for voice. Going through the website with its medical explanations will probably cause one to “nosebleed” but the bottom line is that it has helped a lot of trannies have a voice – literally – that can make a big difference in their lives.
According to reports, the state-of-the-art “phonoplasty” center started offering voice feminization surgery in 1999 and to date, has treated almost 400 patients that come from all over the globe, with Americans being the top patients (almost 25 percent). The clinic’s fame has spread by word of mouth and through the power of social media with interest spiking up when a happy patient created a video diary of her experience. Since then, Dr. Hyung Tae Kim, the hospital director, has become in demand, so to speak. Yeson by the way is a combination of the Chinese word “ye” which means art, and the French word “son” which means sound. In other words, “artistic sound.”
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