THREE years after the passage of City Ordinance 2357 of 2014, or the Quezon City Gender-Fair Ordinance, Mayor Herbert Bautista on Wednesday ordered city hall employees belonging to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender sector to organize themselves into a “solid group.”
He issued a memorandum to all department and office heads to submit a list of employees—whether permanent, contractual or job order—who identify themselves as members of the LGBT community.
The deadline for submitting the list is Sept. 15.
“The purpose of the said list is for registration, profiling and inclusion for [sic] the Quezon City Transgender Employees and Gay Association [QC TEGA],” Bautista said.
The three-year-old measure mandates the city government “to actively work for the elimination of all forms of discrimination that violate the equal protection clause of the Bill of Rights enshrined in the Constitution, existing laws, and The Yogyakarta Principles; and to value the dignity of every person, guarantee full respect for human rights and give the highest priority to measures that protect and enhance the right of all people; regardless of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression [SOGIE].”
Earlier, the mayor ordered the city’s 142 barangays to create their own pride councils as part of the city’s comprehensive implementation of anti-discrimination policy and programs based on the SOGIE.
A city resolution said the barangays must create their own pride council to integrate and synchronize the projects and programs of the LGBT community.
City Ordinance 2357-2014 is recognizing the social, economic, cultural and political potential that will allow people with diverse SOGIE to achieve full participation in development and in the exercise of their human rights.