Lakas CMD vice-presidential aspirant and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte has urged members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community to reject discrimination and stand up for their rights.
“Do not allow people to define you because of your gender, because of your beliefs, because of your age,” Duterte said during the meet-and-greet with members of LGBT Pilipinas at the Great Eastern Hotel Thursday.
She added: “You should only allow people to define you kung ano ang kaalaman niyo, hindi kung ano ang laman ng puso niyo.”
Duterte admitted early exposure to an LGBT family member had a profound influence on her character.
In fact, it can be argued that this experience helped mold the person that Duterte is today — an open-minded, non-judgmental leader who defends LGBT rights and all notions of equality.
“Alam niyo po nung ako ay bininyagan, dalawa lang po ang aking god parents. Mayroon ako isang ninong, at meron akong isang ninang, ‘yung ninong ko hindi po pala ninong, ninang po pala,” Duterte said.
Duterte said the latter, who is her mom’s brother, was an openly gay man during the 1970s, a time when the idea of LGBT “was not yet mainstream.”
According to the lady mayor, she would spend every summer in Manila at the home of her “ninang uncle.”
“Kaya po maaga ako namulat sa inclusivity dahil, hindi ko ever narinig sa aking mga magulang sa aking mga lolo at lola, even sa mga kapatid nila sa mga uncle ko, hindi namin pinag-usapan, kinutsa, hindi nila tinanong. Hindi nila kinuwestyon ang aking ninong na ninang,” Mayor Duterte recounted.
LGBT inclusivity pertains to equal treatment of members in the LGBT community, be it at home or in the workplace.
Because of these learnings, the Lakas-CMD official makes it a point that the LGBT community never gets left behind in her local development projects.
One such project is the “Rainbow Magnegosyo Ta Dai”, the beneficiaries of which are all LGBT.
A project centered on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) development, Rainbow Magnegosyo Ta Dai is an offshoot of Davao local government’s original Magnegosyo Ta Dai for women.
For his part, Gerald Tan, National Secretary of LGBT Pilipinas, a national alliance of LGBT organizations, networks, and allied groups across the Philippines, expressed the group’s full support for the UniTeam vice presidential candidate.
“On this election, ladies and gentlemen, we will have to make our rainbow votes felt for the candidacy of UniTeam and our future Vice President Sara Duterte,” Tan said.
He highlighted the historic recognition of President Rodrigo Duterte of LGBTs during the LGBT Pilipinas convention at Malacañang Palace in December 2019.
“No sitting Philippine president has ever done this. Ito ang pinakauna sa kasaysayan na pinahintulutan tayo ng ating mahal na pangulo na makipag dialogo sa kanya sa Malacañang,” Tan said.
LGBT Pilipinas is the first and only SEC-registered national alliance of LGBT in the country.
Supporting the BBM-Sara tandem, he said, is the best way to advance the critical dialogue and capitalize on what they have achieved in the areas of equal rights and LGBT welfare under the PRRD administration.
“We would like to push for ‘policy continuity’ and further our small victories by supporting former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos for president and Mayor Inday Sara for vice president in 2022,” he said.
“We are a strong force to reckon with. Kung meron silang INC block voting, meron rin tayong LGBT Block voting.”
Based on recent unofficial census, he said the Philippines has more than 3.5 million LGBT voters.