The LGBT community HAVE found a valuable ally in the country’s first transgender House representative, Bataan’s Geraldine Roman, who is pushing for the passage of the Anti-Discriminatory Bill on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.
Roman delivered an emotional privilege speech recounting how her own father, the late Bataan Rep Tony Roman, was “willing to beg” for respect for his transgender daughter.
The lawmaker said that she was pleasantly surprised by the support that the bill is getting from her colleagues in the 17th Congress, who have treated her “with dignity and respect that is due all human beings.”
“I was expecting more hesitance on the part of my colleagues,” she told Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Dinagat Island Rep. Kaka Bag-ao said that same-sex marriage was one of the contentious issues surrounding the bill, which has been unpopular with lawmakers for the past 17 years.
However, Roman emphasized that the bill has nothing to do with same-sex marriage.
The bill would push for granting equality to the LGBT for access to basic services, treatment from government agencies, schools, the workplace and recreational areas, she said.
