Transpinays make human rights history with UN communication

CSWCD, UP Diliman -- The Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP), the pioneer transgender human rights organization in the Philippines, makes history as they send off a communication to the United Nations (UN) that calls attention to state responsibilities of the Philippine Government as a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to pay careful attention to how the justice system updates itself with current developments in international human rights law in its understanding of gender identity through the lived experiences of transsexual women.

"The launch of this historical and important communication to the United Nations comes at a very opportune time what with the recent hurtful pronouncements made by the mother of Congressman Manny Pacquiao. Mommy Dionisia has made comments about transsexuals and their use of the pill showing the widespread ignorance about transsexualism in the Philippines," says STRAP Chairwoman Naomi Fontanos.

The communication aims to put a spotlight on the plight of transpinays (transsexual Filipinas) and their struggle with institutionalized transphobia--the negative attitude towards transgender people that leads to cruelty, abuse and discrimination--as demonstrated by the 2008 Supreme Court (SC) decision that denied a transsexual woman's petition for legal name and sex change. The communication, which highlights the debilitating effects of the the SC decision on the lives of three transpinays--Naomi Fontanos, Juliana Geissel and Rio Moreno--was made possible in collaboration with the Women and Development (WD) Women and the Law class 2010-2011 of the College of Social Work and Community Development (CSWCD) under Atty. Evalyn Ursua.

The communication will be launched and sent off to the UN at the CSWCD grounds at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman at 5:30 pm on 23 May 2011. The event is open to the public.

11th Transgender Day of Remembrace (TDOR)

This year, STRAP is partnering with the first-ever TLBG student group in the University of the Philippines (UP) system, UP Babaylan to commemorate the International Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) (see the beautiful poster above created by our very own Ms. Dee Mendoza). The TDOR is meant to honor people who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. It began a decade ago after the death of Rita Hester who was brutally murdered in November 1998. Hester’s death resulted in the creation of the Remembering Our Dead website and a candlelight vigil in 1999. Henceforth, transgender people killed due to hatred are honored in annual TDOR activities worldwide.

We are holding TDOR week in UP and our activities are as follows:
November 24 - 27, 2009, UP Diliman Campus, Quezon City

Nov. 24 (Tue.)
10:00 AM, TDOR Exhibit Opening | Palma Hall Lobby (Exhibit runs until the 27th)

Nov. 27 (Fri.)
2:30 - 5:00 PM, TRANSCEND: Stories and Struggles of Transpeople in the Philippines (Forum) | UP Diliman Gender Office, Benton Hall

6:00 PM, Candle-lighting Ceremony | Palma Hall Lobby

We hope that you can join us in all these activities. We will really appreciate it. To participate or for inquiries, contact STRAP Secretary Mae Emmanuel Hernandez at mobile (0905.352.0943) and email (mushy.mae@gmail.com). Thank you. See you there!

A call for change

Below is the statement of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) on what happened recently to BB Gandanghari and her friends at a bar in Pasig City. It seems both ironic and fitting in the face of the global LGBT community preparing to commemorate this year (May 17, 2009) the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) with a spotlight on transphobia. What happened to BB and her friends stands proof that transphobia exists and is alive everywhere in the world.

A CALL FOR CHANGE
Statement of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) on the Aruba incident involving Binibini Gandanghari and her friends

We, the members of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred on the night of April 23, 2009, Thursday, to Binibini (BB for short) Gandanghari and her friends at Aruba Bar and Restaurant in Metrowalk, Pasig City. On that said night, Aruba, with no compunction and invoking its NO CROSSDRESSING policy, refused them entrance.

What happened to BB and her friends that night serves as proof of the rampant discrimination directed against many of us in the Filipino Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. With no national law that protects us and our welfare as citizens of the Philippines, we continue to experience unequal treatment in education, housing, health care, the legal system, employment and other public accommodations. What happened is also particularly telling of the specific kind of marginalization that Filipinos of transgender experience--or those whose gender identity and expression are not conventionally associated with their gender assignment at birth--face. We remain the most oppressed members of Philippine society and our rights as persons are continuously violated due to anti-transgender prejudice.

We in STRAP along with our allies, friends and supporters, therefore, see the need for change and:

• call for a dialogue with the Aruba management so that we may help its owners and staff, understand better the life of someone transgender.
• We are also calling the attention of the Philippine government especially the House of Representatives including the Commission on Human Rights to the need to grant civil rights protections to Filipino LGBT people based on the Yogyakarta Principles (www.yogyakartaprinciples.org), which apply international human rights standards to issues concerning sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.
• Lastly, we ask the Filipino public including the entertainers and artists who regularly perform in Aruba to boycott this establishment until it stops its discriminatory practice of refusing entry and service to people it perceives as “cross-dressers”. Continuing to enforce such a policy based on outdated and ignorant notions of gender denies the dignity inherent in every human person and perpetuates unnecessary inequity that does no one any good.

Signed:
Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP)

Supported by:
Ang Ladlad Partylist
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Advocates for Youth (GABAY)
Gay and Lesbian Activist Network for Gender Equality (GALANG)
Lesbian Advocates Philippines (LeAP)
Philippine Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC)
Rainbow Rights (R-Rights) Project, Inc.