Statement of Senator Risa Hontiveros on PRIDE month celebration
June 16, 2023
STATEMENT OF SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS ON PRIDE MONTH CELEBRATION
Magandang araw, my fellow allies!
A happy, happy PRIDE month to us all!
I want to share a quite loving observation about the syntax of our language. Sa wika natin, we don't say he or she. We cannot. Instead, we could say "sila". In English that loosely translates to "they". We don't say brother or sister, we can only say "kapatid". Again loosely translated, that could mean "sibling". I say loosely translated because these English words cannot convey the intimacy of "sila" and "kapatid". Through these everyday words, it is clear that the gender of a person is not nearly as important as their personhood, as the fact that they are our fellow human beings. In our own language, the person, the human, the Filipino, is always intimately privileged over any personal opinions of gender or sexuality. The Sexual Orientation Gender Identity and Expression or SOGIE Equality Bill takes this very Filipino value and reasserts as our way of life because this is not true for society today, where opinions of gender and sexuality have a hold over whether a child is afforded protection from bullying, whether one is allowed access to quality education or fair livelihood or emergency healthcare. From women to members of the LGBTQIA+ community, discrimination on the basis of SOGIE is real and felt.
As I always say, the bill is fundamental, practical even. It is an explicit articulation of basic rights, of access to basic services necessary for a life of dignity and quality, regardless of ANYONE'S sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, because yes, we all do have SOGIE.
For those who think that this is a special bill for the LGBTQIA+ community, one need only look at the numbers recently released by the UN. 9 out of 10 persons are still biased against women. And in the Philippines, the UNDP says 99.5% of Filipinos hold some sort of bias against women. Our hard-won rights and paradigm shifts could be lost if we do not explicitly make efforts to protect them in our laws and in our institutions. In this modern age, to hear numbers or reports like these sound alien. But no matter how harsh the truth, the truth should be our north star. The SOGIE Equality Bill is crucial in any conversation about changing the status quo, protecting the rights we won, and recovering victories that we have let slip between our fingers.
I believe that we have never been as close to passing this bill as we are now. The House of Representatives recently passed their version. The ball is in the Senate's court. I take hope in the fact that many of my colleagues at the Senate have expressed that they are ready to voge this bill into law.
In the most technical sense, the bill has not been certified urgent. But to say that this bill is not urgent is an insult to the many long suffering many Filipinos who are economically and socially excluded from participating in our most basic societal processes. At the end of the day, no matter what your opinion on SOGIE is, we all pay the cost. And the ones who must endure the greatest pains are women, and most especially, the LGBTQIA+ community.
But in the most recent pronouncement of the bill's non-urgency, I believe, is an opportunity. It is clear now what we must emphasize in this Congress to take advantage of the staunch support this bill has. The most support we need at the moment is your sense of urgency. Our collective resources must be poured into showing that the bill is urgent. When there is an overwhelming clamor for the bill's urgency to be heard at the Senate, I believe the dams will be opened, and no one will be able to resist the wave that will come. I know the road has been long, but you are always that much closer. Do not let go.
Dear members of the LGBTQIA+ community, allies and advocates, it is important to keep on carving out spaces for joy and community, not just this month but always. Kasama ko kayo, in this march, and all the days to come until equality is ours. Mabuhay ang LGBTQIA+ community! Mabuhay ang mga Pilipino!
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VIDEO STATEMENT LINK:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jAcKrlG8g23Op5dobFcJp1CIoUJw94rW/view
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