THE anti-discrimination bill got the support of the Baguio Representative Mark Go after clarifying amendments to the proposed law.
Go said during the interpellation debates last week, he proposed to put into amendments stressing transgender men and women’s access to bathrooms.
Sexual Orientation Gender Identity Expression is now being tackled in a national level with advocates creating forums on the issue in a bid to fastback the passage of the house bill.
Go said the clarification from his end focused on oblivious expressions of gender which transgender men and women take on, allowing them access to bathrooms which reflect the gender they are taking on adding he has not banned the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community for access in bathrooms.
House Bill Number 4982 seeks to end discrimination for the LGBT community in the country, and provides concise, inclusive definitions for sexual orientation, gender orientation, gender identity and sex that also cover terms such as intersex and asexuality.
The bill also provides concise definitions of discrimination, marginalization, hate crimes, and stigma in a manner that allows the same to be actionable within the law enforcement and legal systems.
In the city, a local anti discrimination bill has been passed giving the LGBT community equal protection from all forms of abuse and discrimination.
The new law prohibits discrimination and enforces equality and espouses equal protection of the law regardless of religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity, health status, bisability, and age.
Months ago, a leading university in the city could have been in violation of the newly passed law when a transgender male Jennifer was told not to use the ladies bathroom because gays were not allowed to do that in campus.
A school supervisor waited for Jenifer outside the ladies bathroom and berated him from using the facility enough to embarrass the 17–year–old student who became the center of attention of the small crowd who heard the dressing down.
However, there was no complaints filed by the student.
Go said with the national law slowly going to place, there will be less incidents like this in the future.