Hair shaved two inches on the sides, three inches at the back — for most Filipino schools, the “Barber’s Cut” is a mandatory style expected of male students. Coupled with a crisp polo, pants and colorless nails, strict gender-based dress codes leave no room to express one’s individuality.
For most queer people, these rules dictating what “should” and “should not be” discourage them from living out their preferred gender expression and identity. To challenge this, numerous advocates who are fighting for genuine representation are slowly changing the norm to be more inclusive.
Among them is one young Cebuana who has dedicated her time to making academic spaces more welcoming to the LGBTQIA+ community: 23-year-old Edrine Durante.
Pride amid prejudice
During the 2022 Commencement Exercises of the University of the Philippines Cebu, students were permitted to dress according to their lived identities and were also recognized by their preferred names. At the forefront of this policy change was Edrine Durante — a transwoman who sought the right of queer students to be acknowledged by their “true selves.”
Like the recent reforms, Edrine’s journey to self-discovery did not happen overnight. She grew up thinking that all gay people would have to undergo the process of transitioning. It was only in eighth grade that she realized the existence of transgenders and figured she was one. Her family — jeepney driver Edward, housewife Catherine and younger sister Laurice — all support her identity, but she was initially reluctant to open up to them.
“I would find hesitations on the side of my dad because I was the only boy in the family. Like the typical Filipino expectation, I should be the one to carry our surname. However, my dad started to accept it when I was in high school because I slowly proved to them that I was academically inclined, and I wasn’t a jinx like what society usually associates with the LGBTQIA+ community,” she recalled.
The struggle did not stop once she came out either. At present, she stands confidently with her long-flowing hair and dainty dresses — a big contrast during her early transition when she found it difficult to express herself publicly. She used to feel hesitant about wearing feminine clothes with her masculine body, feeling judged for her broad shoulders and muscular physique.
This was when she realized how important it was for trans people to have safe spaces where they are accepted for who they are, free from deadnaming and heteronormative prescribed attire.
During Edrine’s first year of college, she experienced failures in her academics as she struggled with the decision to transition or not. It was only when she acknowledged her identity as a transwoman and found herself accepted inside the university that she lived out her full potential.
Beauty, brains and boldness
Filled with the passion to create a more inclusive environment for queer people, she took her opportunities and used them to fulfill her mission.
Edrine was crowned as the first-ever “Queen of Cebu City North” last year. This came as a surprise as she did not have any experience with pageants and was only set to be a reserve candidate.
Still, she carried out the responsibilities tied with her title. She became a representative of the student sector for Cebu City’s Anti-Discrimination Commission, a government organization committed to helping the local LGBTQIA+ scene.
Her main platform was to hold dialogues with different schools in the city with the hopes of changing the rules that are restrictive for queer students. With the City Council and Sangguniang Kabataan, she was able to establish compromises in policy reforms with these academic institutions. She proudly remembers one of the successful moments of her project:
“We were able to find a common ground between the students and the school’s policies. In one of the schools we approached, they now have this rule that transwomen are allowed to lengthen their hair as long as they keep it clean. Slowly, we’re getting there.”
This advocacy was also manifested during her undergraduate years, where she served as an officer of the University Student Council. In her term as councilor, she passed a resolution that allowed students to have their affirmed names and preferred attire during graduation rites without any prior permission. Before this, they had to undergo the lengthy process of submitting letters and waiting for approval from the administration.
As the chairperson of the UP Ecological Society (UPECS), she helped in making their annual “Mr. and Ms. UPECS” pageant to be more gender-inclusive. A transwoman was acknowledged as a valid candidate for the “Miss UPECS” title — a feat never done before. This was Jem Orapa, a fellow Biology student and friend of Edrine.
“Allowing people to become their true self allows them to grow in a space that’s nurturing to them. For the institutions that hinder people to express themselves, it’s really time to move on from socially backward standards because it strangles people to hide their truth,” she shared.
No more troubled tomorrow
Edrine currently works as a research assistant for “Project Rehab” at her alma mater, UP Cebu’s Department of Biology and Environmental Society. As a true advocate, she also desires for more trans representation in the academe. She contends that they are not to be constrained to a box of pageants, entertainment or business — they are as much as capable as anyone else.
As she continues to hope for a future that truly accommodates queerness, she gives the LGBTQIA+ community an important advice as it navigates through a world difficult to fit in:
“Find your anchor of strength. If you know you are well-founded with this anchor, you know that your sail will never get misled, and you’ll be on the right path. Know that you are enough and know that you deserve all the great things in the world.”