LGBTQIA organization Bahaghari blasted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who marked Pride this 2023 by claiming in his weekly vlog that LGBTQIA Filipinos must be “free from discrimination”.
“Sa bagong Pilipinas, ang Pilipino ay malaya sa diskriminasyon o pagkutya,” Marcos said.
For Reyna Valmores, Bahaghari’s chairperson, “actions speak louder than vlogs”, adding that Marcos’s Pride message is just “a hollow motherhood statement.”
Marcos has continued past administrations’ non-prioritization of the passage of the SOGIESC Equality Bill that is supposed to protect the human rights of LGBTQIA Filipinos. Various versions of this anti-discrimination bill has been marinating in Congress for over 20 years already.
“Kung totoong gusto ni Pangulong Marcos na maging malaya tayo sa diskriminasyon, icertify niya muna as urgent ang SOGIE Equality Bill. Kung totoong gusto niyang maging tagataguyod ng pamilya ang mga LGBT, taasan niya muna ang minimum wage para sa lahat kabilang na ang mga nagtatrabahong LGBT, at magsalita si Marcos sa posisyon niya on having LGBT couples formally recognized by the state as family,” stressed Valmores.
