LGBTQIA organization Bahaghari slammed the Philippine government’s outright rejection of the recommendations of a United Nations body to pass laws protecting LGBTQIA people’s rights, as well as marriage equality.
Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointee and Justice Sec. Jesus Crispin Remulla, who represented the Philippine government in the UN Universal Periodic Review, declared that these “unacceptable” for a Catholic country.
According to Reyna Valmores, Bahaghari’s chairperson, “Sec. Remulla should be reminded of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which explicitly states that the separation of Church and State is inviolable. It is absurd and in gross violation of the Constitution for the Marcos admin to cite religious text as basis for rejecting much-needed laws for gender equality and human rights.”
In truth, Remulla’s use of Christianity as an excuse to be anti-LGBTQIA can be questioned.
“Even predominantly Catholic countries like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, and Mexico have instituted marriage equality and other laws for women and LGBTQIA persons,” Valmores said. “If Catholic faith is to be the basis anyway, Remulla’s argument is moot. To be a good Catholic is to be for gender equality, to support laws on SOGIESC, women’s rights, and marriage equality.”
Bahaghari similarly made note of the Marcos admin’s track record on LGBTQIA rights.
“Marcos Jr. has not once mentioned the LGBTQIA community in his 1st State of the Nation Address. Even during the campaign season, he has repeatedly been silent and refused to certify the SOGIESC Equality Bill as urgent despite persistent calls by LGBTQIA Filipinos. We have never been a priority for this administration,” Valmores said. And now, “the Marcos administration not only continues its silence, but even preposterously declares that laws for gender equality are ‘unacceptable’. If anything is truly unacceptable, it is having a president who refuses to listen to the plight of the LGBTQI+ community, a president who has spent the last months in office partying and jet-setting around the world, refusing to meaningfully aid Filipinos in crisis.”
