Marking Pride 2023, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed his supposed support for the LGBTQIA community, saying that all Filipinos must be “free, open-minded, and free from discrimination”.
“Sa bagong Pilipinas ang Pilipino ay malaya, at sa bagong Pilipinas ang Pilipino ay malawak ang isipan at malaya sa diskriminasyon o pagkutya. ‘Yan ang mensaheng patuloy nating pag-iigtingin,” Marcos said via his YouTube vlog. “Ang kanilang hindi matatawarang kontribyusyon sa iba’t ibang larangan at pakikipagsabayan sa kanino man ang mga responsible at walang kapaguran na tagapag taguyod ng kanilang pamilya at tahanan.”
But while Marcos similarly stated that the government and society as a whole must support the LGBTQIA sector as they too contribute to nation building, he has not identified the SOGIESC Equality Bill – the current version of the anti-discrimination bill – as a priority legislation of his administration. This continues past administrations’ non-focus on the LGBTQIA community even if the proposed law that eyes to protect the human rights of LGBTQIA Filipinos has been pending in Congress for over 20 years already.
“Mahalaga na patuloy ang pagsuporta, pagrespeto at pagkilala sa kanilang mahalagang ginagampanan na bahagi sa ating lipunan,” Marcos added. “Palakpakan natin sila at ipagmalaki dahil sa kanilang pagsasabuhay ng husay at galing ng ating mga Pilipino.”
