(New York) - The Philippine Congress should move quickly to enact a landmark bill to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to members of the legislature. The Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resource Development will hold a hearing on the bill tomorrow.
“The Philippines has an opportunity to join the ranks of countries that have extended full equality to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people,” said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “Equality delayed is dignity denied.”
Senate Bill 1738, sponsored by Senator Ramon Revilla, would bar discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, education, medical care, housing and the provision of services. It would affirm the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people to freedom of association. It would also ban forced medical testing or treatment that attempts to identify, or change, a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Philippine LGBT activists, including the Lesbian and Gay Legislative Advocacy Network (LAGABLAB), have campaigned for the passage of antidiscrimination legislation for more than seven years. Similar bills in the past have languished amid procedural delays.
Responding to support from human rights activists, the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resource Development has scheduled a hearing on the bill for August 9.
A counterpart bill in the House of Representatives (House Bill No. 634), sponsored by Representatives Mayong Aguja, Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel and Etta Rosales, has been approved by the House Committee on Civil, Political and Human Rights on first reading.
“Sometimes defending the simplest principles takes the greatest courage,” said Long. “Legislators must stand up and speak out for basic fairness. The time is now.”
