Quezon City urges LGUs to honor queer citizens

The Quezon City government on Thursday urged its fellow local government units (LGUs) to honor queer members of their respective areas, as the country celebrates Pride Month.

“I do encourage other local government units because it is part of our mandate as the leaders of our cities that everyone should be included in our growth,” City Mayor Maria Josefina G. Belmonte told reporters in Filipino during an interview.

“The sector of the rainbow community is very big in all cities, and sometimes they are neglected and they experience discrimination or stigma,” she added.

Quezon City is home to the so-called Asia’s largest Pride demonstration, which gathers LGBTQIA+ Filipinos and allies across Metro Manila.

The city earlier launched its month-long celebration, packed with events, to freely celebrate queer Filipinos and advance their fight for equal rights and dignity.

Among the programs included is a symbolic graduation rite for the LGBTQIA+ community members. The event, held on Thursday, aims to give the ‘rainbow graduates’ who did not have the chance to express their gender identity properly during their respective commencement exercises.

“Quezon City in particular prides itself with being a gender equal city,” she added. “This is something that is symbolic to the community to show them that here in our city, you are just the same as any other student that is graduating.”

“We heard those who spoke earlier… the many gender norms prevented them from being their true selves during this very important milestone in their lives,” she added.

18-year-old Frankie Merc T. Bernabe, one of the 220 rainbow graduates, said that the event allowed him to relive this academic achievement without the fear of being judged because of his sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression (SOGIE).

“I actually experienced discrimination because of who I am and how I look but I fought against it because I know what I am capable of as a student, ” he told BusinessWorld in an interview.

“This event has allowed me to wear what I want without feeling shameful because I know that I have a family within this community,” he added.

The main event of the city’s celebration is the #LOVELAB4N Pride Festival, scheduled for June 27 at the University of the Philippines Diliman. It will feature multiple activities, including the Pride March and Pride Expo.

“Our Love Laban in Diliman has four stages this year, and we are going to focus more on the march and less on the entertainment,” Ms. Belmonte said.

“The march is really our sign of protest against the status quo that has yet fully accepted the LGBTQIA+ sectors legally and in many other respects,” she added. “We encourage other LGUs to have their own pride celebrations so we can all celebrate Pride together all over the Philippines.”

Around 300,000 attendees are expected to join the annual Pride festival, up from the 250,000 recorded a year earlier. — Almira Louise S. Martinez