The Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, or SOGIE, Bill proudly presents itself as an “Equality Bill” that aims to put an end to alleged existential gender-based discrimination in the Philippines.
This legal shield of protection is a solution looking for a problem — discriminatory, divisive, insidious, and unnecessary as the Philippines is avowedly a Christian nation that accepts and respects human persons of whatever race, gender, color, or religion.
The SOGIE Bill, which has failed to pass into law, was first introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago in the 11th Congress as the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Bill. Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman picked up the initiative and refiled it under House Bill 134.
At face value, the bill’s objective looks noble and well-intentioned but delving deeper into the implications of the SOGIE Bill, one can conclude that it is self-incriminating, another wanton waste of precious congressional time, and even stigmatizes the LGBTQ+1 sector. It purportedly aims to promote an ideal workplace standard that has dubious and unclear values in Philippine society.
Today, 67 countries (the Philippines not being one of them) criminalize homosexuality in various confused policies that carry penalties ranging from humiliation, imprisonment, and death and are implemented by enforcers who capriciously define the “suspicious” sexual orientation of individuals.
Had there been an exhaustive consultation conducted by the legislator concerned, preceded by a thorough study on the documented magnitudes of actual discriminatory and abusive workplace practices against the differently gendered, the bill would have been found to be superfluous.
This process was necessary to expose real imminent threats to the life, liberty, honor, and persons of this particular sector to justify the crafting of the SOGIE Bill.
Passing this half-studied measure into law may result in reverse discrimination as it would unduly provide warrantless overprotection and give preferential treatment to a wrongly perceived “endangered species.” The SOGIE Bill, together with a large number of bills on excessive holidays and paid leaves for workers, unfairly portrays some lawmakers as being obsessive in their delusional desire to champion, protect, and safeguard the welfare of workers to the point of absurdity.
These bills have the unintended consequence of harming the employment opportunities of the imagined beneficiaries and obstructing national economic development plans.
In life, overparenting always produces spoiled, scared, and insecure children. Similarly, the SOGIE Bill is overparenting that overprotects the perceived “threatened” workers and gives them either a harmful sense of entitlement or makes them more insecure as they view every act of co-workers as a threat to their gender.
Today, 67 countries (the Philippines not being one of them) criminalize homosexuality in various confused policies that carry penalties
The SOGIE Bill may even discourage enterprises from hiring those who belong to the LGBTQ+1 groups as it will require employers to be extremely vigilant and exert unusual special care for these particular employees to avoid unwarranted grievances and labor cases and to maintain harmony in the workplace.
Fact check. We have many LGBTQ+1 who are successful artists, CEOs, business and political leaders, and preferred workers whom the SOGIE Bill patronizingly tries to overprotect from yet-to-be-proven abuses.
The electorate would prefer our legislators to remain focused and deliberate on the more pressing need to pass appropriate laws to address our troubled economy, respond to threats against peace and order and national security, promote better public governance, and fulfill many other aspirational goals in the Philippine Constitution.