The representative of the 1st District of Bataan defended the proposed Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Equality bill, saying it is not anti-family.
Rep. Geraldine Roman, the first transgender woman to be elected to Congress, said the SOGIE bill is an anti-discrimination bill and “will not redefine what a family is.”
“This bill will not redefine what a family is. So to those who accuse this very positive and welcome legislative measure as being anti-family, mag hunos dili kayo, basahin nyo bill instead of repeating like a mantra na para kayong mga trolls na ito ay anti-family,” Roman said during the online hearing of the House committee on women and gender equality on Wednesday.
(This bill will not redefine what a family is. So to those who accuse this very positive and welcome legislative measure as being anti-family, control yourself. Read the bill instead of repeating like a mantra, like trolls who say that this is anti-family.)
“Yes to SOGIE Equality Bill, yes to the family dahil bahagi din po kami ng pamilya bahagi kami ng lipunan,” she added.
(Yes to SOGIE Equality Bill, yes to the family because we are also part of families, and we are part of the society.)
Roman: SOGIE bill will not redefine meaning of family
Roman explained that the SOGIE Bill does not cover controversial topics such as same-sex marriage, civil unions, and gender recognition that would permit the change “our legal markers” as these are “totally different issues” from the anti-discrimination measure.
“It hurts me as a Catholic to see comments on FB live na sinasabi that SOGIE Equality Bill is anti-family. Malinaw na sinabi ng ating mahal na Santo Papa that LGBT people deserve to have families and to be in families, and that they should not be shunned away and ostracized or marginalized,” Roman said.
“Equality bill is anti family? It hurts me. Take into consideration na napakaraming LGBTs na sumusuporta mga pamilya, nag assawa mga kapatid nila… napaka dami contributions ng LGBT sa dating lipunan,” she added.
The SOGIE bill was approved on final reading in the 17th Congress. However, its counterpart bill in the Senate only weakened during interpellation.