A welcome move for the LBGTQ+

President Marcos’ issuance last week of Executive Order No. 51 should be welcome news to the country’s gay community.

According to Malacañang, the President saw the need to reinforce the Inter-agency Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, and create a Special Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQ+) Affairs “to ensure the country’s continuous compliance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.” Aside from strengthening existing mechanisms to address continued discrimination against the gay community, the EO also aims to provide them an avenue to help craft government policies, Mr. Marcos added.

The EO may be a timely response to an earlier call by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) for the government to keep an open mind on gay rights amid Congress’ foot-dragging on the sexual orientation and gender identity expression (Sogie) bill that has been languishing there for more than two decades now.

National pronouncements could either undermine or support efforts by some local government units to protect the gay community, while silence could embolden others to discriminate against them under the cloak of misconceptions or prejudiced judgments, the CHR pointed out.

Pope Francis’ surprising announcement

Coupled with Pope Francis’ surprising announcement on Dec. 18 that allowed priests to bless same-sex couples and those in “irregular situations,” the President’s move could signal better days ahead for the LGBTQ+ community, which has suffered stigma, discrimination, harm, and even lengthy prison terms in some countries.

The landmark document titled “Fiducia Supplicans” states that blessings can be offered to people in same-sex relationships, as long as this is not confused with the ritual of marriage which, the Vatican reaffirmed, is a lifelong union only between a man and a woman. The policy reversed a 2021 Vatican statement that ruled out such blessings for same-sex couples because God “cannot bless sin.”

Expectedly, the document—part of the Pope’s efforts to make the Catholic Church more inclusive in the belief that God welcomes all—has sparked outrage among conservative religious leaders, notably in some African countries where homosexuality is condemned and outlawed. While the new policy merely provided guidance on how blessings could be done should people request them, it has been confused by traditionalist bishops as official recognition and acceptance of same-sex relationships.

Diverse expressions of love

The reaction among local bishops has been more muted, with Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas saying that blessing same-sex couples was for mercy, and not sanctification. Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president and Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David’s advisory meanwhile quoted paragraph 39 of the document, which says that the blessing “should never be imparted in concurrence with the ceremonies of a civil union, … [n]or can it be performed with any clothing, gestures, or words that are proper to a wedding.”

Supporters of the LGBTQ+ community who described the Vatican document as fostering “a more compassionate and accepting environment for diverse expressions of love,” might well be describing the President’s latest EO that seems to walk back a previous government statement ruling out the passage of the Sogie bill. In November 2022, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the Philippine delegation to the country’s fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations, has rejected the bill outright as being “not acceptable” as it wants “same-sex marriage … the same as in [other] countries.”

Commitment to LGBTQ+ community

Introduced in January 2000 at the House of Representatives, the Sogie bill aims to put into law several measures to prevent various economic and public acts that would discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation. The consolidated bill passed through the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality in 2022, and a similar committee at the House in May 2023. It was, however, reverted to the Senate committee by oppositors on religious grounds, despite the Philippine Constitution’s guarantee on the separation of church and state.

Records in 2018 show that the bill has spent 623 days in the Senate’s period of interpellations since it was sponsored. As noted by one of its authors, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, “any further delay on the bill means quality of life, even life and death, to members of the [LGBTQ+] community who are subjected to daily harassment, discrimination, and abuse.”

The President’s articulated support for this overdue bill should also amplify his explicit commitment to the LGBTQ+ community in his latest EO, while strengthening his push for economic reforms. As stated by an LGBTQ+ ally group, gender equality in the workplace leads to increased productivity and profitability as it attracts diverse talent, bringing in a range of different perspectives and innovative ideas. Now, who could be against that?