“Recognition is not enough without concrete rights.”
By Kasheena Camacho
Bulatlat.com
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MANILA — Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has publicly recognized the LGBTQIA+ community through Executive Order No. 51, annual Pride Month statements, and meetings with LGBTQIA+ organizations since taking office in 2022. But a review of his four State of the Nation Addresses (SONA) found no explicit mention of LGBTQIA+ rights, the proposed Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) Equality Bill, or other national legislative measures protecting LGBTQIA+ Filipinos.
The absence of LGBTQIA+ rights from four consecutive SONAs comes despite executive initiatives recognizing the community and years-long calls from advocates to enact a national anti-discrimination legislation.
For some LGBTQIA+ Filipinos, the gap between public recognition and legal protection is reflected not in policy documents but in their everyday interactions with schools, workplaces, hospitals, and even their own families.
For Cleothena (not her real name), a transgender woman employed at a government agency who requested anonymity for fear of workplace repercussions, that gap became apparent only weeks after she started working.
“When I first entered the organization, they asked me how I wanted to be addressed. I thought they respected who I was,” she said.
Several weeks later, a security guard informed her that she could no longer use the women’s restroom after the human resources office reportedly received complaints from other employees.
“They told me there had been complaints. I asked them, ‘Where am I supposed to use the restroom now?’ They gave me only two options—the men’s restroom or the restroom for persons with disabilities. No policy was ever shown to me. We were simply told that I was no longer allowed to use the women’s restroom.”
During Pride Month, the agency temporarily designated the PWD restroom as an all-gender restroom, she said.
“After June, they removed the sign. Then they told me to use the men’s restroom again.”
Fearing the decision could affect her employment, she chose not to pursue a formal complaint and instead began using restrooms in another building.
“I felt like I had to hide. As long as no one was watching, I could quietly use the restroom. As long as no one confronts me,” she said.
Cleothena’s experience is one of many that LGBTQIA+ advocates say illustrate the gap between symbolic recognition and meaningful legal protection.
Bahaghari Spokesperson Yell Teresa said the Marcos administration’s public recognition of the LGBTQIA+ community has yet to translate into substantive legal protections.
“More than three years after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumed office, the promise of an inclusive and just society for the LGBTQIA+ sector remains hollow,” Teresa said in a written response to Bulatlat. “Recognition is not enough without concrete rights.”
Discrimination beyond the workplace
Cleothena’s experience is not unique.
Kath Rabang, a lesbian, said she also encountered discrimination in school and in her personal life because of her sexual orientation.
At her former Catholic school, Rabang said she was required to wear the prescribed girls’ uniform despite asking to wear pants.
“During that time, it was a no-brainer situation because despite my appeal, I wasn’t allowed to wear pants,” she said.
Outside school, Rabang said discrimination also affected her relationship with her former partner.
She recalled that her partner’s mother discovered they were in a relationship before they were ready to come out, forcing them to hide from relatives and acquaintances.
“We had to be careful every time we met because we were afraid someone who knew her family might see us,” she said.
Although Rabang believes acceptance of LGBTQIA+ Filipinos has improved over the years, she said meaningful support should extend beyond public statements.
“It gives me hope because it shows that our experiences are being acknowledged. But support should go beyond words and lead to real action that protects LGBTQIA+ people from discrimination,” she said.
She said stronger anti-discrimination laws, accessible support systems, and legal recognition of LGBTQIA+ couples in matters such as hospital decision-making would better reflect government support.
Student organizations said that similar concerns continue to surface on university campuses.
At the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Kasarianlan said the organization regularly receives reports involving discrimination against LGBTQIA+ students, with deadnaming and restrictions on restroom access among the most common concerns.
“The most common form of discrimination we continue to encounter is deadnaming,” said Rianne Dacanay, President of Kasarianlan. “We also receive reports from transgender students who are prevented from using restrooms that correspond with their gender identity.”
Although the organization does not maintain a formal database, Dacanay said Kasarianlan receives fewer than 10 reports per month, most of which involve incidents within the university. Students are referred to the university’s Gender Office or the Committee on Decorum and Investigation (CODI), which handles complaints involving gender-based violations.
The Commission on Higher Education (Ched), meanwhile, said it could not provide records of complaints involving LGBTQIA+ students because such cases form part of confidential administrative proceedings protected under the Data Privacy Act.
Instead, Ched pointed to institutional compliance with existing policies. According to the commission, 80.7 percent of responding higher education institutions have established a Committee on Decorum and Investigation (CODI), 92.1 percent have adopted a Code of Conduct, and 89.4 percent have incorporated the code into their student handbooks, in line with the implementation of the Safe Spaces Act and CHED Memorandum Order No. 3, series of 2022.
While institutional mechanisms exist, advocates say they do not replace comprehensive national legal protections against discrimination.
Recognition without legislation
The experiences of Cleothena, Rabang, and LGBTQIA+ students reflect what advocates say is the consequence of the absence of comprehensive national legal protections.
While discrimination continues to surface in workplaces, schools, and other institutions, the Marcos administration has taken several executive steps recognizing the LGBTQIA+ community.
In June 2023, Malacañang said it “honors the impact of the LGBTQIA+ community” in celebration of Pride Month. Marcos Jr has also met with LGBTQIA+ organizations and, in June 2025, he signed Executive Order No. 51 creating the Special Committee on LGBTQIA+ Affairs.
Executive Order No. 51 created an interagency body tasked with coordinating government programs and policies concerning LGBTQIA+ Filipinos. However, the order does not establish enforceable legal rights or prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics.
Those protections remain the objective of the long-pending SOGIESC Equality Bill, which seeks to prohibit discrimination in employment, education, healthcare, housing, and access to public services.
For Bahaghari, the omission of LGBTQIA+ concerns from four consecutive SONAs carries policy implications because the annual address outlines the administration’s legislative priorities.
“The SONA serves as the direction of the government’s national policies and priorities. When LGBTQIA+ issues continue to be left out, it sends the message that these are not considered urgent concerns that the state must address,” Teresa said.
Bahaghari urged the administration to move beyond symbolic recognition by prioritizing the passage of the SOGIESC Equality Bill and strengthening protections against discrimination across public institutions.
The gap between recognition and rights
For Rabang, official recognition of the LGBTQIA+ community offers hope, but it cannot replace legal protection.
“It gives me hope because it shows that our experiences are being acknowledged,” she said. “But support should go beyond words and lead to real action that protects LGBTQIA+ people from discrimination.”
She said meaningful government support would include stronger anti-discrimination laws, accessible support systems for LGBTQIA+ people facing abuse or rejection, and legal recognition of same-sex couples in matters such as hospital decision-making.
Student leaders shared the same call.
Dacanay said Kasarianlan welcomes gestures recognizing the LGBTQIA+ community but believes these should be accompanied by concrete legislative action, particularly the passage of the long-pending SOGIESC Equality Bill.
“I really hope in the upcoming SONA, President Marcos could at least mention something to really pass the SOGIESC Equality Bill,” Dacanay said. “If he could at least mention it, it would give the House a wake-up call to really move the bill.”
Bahaghari likewise urged the administration to move beyond symbolic recognition by making LGBTQIA+ rights part of its legislative agenda.
“The fight for LGBTQIA+ rights is inseparable from the broader struggle for human rights and social justice,” Teresa said. “As long as people continue to be denied dignity and equal treatment because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, our society cannot truly be considered free and just.”
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For Cleothena, however, the issue extends beyond policies and public statements. It is about being able to live and work without fear of discrimination.
“Anyone can say they support us,” she said. “But support means action.”
She said she hopes the government will finally enact measures that provide meaningful legal protection for LGBTQIA+ Filipinos, beginning with the passage of the SOGIESC Equality Bill.
“I hope the SOGIESC Equality Bill will finally be passed. We have rights, too, as human beings. I hope there will come a time when we can live normal lives without having to worry about discrimination or about someone stepping on our dignity.” (AMU, RVO)
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