How can LGBTQ+ Filipinos protect their rights?

MANILA - Despite being seen as one Asia's most LGBTQ+ friendly countries, the Philippines does not have a national law that could address the discrimination and legal challenges queer Filipinos face.

Religious groups and conservative lawmakers have for years fiercely opposed attempts to pass a law that would provide fair and equal access to basic social services, opportunities, healthcare, protection and justice to the LGBTQ+ community.

According to lawyers from the SyCip Salazar Hernandez and Gatmaitan, a local firm providing pro-bono legal services, the lack of such protections makes LGBTQ+ Filipinos vulnerable to harassment, surveillance and prosecution, including red tagging, a tactic used by the state to label individuals or organisations as communists.

But a new legal guidebook developed by the law firm, other NGOs, and the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Trust Law team, aims to spread awareness on the range of legal remedies available.

In the absence of a national law to protect LGBTQ+ Filipinos, what can be done to safeguard their rights?

What legal challenges do LGBTQ+ Filipinos face?

In the Philippines, the LGBTQ+ community remains vulnerable to discrimination in the workplace, educational institutions, healthcare settings and public spaces, campaigners say.

Research by SyCip Salazar Hernandez and Gatmaitan found advocacy organisations, activists and community leaders promoting LGBTQ+ rights were also prone to political attacks that unjustly labelled them as insurgents or terrorists.

In 2023, Mujer, a Mindanao-based LGBTQ+ organisation, was red tagged by state anti-insurgency agents.

A 2024 report by American nonprofit The Trevor Project showed that social and cultural factors, such as discrimination, self-stigmatisation and the lack of legal gender recognition contributed to high rates of mental health challenges among LGBTQ+ Filipinos.

The United Nations Population Fund in the Philippines also recognised that LGBTQ+ Filipinos may face discrimination in healthcare settings due to stigma, which could lead to delayed or outright refusal of treatment.

Which laws can protect LGBTQ+ rights in the Philippines?

SyCip Salazar Hernandez and Gatmaitan lawyers said the Philippine Constitution could provide some protection.

Article II, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution says the state "values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights".

The Philippines is also a signatory to international policies could protect LGBTQ+ individuals, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

The 2019 Safe Spaces Act outlaws gender-based sexual harassment in various settings, including the workplace, public spaces and educational institutions.

But without a national law that specifically addresses LGBTQ+ Filipinos, local government authorities, such as in Quezon City, have passed policies that prohibit gender-based discrimination in employment, education, public accommodation and access to government services.

What can be done to end discrimination vs LGBTQ+ Filipinos?

Mujer believes legal guidebooks outlining steps that LGBTQ+ Filipinos can take whenever they experience discrimination or harassment could empower them to protect themselves.

NGOs, as well as human and legal rights agencies, have published several handbooks on legal and social protections of LGBTQ+ rights in the Philippines.

The 2006 legal handbook for LGBT rights in the Philippines by LGBTQ+ advocacy group Rainbow Rights Philippines and the Commission on Human Rights handbook on ending gender-based violence for women, girls, and LGBTQIA+ are examples.

These handbooks, however, are not comprehensive and do not cover new forms of harassment such as red tagging and arbitrary arrest.

While handbooks help communicate LGBTQ+ rights under existing laws, lawyers from SyCip Salazar Hernandez and Gatmaitan believe the next step would be to consolidate these laws into a cohesive legal framework specifically addressing issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community.