LGBTQI community, allies urged to 'press on' after SC junks same-sex marriage petition with finality
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights called on Tuesday the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) community and its allies to continue working for a world where everyone can enjoy their rights fully.
This, after the Supreme Court, in notice dated December 10, upheld its decision to junk with finality the petition seeking to legalize same-sex marriage in the Philippines.
The court in September dismissed a petition led by lawyer Jesus Nicardo Falcis III for his lack of legal standing, violation of hierarchy courts and failure to raise an actual controversy.
“Despite the decision, we find hope that the court recognized the long history of the struggles of the LGBTQI for equality, including freedom from being discriminated for their choice of relationship,” CHR spokesperson Jacqueline De Guia said.
She added: “One with the cause, we encourage the LGBTQI community and its allies to press on in spite of this hurdle and continuously find ways to claim the right to be treated justly as humans whose rights are equal and free.”
De Guia also urged Congress to review current law and policies that apply to marriage equality and ensure that “provisions be free of language that may discriminate and perpetuate violence against specific groups, more so if they are already vulnerable and marginalized under current contexts.”
Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, in his ruling, stressed that the “task of devising an arrangement where same-sex relations will earn state recognition is better left to Congress in order that it may thresh out the many issues that may arise.”
In July 2015, President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law the Safe Spaces Act, which penalizes catcalling, wolf-whistling, misogynistic and homophobic slurs, unwanted sexual advances and other forms of sexual harassment in public places, workplaces, schools, as well as in online spaces. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
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