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'Intersex' excluded from definition of sex in draft anti-discrimination bill

Xave Gregorio - Philstar.com
'Intersex' excluded from definition of sex in draft anti-discrimination bill
Philippine members and supporters of the LGBT community take part in a gay pride march calling for equal rights in Manila on June 29, 2019. Thousands joined Manila's Gay Pride march on June 29 wielding rainbow flags and umbrellas in a push for equality, just weeks after the nation's leader sparked outrage by declaring he'd been "cured" of homosexuality years ago.
Noel Celis / AFP

MANILA, Philippines — A conservative House leader succeeded Tuesday in excluding the term intersex, which describes people born with sex characteristics that do not fit with typical male and female bodies, from the definition of sex in a draft “comprehensive” anti-discrimination bill, with proponents of the measure conceding to define it in a separate provision.

Deputy Speaker Bienvenido Abante Jr. (Manila) blocked attempts to add intersex in the definition of sex, which in the draft bill only covers men and women, arguing that adding the term would make the proposed law complicated.

“Don’t make it complicated. Doon nagkakaroon ng maraming interpretation when you begin to complicate the law,” Abante said during a House panel’s deliberation of the proposal.

(Don’t make it complicated. That’s when many interpretations appear when you begin to complicate the law.)

Rep. Geraldine Roman (Bataan) tried to push back and proposed to add intersex in the definition of sex.

“I think it is about time to open the eyes of the public to the scientific truth that there are people who are born intersex, that is with the gonads of both men and women,” Roman said.

However, Roman and other proponents of the measure eventually relented to a compromise where the term intersex would be defined in a separate provision.

Including intersex in the definition of sex would have been a landmark recognition of intersex people in legislation, which currently only recognizes two sexes — man and woman.

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