These legislative bills do not contain provisions to defrock priests over same-sex marriage in the Philippines
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 12, 2019 at 11:05
- 4 min read
- By AFP Philippines
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This post published on Facebook on August 30, 2019 contains an image with a list of eight things the SOGIE bills will purportedly do.
Below is a screenshot of the post:
The post’s lengthy Tagalog language caption translates to English as: “What do you know!
“The SOGIE Bill may sound simple but this is what it leads to.
“If you ridicule the LGBT you will be charged and asked to pay a fine of 500,000 pesos + you will be imprisoned for 6 years and 6 months
“You cannot specify gender on the birth certificate of a new-born child until he/she reach the age of 12
“LGBT can kiss in public
“Whoever objects to them getting married can be stripped of their rights as a Priest or Pastor!!
“The fact of the matter is this bill was not yet passed at the senate but they're already going to each Mayor, Congressman, governor of each province…and they were able to convince them to agree with this!!
“are you amenable to having this bill passed in our country?!
“let us hopefully not just be silent and let public officials know our sentiments!!”
The post has been shared more than 17,000 times.
The SOGIE bills are a number of proposed measures to end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the Philippines.
Altogether, 13 bills penalising discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity have been submitted in the current session of the Philippine Congress. One of the Senate bills filed penalises discrimination based on "ethnicity, race, religion or belief, sex or gender of sexual orientation,language disability and educational attainment".
Nine bills have been filed in the House of Representatives: bill numbers 95, 134, 160, 258, 640, 1041, 1359, 2211 and 2870.
Four have been submitted to the Senate: bill numbers 689, 159 , 412 and 315. Senate bill 315 prohibits discrimination based on SOGIE, ethnicity, race, language disability and educational attainment.
All nine House bills and Senate bill 412 have the same wording on anti-discrimination provisions. Two of the Senate bills have the same wording as each other, while another one, Senate Bill 315, also has its own wording.
None of the three versions of the bill make any reference to banning the listing of sex on birth certificates.
None of the bills mentions same-sex marriage.
None of the bills contain provisions that would allow members of the clergy to be stripped of their positions for opposing same-sex marriage.
There are also no explicit provisions in the bills about LGBT people showing their affection in public.
Below are the following acts of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity as defined in the bills:
| HOUSE bills and Senate bill no. 412 | Senate bills 689 and 159 | Senate bill 315 |
| Denial of access to public services including military services | Same as the rest but added this: | Same as the rest but added this: |
| Including sexual orientation and gender identity as criteria for hiring, promotion, reassignment or dismissal | Stigmatisation through media, educational textbooks and other medium | Denial of political, cultural and social rights |
| Refusing admission and expelling people from schools and other training institutions | Inciting violence and sexual abuse | Prohibits discrimination based on "ethnicity, race, religion or belief, sex or gender of sexual orientation,language disability and educational attainment" |
| Imposing harsher punishments on students or trainees and discriminating them because of their parent's sexual orientation or gender identity | ||
| Refusing or revoking the accreditation of an organisation | ||
| Denying access to health and medical services | ||
| Denying or revoking an application for a license or certificate issued by the government | ||
| Denying a person access to public facilities and establishments | ||
| Subjecting or forcing a person to undergo medical or psychological exams to alter or determine sexual orientation and gender identity | ||
| Harassment or coercion by law enforcement agencies | ||
| Publishing an information intended to "out" a person without his or her consent | ||
| Engaging in public speech meant to insult or vilify | ||
| Harassment intended to demean, annoy, insult, bully, offend, threaten, intimidate or alarm through physical assault, stalking, lewd or derogatory comments or the use of slurs | ||
| Gender profiling | ||
| Preventing a child from experessing or exhibiting his or her sexual orientation and gender identity |
Regarding the post’s claim that: “If you ridicule the LGBT you will be charged and asked to pay a fine of 500,000 pesos + you will be imprisoned for 6 years and 6 months”
All House bills and Senate bill 412 impose the penalties for hate speech or harassment of LGBT people, with fines of up to 500,000 pesos and jail terms of up to six years.
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