8 Reasons Transphobia is Totally a Thing in the Philippines
Jun 1, 2016 • Tim Henares
4. We think they’re out to deceive us.
There is this notion that transwomen are horrible deceivers who lure men into false pretenses because they aren’t “real” women. But for all intents and purposes, they are women, and it takes a certain level of comfort to admit to being trans. That is not everyone’s business and a transgender’s prerogative, but here, in the Philippines, where being usi is the norm, we make it our business to know what they have in between their legs.
3. The comfort room issue upsets us.
While yes, we need to protect our kids, the whole “man who claims to be transwoman enters bathroom to diddle kids” argument has got to stop. Things aren’t that simple, and maybe this is why unisex bathrooms are more and more becoming the norm.
It’s true that a lot of things upset us. But in the grand scheme of things, these are small concessions on our part, all to acknowledge the entire identity of a person whose day would be that much brighter by us simply acknowledging them for who they are. We may take for granted that people aren’t confused with who we are, but transgender people do not have it that easy.
2. There is a rift even within the LGBT community when it comes to trans people.
And bi people, too, but trans people do get discriminated against even within the LGBT community. Given how much more radicalized the LGBT community has to be in a predominantly catholic country, you can just imagine the ramifications.
1. They are still people.
To quote the bard, if you prick (no pun intended) us, do we not bleed? We may not fully understand what it is to be trans and what they go through on a daily basis, but instead of fearing them or despising them, is it not easier to just accept them as people just like us, with their own strengths, weaknesses, desires, and dislikes? Start from there, and hopefully, everything else follows.
There are so many things we don’t get about trans people. Even I might have been guilty of it in writing this. What is important, though, is that they are not so different from us, and let us hold onto that before anything else. When we see where we are the same, the differences don’t seem to matter as much anymore.
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