Advocates hope Cebu LGUs will adopt these measures

hezekiah diaz

ANTI-DISCRIMINATORY ORDINANCES

Anti-discrimination advocates are now looking at the success story of 21-year-old Hezekiah Diaz, the transwoman who was recently allowed by her school to march and graduate as a woman, as a model in the fight for respect for nonheterosexual persons.

Mandaue City officials were likewise elated that their anti-discrimination ordinance was instrumental in allowing Diaz to take her graduation march as a woman.

“(I am) happy to hear that. Mandaue has always been at the forefront of inclusiveness. And we are serious about continuing to close the societal gaps wherever they may be, be they in religious affiliation, gender preference or income disparity,” said Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing yesterday.

Cebu Doctor’s University (CDU), which is based in Mandaue City, was also lauded for being open about the gender preference of Diaz.

“It’s a good move from a medical academic community for allowing a transwoman to sport a long hair and just be the woman she is during the commencement exercises. Such schools are known to have a conservative clinical approach for trans students,” said Magdalena Robinson, chairperson of the Cebu United Rainbow LGBTIQ (lesbians, gays, bisexual, transsexual, intersex and queer) Sector (CURLS).

Diaz was allowed to march as a woman, albeit after several struggles, by school officials. It was a roller-coaster ride for Diaz who had to approach at least four top school officials including the university’s vice president and president.

She had been discouraged several times after she was told about the school’s policy that graduates should march and look like their birth gender as reflected on their birth certificates.

But at her last attempt to convince school officials a few days before their graduation last April 23, Diaz attached a copy of Mandaue City’s Anti-Discriminatory Ordinance for People of Diverse Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) in her letter request.

This proved to be instrumental as her request was signed by the university’s president afterwards.

For Robinson, who is also the LGBT representative of Cebu City’s Anti-Discrimination Commission, she hoped that Diaz’s efforts will not just end with her graduation.

“I just hope that the school will follow their recent move to a review and the discussion of the school policies on the specific administration for transgender students and enrollees. Hopefully, if such policies to be passed will give an enabling environment for transgender students to express their gender identities in the bio-medical field. It will be a benchmark for the fair treatment of transpeople in medical academic community,” Robinson told Cebu Daily News.

Mandaue City Treasurer Regal Oliva, who is also an LGBT advocate, expressed hope that other schools in the city will also follow after CDU.

“This is proof that local legislations may have great impact on people of Mandaue City. I am pleased that institutions of higher learning like the Cebu Doctor’s University is cooperative in our social endeavors. I just hope that this will serve as an inspiration to all institutions in Mandaue City to respect all sectors and people regardless of gender expression,” said Oliva, who is also an adviser for LGBT groups Manpride and Cebu Colors.
Diaz was the first transwoman to be allowed by CDU to march as a woman.

Mandaue City’s anti-gender discrimination ordinance prohibits discrimination of people of diverse SOGIE on education and employment among others.

One of the ordinance’s related and guiding principles is for every people of diverse (SOGIE) to have the “right to self-determination of one’s sexual orientation or one’s gender identity.”

Cebu City also has an anti-discrimination ordinance, which is not just specific for sexual orientation and gender identity but also prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, age, health status, ethnicity and religion.

Former Cebu City Councilor Alvin Dizon, who authored the measure, commended CDU.

“We are very happy to know this. And we commend CDU for upholding fundamental human rights — the right to self-expression and to be treated with dignity and respect. This is a big push forward for our Anti-Discrimination ordinance since this will create a very good precedent for other schools to follow suit,” he told CDN when sought for comment yesterday.

“Schools are very important platforms to nurture diversity, encourage tolerance and promote a culture of inclusiveness,” Dizon added.