One day, I decided to have a haircut at a nearby parlor salon because I felt like I wanted something new. When I reached the parlor, I saw that there were women letting their hair dyed so I had to sit and wait for I while because the gays were occupied. For an hour, the polarizing odor of hair chemicals was piercing all the way through my nose. But it wasn’t only that, the gays were also enthusiastically sharing a piece of chismis that suddenly gave me a light bulb over my head moment.
When it was my turn to get a cut, I secretly recorded the chismis on my phone, which is unethical without consent by the way so don’t do it. Even if I did not record it, I got the gist of the chika: there are disputes among gays caused by love life and business rivalry. And this is saddening me because, in our municipality, where the gays have been stereotyped mainly as parloristas and the LGBTQIA are underrepresented, it is also us who fight against each other.
At home, I was still processing the observation that I had in the parlor. It was more than just a chismis. While confronting this epiphany, I suddenly thought that I could actually make this a take-off point for my development-oriented news story hence leading me to the Womanity campaign of my mentor and Miss Trans Global 2020 Mela Habijan. Womanity aims to uphold humanity through uniting women, transgender, LGBTQIA, and allies. Then, my professor told me to connect this campaign to policymaking hence my current news story—the role of the Womanity campaign in the immediate passage of the SOGIE Equality Bill.
With this topic in mind, I made sure that my data gathering would emphasize two points: one is why the SOGIE Equality Bill needs to be passed and the second is what is the role of Womanity in policymaking now that the 2022 Election is underway. The first point of my data gathering was answered through document searching. I browse through the Internet to look for articles and studies that can justify the immediate passage of the SOGIE Equality Bill. I used the triangulation method to verify and ensure the authenticity of the data I gathered. I found out that earlier this year, three bodies of LGBTQIA individuals were found in Tagaytay City, Cavite, and up until today no justice is served to their families despite the existing Anti-Discrimination Ordinance in our province.
While doing a document search, I couldn’t help but be disheartened by everything that I read and see. It has been 20 years since SOGIE Equality was filed. It has already faced numerous revisions, yet it is still languishing at Congress. How many lives have to be slain and discriminated to finally enact this bill?
The second point of my data gathered was answered in the interview. Miss Mela Habijan stressed the importance of her campaign to unite women, LGBTQIA, and allies in amplifying the calls for the immediate passage of the SOGIE Equality Bill. She said that this unity must manifest in the May 2022 polls. She urged women, LGBTQIA, and allies to unanimously vote for candidates who can champion the longest-running bill in Philippine history because in this way can we uphold humanity. I realized that what Miss Mela mentioned is indeed crucial because most of the candidates are manifestations of patriarchy, bigots, and human rights violators. One of the presidential aspirants even denounced the LGBTQIA Community as worse than animals. Therefore, there is a dire need to unite women, LGBTQIA, and allies in the upcoming elections not only for the immediate passage of the SOGIE Equality Bill but also to prevent us from living the next six years in fear and horror.
My data-gathering process is both disheartening and empowering at the same time. From hearing that my LGBTQIA sisters and brothers here in our town are disputing to knowing that we have to unite, especially now that the 2022 Elections is underway, in order to pass the SOGIE Equality Bill, gives me more reason to write my news story. I will write not because it is a requirement for my course, but because it is a story that everyone needs to hear.
Today, as I write this article, I will have a haircut again at the parlor salon nearby because I want something new, newsworthy. Stories are out there. We just have to constantly seek them.
sixtyfifty2021 