Yahoo – AFP, Ayee Macaraig, May 10, 2016
 |
Geraldine Roman has become the first transgender politician to be win a
congressional seat in the Philippines |
Geraldine
Roman on Tuesday celebrated overcoming "bigotry, hatred and
discrimination" as results showed she had become the first transgender
politician to win a congressional seat in the predominantly Catholic
Philippines.
After her
victory in Monday's election, Roman, 49, is being seen by the lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community as a source of hope in a country
where Church influence means divorce, abortion and same-sex marriage are
banned.
"The
politics of bigotry, hatred and discrimination did not triumph. What triumphed
was the politics of love, acceptance and respect," Roman told AFP after
her victory for a seat in Congress representing the farming province of Bataan
just northwest of Manila.
 |
After her
victory in Monday's election, Geraldine
Roman, 49, is being seen by the
lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community
as a source of hope in
a country where
Church influence means divorce, abortion and
same-sex marriage
are banned
|
Roman, a
Catholic, said she was looking forward to becoming a lawmaker so she could
respond to critics who dismissed her as a one-issue politician not to be taken
seriously.
"I'm
elated, very, very happy. I'm also excited to work. I realise that the burden
is bigger because the stereotype of people about the LGBT is we are frivolous,
that we have nothing substantial to say, so I have to prove them wrong,"
she said.
Roman will
be the highest-ranking openly LGBT politician in the Philippines, where other
lawmakers have refused to come out for fear of losing support from the Catholic
Church and other religious groups.
A political
neophyte, Roman will succeed her mother as representative of Bataan, where her
family has been a political force for three generations. Her mother had to
stand down after serving the maximum number of three terms.
Roman's
father was a former congressman whose death in 2014 prompted her to consider
continuing the family legacy.
Political
families dominate Philippine politics, from the local to the national level,
and belonging to such a dynasty was widely regarded as being crucial to Roman's
success.
'We all
have rights'
Still the
constituents of Bataan overwhelmingly endorsed Roman, with the vote count
showing she had secured 62 percent support.
"She
is also a human being. We all have rights. It's not an issue to me that she is
transgender," farmer Bern Salenga, 49, told AFP during a campaign sortie
in Roman's home town before the election.
Roman has
been living as a woman for two decades, and proudly wore a pearl necklace and
pink lipstick while campaigning.
She had a
successful career as senior editor at the Spanish News Agency. She speaks
Spanish, French and Italian and won a scholarship to study in Spain, where she
met her partner of 18 years.
She
underwent sex reassignment surgery, and legally changed her name and gender, in
the 1990s -- a recognition she wants other transgender people to have.
 |
Despite the
focus on her gender, Geraldine Roman said her priority was the
people of
Bataan, and to help more poor students nationwide get scholarships
|
In 2001, a
law was passed making it impossible for transgender Filipinos to change their
name and sex.
Roman has
vowed to campaign to lift those restrictions, and to push for an
anti-discrimination bill that ensures equal treatment in the workplace,
schools, commercial establishments and government offices.
Despite the
focus on her gender, Roman said her priority was the people of Bataan, and to
help more poor students nationwide get scholarships.
"Equality
(is) not only in terms of gender but also in terms of socio-economic status. To
be rich or poor should not matter. Whether educated or not, people should have
the same opportunities so I'm going beyond gender to include more issues,"
she said.
With her
historic victory, Roman said she hoped more LGBT Filipinos would be inspired to
join government.
"I
want to inspire everybody. There are many factors for discrimination: on the
basis of gender, age, educational attainment, creed. So to all people who
experience discrimination, I want to inspire them."
Related Articles:
"The Akashic Circle" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)
“… Gender Switching
Old souls, let me tell you something. If you are old enough, and many of you are, you have been everything. Do you hear me? All of you. You have been both genders. All of you have been what I will call between genders, and that means that all of you have had gender switches. Do you know what happens when it's time for you to switch a gender? We have discussed it before. You'll have dozens of lifetimes as the same gender. You're used to it. It's comfortable. You cannot conceive of being anything else, yet now it's time to change. It takes approximately three lifetimes for you to get used to it, and in those three lifetimes, you will have what I call "gender confusion."
It isn't confusion at all. It's absolutely normal, yet society often will see it as abnormal. I'm sitting here telling you you've all been through it. All of you. That's what old souls do. It's part of the system. …”
