IN celebration of women’s month and the international transgender visibility day, non-profit organization PridePH produced a heart-rending video that highlights the discrimination transgender students encounter in schools.
The organization also called for transgender inclusivity among schools in the country through the movement #MakePHSchoolsInclusive.
The movement stresses that trans and non-binary students and teachers’ gender expression is valid, and they should be able to wear uniforms they are comfortable with.
“Valid ang gender expression ng mga mag-aaral at gurong transgender at non-binary,” PridePH said in its social media posts.
“Let them wear the uniform they are comfortable in and feel confident with,” it added.
Jelai’s story
The two-minute video, called Batang Hinarang sa Lupang Hinirang, features transwoman student Jelai Balbaera, who was being forced to present herself as a male student during a flag-raising ceremony.
Through this eye-opening video, the viewers are made aware of the struggles trans students had to endure during their daily lives in school.
Jelai said that she hopes that the video would raise awareness for the plight of transgender students in school.
“Kailangan po namin ng tulong dahil dini-discriminate po kami ng school namin,” she said in a statement from PridePH.
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She also said she is worried about her moving up rites, as her school won’t allow her to march and join the commencement exercise unless she complies with the hair length requirement imposed on male students.
“Hindi daw ako pagma-martsahin kung hindi daw ako mag-comply sa hair requirement for boys,” she said.
In 2017, the Department of Education (DepEd) released a memorandum laying down a gender-responsive basic education policy.
In 2022, citing this 2017 policy, DepEdNational Capital Region director Wilfredo Cabral issued a memorandum reminding schools to “respect the gender expression of students,” which includes their choice of clothing.
“In line with the foregoing, School Heads/School Administrators and all school personnel are hereby advised to allow students to attend school-initiated activities, such as End of School Year (EOSY) Rites, wearing clothes which are aligned with their gender identity without restricting students’ gender expression provided that the same is approved by their parents/guardians,” he said.
He issued the memorandum amid reports that graduating transwomen would not be allowed to attend graduation ceremonies because of their long hair and the dress code.
However, not all academic institutions follow this mandate, causing teachers and students like Jelai, who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community,to feel discriminated and “continue to be barred from being free.”
Although the DepEd has already reiterated its commitment to the gender-responsive policy in an August 2022 memorandum, no penalty or punishment has been included for schools who do not abide by the policy.
Let them be free
PridePH National Convener and Miss Trans Global 2020 Mela Habijan called on the DepEd to “create a new memo directly stating that transgender and non-binary students and teachers are free to express themselves as they are in schools.”
Moreover, they should impose sanctions on schools that do not comply with the policy, Habijan said.
“Transgender students and teachers deserve to be in schools and to present themselves as they are,” she said.
She hopes that the Batang Hinarang sa Lupang Hinirang video will convince more schools to follow DepEd’s mandate on gender equality.
Moreover, she hopes that the Philippines will finally recognize and protect the rights of transgender students.
“We continue to get tragic accounts of trans nenes (girls) and totoys (boys) who are prohibited from expressing their true selves by their schools. Yet, we shall continue to fight,” she said.
More work needed for change
Meanwhile, Ad Hoc Marketing, which is also part of the campaign for trans inclusivity, said it is hoping for real change.
“This is why we intentionally showed the pressing and sad realities of transgender students in the Philippines,” said Mark Blanco, Creative Lead of Ad Hoc Marketing.
But he also acknowledged that there is a lot more that needs to be done to win the fight against discrimination against LGBTQIA+ individuals.
“There’s still so much to do and to fight for when it comes to the LGBTQIA+ community. We look forward to developing more creatively effective campaigns [in] the future,” Henson Wongaiham, co-founder and managing partner of Ad Hoc Marketing, added.
With the end of the women’s month celebrations, advocates hope that the video of Jelai’s struggles will continue to serve as a reminder that transwomen, regardless of how society perceives them, are and will always be women.
“Trans women have feminine [expressions] because they are women. Trans men have masculine expression because they are men. Non-binary people have gender non-conforming [expressions] because they don’t identify with the binary,” said PridePH.
