On 26 April, New Naratif held yet another Democracy Classroom; this time, we turned our focus to SOGIESC equality, bringing together a small group of participants to discuss the struggles of the LGBTQIA+ community in the Philippines and their quest for recognition as well as basic rights.

Our guest speaker for this classroom was Mavic Conde, whose piece on LGBTQIA+ survivors and their challenges in attaining simple, basic rights post-Haiyan highlighted how needlessly difficult it could be for marginalized individuals to receive aid, disaster relief, and assistance. Mavic opened the session for the night with an overview of the challenges faced, before the group moved into a deeper discussion on the topic. Although it was a small group of participants this time round, everyone contributed to the discussion and offered their own unique perspectives on the question prompts prepared.

Highlights and Takeaways

As the participants hailed from various backgrounds, there were various opinions expressed, including some participants expressing that they had learned new information (as they were not from the Philippines). Other participants offered their own insights on what needs to be done in order to bring about more equality for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Members only

Log in or

Join New Naratif as a member to continue reading

---

We are independent, ad-free and pro-democracy. Our operations are member-funded. Membership starts from just US$5/month! Alternatively, write to [email protected] to request a free sponsored membership. As a member, you are supporting fair payment of freelancers, and a movement for democracy and transnational community building in Southeast Asia.

BECOME A MEMBER