Transwoman refused entry at Dubai airport

Jen Janice (see pic above) is not a well-known name in transactivist circles but many see her as having done so much more than others for making great strides in the corporate world. Jen Janice is currently a Program Manager for a multinational based in the Netherlands. She has worked for the same company for many years in Singapore where she is originally from until two years ago when she decided to make the big move to their Netherlands head office.

I had the honor of meeting Jen in Copenhagen for the World Outgames where she talked about her rise in the corporate ladder as an out and proud transwoman. We hit it off really well and have kept in touch since. Besides her obvious intelligence, corporate savvy and professional credentials, Jen is a very caring, sweet and motherly person. I know for a fact that she has mentored a lot of underprivileged transgirls while living in Singapore. She is also a great cook and I have seen her whip up a storm in the kitchen producing the most delectable of foods.

It was a shock for me to learn that she was held at the Dubai airport on her way back to the Netherlands on a business trip. She wanted to visit some friend in Dubai but was not let in. You can read her full story below. Fortunately, Jen wants change at the Dubai airport and hopefully her case will be the first step towards better treatment of all especially transgender people when they enter the United Arab Emirates (UAE).


Transgender being refused entry into Dubai

Being showcased like an attraction

Adapted from The Gay Krant Newspaper, The Netherlands
Writer : PAUL HOFMAN
Photo by : GEERT VAN TOL

Baffled, sad and most of all upset. Those were the feelings which came up when Jan
Janice reported at Customs at the airport of Dubai - one of the seven Arab Emirates
- together with other passengers. What should have been a pleasant visit to friends ended up in a drama. "As a transgender, I have never ever been so humiliated onto the bone".

Without the faintest idea, Jen Janice got off the plane on that hot December day
and went through Customs. A few days ago she had decided to continue to the
United Arab Emirates to visit some friends, after a business meeting in Kuwait. She
was very much looking forward to it, as it had been a while since she seen her
friends. But in her wildest dreams she would not have guessed the end result. "I
was queuing up at customs and I was dressed modestly. When it was finally my
turn, the customs official studied my passport. He then called for help from passing-by colleague". Jen Janice was stunned. Because she is unable to speak Arabic, she could not make out any of the conversation following that. His stern
facial expression then changed when he heard a remark from a colleague. "I was clearly the subject. A few times, he looked at me in minute detail and then back into my passport. That was so humiliating." Because she has not had her Sexual Corrective Surgery (SRS), Jan Janice is still registered as a male.

And then the long wait started. Jen Janice was taken out of the queue and into a separate room. "Another man joined them and together they started asking all sorts of questions. What I wanted to do in their country and why I looked the way I do? One of the officials just could not understand why I am a man but look like a woman". The men did not know what to do with her. Next, like a criminal she was taken to yet another room where she had to wait for hours again. When I asked if I could call one of my friends, they reacted rigidly that that was absolutely not possible. They also asked me why I wanted to be a woman. They were very intimidating. On top of that, it was very humiliating that more and more customs
officials came into the room just to have a look at me. They all started laughing/giggling. Although it had not been mentioned yet, at that time it daunted upon me that I would be deported."

She still is livid having been put up as a curiosity. "My passport reads that I am a
male. But from when I was nineteen, I already felt like a women. This has never been a problem work-wise. My management and direct colleagues respect me for who I am."
In the airport the doors were opened up and Jen Janice was taken to another room by
some airport ground-handling staff. In the departure hall we caught the attention of quite some people. In the room where she subsequently had to take place were another fifty or-so people from different countries who just like Jen Janice, would be deported. "I then lost courage. I was told officially that I would have to leave the country immediately. I felt dismayed and could have easily cried. My dignity was at stake. No reason was given as to why I had to leave. I was extremely sad that this had to happen to me. I had only wanted to visit my friends and meant no harm. Via Blackberry, I then finally managed to contact my manager. She was on the road and reacted upset when she heard my story. My employer then offered
help and arranged for my return trip. Not easy, because many flights had been canceled due to the heavy snowfall at Schipol airport. I was really lucky being able to leave so quickly. Else, I might have had to stay for two days in that room amongst all those other deportees.

Back in the Netherlands, she is determined not to drop the story. Although the planned visit to her friends was purely for pleasure, her employer is supporting her wholeheartedly. "Early January, I have sent a letter to the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Singapore as I still hold a Singapore passport. But up until now I have not received a reply. The Singapore embassy in the United Arab Emirates is looking into the matter. "In future, without a doubt, I will need to travel for business to the UAE more often. So then it should be clear as to what I can expect. We've got a big leap ahead of us before transgender ladies can be themselves. All my life, I've been fighting to prove that I'm just like everyone else. The
fact that I have to continue to proof myself is inhumane."

2010 Manila Pride March

Last 4 December 2010, the Transgender Lesbian Bisexual and Gay (TLBG) community in Manila concluded another historical Pride Parade. For the first time, the TLBG Pride March was sponsored by the local government of Quezon City. Of course, the girls were there and we decided to come in fiery and radical red.



We had two calls this year: AFFIRM THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION and STOP DISCRIMINATION BASED ON GENDER IDENTITY AND EXPRESSION. We also brought back the red truck last year that we rented again out of our own pockets this year.



Our hardworking member Seanel Caparas (rightmost in the pic above) along with her best friend Princess Jimenez (leftmost in the pic above) decorated the truck and turned it into a parade float. I was so touched when I saw the truck. Seanel and Princess truly outdid themselves and I am so grateful to them up to now.

Once again, joining the march was a tiring but fulfilling experience. Every year, it just seems to get bigger and grander. I was so proud to see that many of the people organizing the march were the first-timers when I was the co-coordinator of  two years ago. I am glad that they kept the flame alive and served Task Force Pride Philippines this year. The TFP execom did a very good job this year and they deserve a big congrats!



At last I was able to get a picture taken with my best gay friend in the world, Rey Banag (see above). A week before, Rey sent me a "surprise" Christmas card which had a picture of him and his partner, JM. I cried when I saw the pic and fell in love with them all over again. They are one of the best gay couples I know and I love them both to pieces. I was so elated to receive their loving message with a beautiful picture of them to boot. Now I have their picture in my wallet and it can finally be said that yes I am a fag hag. I am a true-blooded girl who loves boys who like boys. And the pic with me and Rey is my favorite picture from the march.



During the program, I was surprised when one of the stage hands went up to me and said that Arnel Pineda, the front man of Journey just arrived. Arnel made every Filipino proud when he became Journey's lead singer around 3 years ago. It was such a treat for him to drop by and give a solidarity message to the LGBT community. And of course, it was great meeting him in person (see above)!



One of the highlights of the program that night was seeing old allies winning a special prize. Akbayan party, the partylist that originaly filed the Anti-Discrimination Bill (ADB) in Congress 10 years ago, attended this year's march with their usual huge contingent. The ADB seeks to penalize discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression but its passage has foundered since it was first filed 3 Congresses ago. Akbayan won Most Number of Participants in this year's parade. It was an honor to hand the award to Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros and Akbayan Chairperson Percival Cendaña (see pic above).



The best part of the night was meeting Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista again (see pic above). Mayor Bautista and I actually met 3 years ago when I was just a TFP volunteer and he was still the Vice-Mayor of Quezon City. We saw him in a restaurant and asked him to support the march which was going to be held in Manila then. He asked me to send in a letter to his office and I guess that gave him an idea to fully support the march in a bigger way in the future.

All in all, One Love was amazing. It was also heart-warming to see the media acknowledge the advocacy work of the transgender community. Many of the media write-ups and features on the March showed transwomen in the news. It beats me though why even if I kept saying LGBT during the program, most of the news agencies present called it the "gay pride parade" in the news the day after. I guess old habits die hard but at least now, they say LGBT as well and not only "gay and lesbian this" or "gay and lesbian" that, which is a good change.

Congratulations again to TFP. May this be the start of a long and good relationship between the annual LGBT Pride Parade and the Quezon City Government. We cannot wait for next year's Pride March!

Wan Chai bars shock transgender experts, barring them as 'lady boys'

Below is a news article that came out in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Hong Kong's most widely read English broadsheet. I decided to go back to the bar in Wan Chai, Amazonia, which refused me entry in the past and luckily an SCMP journalist was there to see it all happen again. I politely introduced myself to the manager named Dave (see pic above) and he said that he'd let me in if Dr. Sam Winter and Atty. Michael Vidler, a human rights lawyer, who were with me that night would escort me the entire time. We said no. The Hong Kong trans community is in a very vulnerable position right now after the W decision barring a transsexual woman's petition to marry in the gender she identifies as. I hope that by exposing more of the bigotry that seems to pervade Hong Kong society nowadays, we have been able to call people's attention in Hong Kong enough for them to start agitating for badly needed change.

Wan Chai bars shock transgender experts, barring them as 'lady boys'

(SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST)
John Carney and Lana Lam Oct 31, 2010

Two transgender professionals from the Philippines attending a conference in Hong Kong fell victim to the very discrimination they'd come to talk about - they were denied entry to bars in the city "because they were not women".

Last week, Naomi Fontanos and Santy Layno attended a lecture for an undergraduate course at Hong Kong University entitled Sexuality and Gender: Diversity and Society. That evening they went to Wan Chai for a drink with Dr Sam Winter, the course organiser and an associate professor in the faculty of education at the University of Hong Kong, and human rights lawyer Michael Vidler, who had attended the lectur

On arriving in Wan Chai, they were told they were not welcome in certain bars. Initially, the group went to Amazonia, known for its live music.

Winter and Vidler were allowed to enter but the others were not.

The men remonstrated with door staff about this, only to be told that they were allowed to come in, but their friends weren't.

The doorman was insistent. They couldn't go in because "they are not women, they are men".

"They are lady boys" and "there are other places for people like that," he said - meaning gay clubs.

Later that night the pair were also refused entry to other Wan Chai bars - Escape and Dusk til Dawn.



A spokesman for Amazonia said: "It's up to our security's discretion who gets in on any given night. There is no discrimination here. We often let transvestites in and we have no problem with that. They are all paying customers."

A spokesman for Escape said this was also their policy. Dusk til Dawn said it reserved the right to refuse admission to customers.

Fontanos, 32, has a degree in secondary education from the University of the Philippines in Manila and prepares teaching materials for an English language teaching company. "I felt very offended and hurt. We were doing nothing wrong or illegal," Fontanos said. "I was surprised that this thinking exists in Hong Kong as it is a global city. It markets itself as a cosmopolitan place where all cultures converge, but there's an underlying bigotry and ignorance here."

Layno 27, has a degree in mass communications from the University of St Louis in Baguio City, and works in communications. She was equally shocked. "Hong Kong should be more advanced than this but the fact is it isn't. These people associate us with working girls, which is why they didn't let us in, but we are not. The thing is, working girls can still go into these bars but we can't."

The pair also work for the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines. Winter had brought them to speak at the University of Hong Kong, where he runs the course Sexuality and Gender: Diversity and Society.

"Naomi did a presentation about being transgender in the Philippines, while Santy took part in the question and answer session afterwards," Winter said. "They are educated, eloquent and teach on transgender issues around various campuses in the Philippines ... It's a quite depressing reminder of the ignorance, bigotry and prejudice that still exists on the streets of this city. There's a real issue here as to why ordinary, decent and law-abiding people can't get through the door at Amazonia or places like it in Hong Kong."

Human rights solicitor Vidler was appalled that the transgender pair came to Hong Kong to address transgender issues here, only to fall prey to the very discrimination that they had come to talk about.

He said he knew at least two women officers in the disciplined services - he would not say which one lest doing so revealed their identities - who are transgender.

"If they were working undercover, they wouldn't be allowed into these bars either, as they'd be assumed to be lady boys.

"They also would have no recourse against an establishment like this. But they would have recourse if the discrimination was to do with a government establishment.

"This is why there's got to be legislation introduced to protect against this kind of thing happening."

The Equal Opportunities Commission has received fewer than 10 complaints from transgender people since it was formed in 1996, a spokeswoman said.

Such complaints must be made under the disability discrimination ordinance since there is no law specifically on transgender discrimination, she said.

Jailed and gay-ed

On May 18, a Malawi court convicted couple, Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20 of gross indecency and unnatural acts (see pic above). The court found that the two engaged in homosexual sex which is against the law in Malawi. The couple are now in jail and most media accounts refer to them as the Malawi gay couple and their trial the Malawian gay trial. It turns out, according to Gender DynamiX, a South African gender human rights advocacy group, that Tiwonge Chimbalanga identifies as female. This is a clear example of the hegemonic power of the "gay" discourse or the discourse on sexual orientation. It tends to displace and invisibilize the discourse on gender identity. Below is the media statement released by Gender DynamiX in relation to the case of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga.

Media Statement Gender DynamiX 20 May 2010

Malawian couple sentenced to 14 years hard labour – Transgender activists speak out.

Today activists the world over protested the conviction of two gay men in Malawi. Even though activists from many different political persuasions joined hands in a protest in Cape Town today, local transgender activists are highlighting the fact that Tiwonge Chimbalanga clearly expresses a female identity.

According to Ian Swartz from OSISA (Open Society Institute of Southern Africa) Tiwonge Chimbalanga sees herself as a woman. “Tiwonge so clearly identifies as a woman and she has expressed her identity as such more often than not. I think if she knew the word Transgender she would come home to a world of understanding of herself” he said recently after visiting the couple in prison.

A local activist who calls her “Aunty Tiwo” visited her too and to him she said: “I am just a woman who loves my man. I’d rather remain in prison than to be released into a world where I am kept away from Steven”

“Advocating for Transgender people’s rights in most African countries is problematic for us” says Robert Hamblin advocacy manager for SA Transgender organisation Gender DynamiX. “Gender variant identities are not acknowledged and just about any sexual minority is called gay or homosexual. This is because a person is assigned a gender based on their genitals, despite how they self identify.”

Gender DynamiX stood together with other activists today in a protest called by Social Justice Coalition (SJC). SJC was joined by LGBTI organisations protesting the conviction of these two people. The group of activists urged the SA government to negotiate the release of the couple and to offer them asylum in South Africa. The group also demanded that the SA government end the continued silence about human rights abuses against sexual minorities on the rest of the continent.

Gender DynamiX condemns the conviction of Steven Mongeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga. We call on the South African government, as the only state in Africa to recognise equality for sexual minorities, to uphold the South African constitution by offering asylum to the couple.

“Even though the identities of Tiwonge and Steven are misunderstood by the world we stand together with gay and lesbian activists in their work to try and get justice for our trans sister and her partner.” Says Tebogo Nkoana outreach officer at Gender DynamiX.

Robert Hamblin: roberth@genderdynamix.org.za

+27 21 633 5287 ext 2037www.genderdynamix.org.za

http://www.youtube.com/user/GenderDynamiX

Anti-trans violence in Turkey

Turkey is notorious for the presence of polar opposites: men who admire transwomen and those who have very low regard for them. Because of the latter, many transwomen have been found dead in different parts of Turkey. At the same time, Turkey has a very famous transcelebrity, Bulent Ersoy. I met a Turkish gay activist visiting Manila once and he said that Bulent Ersoy has done nothing for the TLBG movement in his country. I hope he is wrong. Below is another proof of the culture of contradiction that exists in that country. I am posting it in solidarity with the transactivists there who suffer real violence but are standing up against it. I hope there can be real change for them soon.

Trans Individuals in Turkey- Ankara were severely beaten by the police force in Ankara tonight at around 23.00 p.m.. Five Transexual women who are all Pink Life activists were stopped in their car and asked to show their identity cars by the police. They all showed their IDs but the police wanted to get them out and they resisted since this was one of the extreme implementations of the fascist Ankara police against trans individuals.

We as human righst activists came along the car they were stopped and asked the police about what they were doing and they did not provide us with any lawful reason about their violence. After a while, the police force started to beat the human rights defenders (namely us who were out of the car - including me and the trans individuals) and they severely beated us!!

We resisted and some of our friends were severely injured. The trans individuals within the car- including two founders of Pink Life were forcibly taken out of the car and were kicked from their stomach and legs, arms and they were severely bloody !!! The silicons of the trans persons were forced and they are severely injured.

The 5 trans people were taken to the police station forcibly- and the police continued to beat them and us - and they are now under custody without any reason!! We human rights activists are waiting in one of the houses of the beaten trans individuals. Tomorrow we will have a press release, most probably..

I will give the required information soon ! Pls try to spread this information since we as trans activists need your solidarity and overt support!!!

Best,

Kemal Ordek
Pink Life LGBTT Solidarity Association
Ankara - Turkey

POSTSCRIPT
Pink Life staged a protest action in line with this incidence of violence. You can see the pictures here.

Philippine government must apologize and start giving back to the Filipino transsexual community

Today, I came across news related to a story that came out in early January about Filipino transsexual women entering Japan with fake passports bearing the identity of non-trans women from the Philippines to marry Japanese men with whom they have had long-term relationships. You can read the news item here or below:

Philippine transsexuals nabbed for illegally entering Japan

Three Philippine nationals have been arrested in western Japan for entering the country on forged women's passports after undergoing sex change operations, local media reported on Tuesday.

The three had the illegal passports made by forgers in the Philippines using women's identification so that they could live in Japan as the "wives" of Japanese men they had met, Kyodo News said.

While working at nightclubs in Fukuoka, they secured spouse visas from local authorities, said Kyodo and other news reports, quoting local immigration authorities.

They were quoted as telling investigators they wanted to live as women and lead their lives with their loved ones, Kyodo said.

"They looked female. We could not tell they are men," an immigration official said, according to the Nishinihon Shimbun.

News like this makes me feel helpless, tired and angry at the same time. I feel helpless, because even if I want to be of help to these women there is really nothing I can do about it with those involved very far away. I feel tired because of the repeated assault by the media on the dignity of these women by continuously referring to them as men or women in quotes. I feel angry because it is a public secret in this country that Filipino transsexual women formed a major part of the Filipino diaspora that began in the late 70s. With no job prospects here and the economy in bad shape, millions of Filipinos started going abroad risking life and limb in many a foreign land to earn their keep and have a dignified life.

Transpinays were part of the early migration of Filipinos to other lands to seek greener pastures. Japan opened its doors to many of them, granting them visas as entertainers so that waves of these transwomen could work as singers and dancers in bars, pubs and night clubs in Japan. The last batches of these transwomen who entered Japan stopped around the turn of the millennium when the US and UN started pressuring Japan regarding trafficking activities within its borders. The response of the Japanese government was to close down all the bars which left many transpinays with no work and no prospects.

Even when the transpinay migration to Japan started in the early 80s, the Philippines government did nothing to ensure that their working conditions were safe and that they were being treated properly as productive employees of Japanese establishments. No reference even has ever been made to them when the Philippine government started a myth-making campaign hailing the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) as a new hero of the country whose foreign remittances keeps this country afloat.

Yet if you speak with these faceless transwomen, they have toiled with their hands, and suffered hard and back breaking work just so they could send those precious yens to help their families in the Philippines survive for years and years. But instead of showing gratitude to these thousands of women, the Philippine government has chosen to continue oppressing and marginalizing them by allowing a cruel Supreme Court (SC) decision in 2007 to stand which denied a transpinay's petition to change her name and sex in her birth certificate--in effect not granting transwomen status as people recognized in their gender in the eyes of the law.

This news item is clear evidence of what a discriminated minority will do when their chance at a dignified life is at stake: they will do something illegal. In Filipino, we have a phrase for situations like this: kapit sa patalim. Literally it means, clutching a knife's blade. With nothing else to hang on to and nowhere to go, generations of transpinays have clutched the sharp blade of a knife by going to Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Europe and many other countries and continents to survive. They do no one any harm. All they want is an equal chance at life and yet it seems the world will not stop until these transsexual Filipinas themselves give up clutching the knife and instead use it on themselves. Dignity only at the price of death.

I say enough! And I am demanding this country, this government to apologize to my community and start giving back to us! NOW!!!

Another day, another case of trans discrimination

I don't know what's with establishments that keep enforcing asinine dress codes but in the Philippines there are a lot of them. The dress code is almost always lopsided, meaning it is not enforced equally on all and always singles out a certain group of people. That is obviously discrimination but because there is no law that prohibits such prejudicial business practices in this country, many establishments get away with it by invoking the standard excuse that the business has the right to refuse entry to those it deems unfit to enter its premises.

Now I can understand that from a security point of view. But in reality these dress code policies are usually based on preconceived notions about what it means to be a man or woman and so tend to be oppressive to those whose gender identity or expression does not conform with norms. Should businesses be allowed to police people's expression of their sexual and gender identities? I do not think so. Another establishment in Manila seems hell bent to do so: Manor Superclub (see logo above). Manor is located in the Eastwood City complex in Libis, Quezon City and is supposed to be the next happening place in the Metro for those who love going clubbing.

Around a week or so ago, a transwoman, Rio, went there with her boyfriend and almost did not get in. She was only able to after summoning the manager who, upon seeing her and her bf, then apologized and allowed them to go in. Rio immediately informed us of what happened and so we sent the establishment a letter asking for a dialogue. Below is the letter and the documentation of the humiliating experience that Rio had to suffer through.

3 November 2009


Manager/Proprietor

Manor Superclub

Eastwood, Libis

Quezon City



Dear Sir/Madam



RE: Discriminatory dress code policy



It has recently come to our attention that one of our members in the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP), Ms Rio Moreno, was almost barred from entering Manor Superclub on the morning of 24 October 2009, Saturday. Based on her account of what happened (see attachment), it was because the bouncer/guard on duty at the gate was enforcing on her your establishment’s dress code for MEN.


Firstly, Ms Moreno is a person of transsexual experience. That means her gender identity is opposite to the one designated to her at birth. Even if she was assigned male, she developed a female gender identity growing up. The dress code that should have been applied to her then should have been the WOMEN’S. In that case, we are confident that Ms Moreno was not violating your policy. We understand that the bouncer/guard on duty was imposing the dress code based on HIS understanding of Ms Moreno’s gender.


Let us clarify this for you. According to the Yogyakarta Principles, the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity, gender identity is “understood to refer to each person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth, including the personal sense of the body (which may involve, if freely chosen, modification of bodily appearance or function by medical, surgical or other means) and other expressions of gender, including dress, speech and mannerisms.” That means Ms Moreno’s gender is what she feels and thinks it is and not what your bouncer/guard thinks or feels it is. Moreover, Ms Moreno’s gender identity has NOTHING to do with her sex assignment at birth or the sex in her birth certificate, her genitals, or her legal name. They DO NOT determine her gender identity. The Yogyakarta Principles are recognized by the UN and human rights commissions around the world including that of the Philippines .


Additionally, we know for a fact that many transsexual women, including some of our own STRAP members, have been able to enter Manor Superclub and enjoy what it has to offer without hassle in the past. This means that your dress code is not being enforced consistently. Ms Moreno was also surprised when she finally entered Manor and she saw many women dressed in men’s clothing inside your club. If you allow women in male apparel to enter Manor, then you should do the same for men in female attire. Obviously no harm is done when women cross dress and exercise their freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and is protected by the 1987 Philippine Constitution. It applies to all people regardless of sex or gender. Because your dress code is not equally applied to both genders, it is clearly discriminatory.


We are surprised that an establishment like yours is enforcing such a policy especially since you are located in Eastwood City , the first ever accredited Tourism Entertainment Complex of the Department of Tourism (DOT). Moreover, you are located in Quezon City , which prides itself on being the only city in the Philippines with a local anti-discrimination ordinance. We do not think that the DOT or the city government particularly its Gender and Development (GAD) Council will tolerate any form of discrimination in establishments under their jurisdiction.


Eastwood is a cosmopolitan place. As your advertisement points out, being in Eastwood is all about living the good life. If that were the case, then this should be reflected in the business practices of all Eastwood establishments, vendors and tenants. Discriminating against a certain population and being discriminated upon has no place in a life well-lived. What is more, such gender-biased dress code restrictions will never be found in the best dance clubs of the world from North America to Europe to Asia . We believe that Manor will be better off if it adopts instead a policy that celebrates diversity and individuality, a major characteristic of your target market.


Do dialogue with us. We believe that we will be able to learn from each other given the chance.


Sincerely,


Naomi Fontanos

Chair

STRAP

Attachment:

October 24, 1:00AM. I arrived at Manor Superclub Eastwood, with Philip. The bouncer/guard asked for our IDs. Philip showed his and I showed my work ID. It has my preferred name Rio Moreno and my legal name. The guard then pointed his hand and showed me a poster of their dress code, which lists the prohibited clothing for men and women. Under MEN, the list includes women's clothing.


I asked the guard, “What do you mean?” He just did not know what to answer and pointed to the poster again. Philip asked the guard, "Why aren’t you letting her in?" The guard said "Sir, dress code sir."


We asked for the manager. The manager named Will came down. As soon as he saw us, he apologized and told us that we could come in. His exact words were "Sorry po, you can come in." He was talking to me and Philip.


Philip asked, “Why aren't they letting her in?” He just said sorry and said we could come in. He also said that the bouncer was just doing his job.


I asked for their names again. The manager’s name is Will while the bouncer’s name is Mar. We went in and paid the entrance fee.


October 24, 4PM. I called their office number and Jack's Loft employees answer the phone saying that Manor's phone is being used by Jack's loft during the day.

I called again around 9PM. Jack’s Loft picked up again and asked me to call again so the Manor people will pick up. I called again and again till 12 in the morning. I kept getting the fax tone.

I was trying to call them to get their complete names so I could document everything completely.


Signed,

Rio Moreno

Member

STRAP

A call for change

Below is the statement of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) on what happened recently to BB Gandanghari and her friends at a bar in Pasig City. It seems both ironic and fitting in the face of the global LGBT community preparing to commemorate this year (May 17, 2009) the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) with a spotlight on transphobia. What happened to BB and her friends stands proof that transphobia exists and is alive everywhere in the world.

A CALL FOR CHANGE
Statement of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) on the Aruba incident involving Binibini Gandanghari and her friends

We, the members of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred on the night of April 23, 2009, Thursday, to Binibini (BB for short) Gandanghari and her friends at Aruba Bar and Restaurant in Metrowalk, Pasig City. On that said night, Aruba, with no compunction and invoking its NO CROSSDRESSING policy, refused them entrance.

What happened to BB and her friends that night serves as proof of the rampant discrimination directed against many of us in the Filipino Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. With no national law that protects us and our welfare as citizens of the Philippines, we continue to experience unequal treatment in education, housing, health care, the legal system, employment and other public accommodations. What happened is also particularly telling of the specific kind of marginalization that Filipinos of transgender experience--or those whose gender identity and expression are not conventionally associated with their gender assignment at birth--face. We remain the most oppressed members of Philippine society and our rights as persons are continuously violated due to anti-transgender prejudice.

We in STRAP along with our allies, friends and supporters, therefore, see the need for change and:

• call for a dialogue with the Aruba management so that we may help its owners and staff, understand better the life of someone transgender.
• We are also calling the attention of the Philippine government especially the House of Representatives including the Commission on Human Rights to the need to grant civil rights protections to Filipino LGBT people based on the Yogyakarta Principles (www.yogyakartaprinciples.org), which apply international human rights standards to issues concerning sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.
• Lastly, we ask the Filipino public including the entertainers and artists who regularly perform in Aruba to boycott this establishment until it stops its discriminatory practice of refusing entry and service to people it perceives as “cross-dressers”. Continuing to enforce such a policy based on outdated and ignorant notions of gender denies the dignity inherent in every human person and perpetuates unnecessary inequity that does no one any good.

Signed:
Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP)

Supported by:
Ang Ladlad Partylist
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Advocates for Youth (GABAY)
Gay and Lesbian Activist Network for Gender Equality (GALANG)
Lesbian Advocates Philippines (LeAP)
Philippine Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC)
Rainbow Rights (R-Rights) Project, Inc.

"BB Gandanghari refused entry by Aruba Bar and Restaurant"

This morning when I opened my mail, I saw this message from Sass on the Task Force Pride (TFP) e-group. She now works for BB Gandanghari and apparently they went to an event last night the venue of which, Aruba Bar and Restaurant, refused BB entry invoking its NO CROSSDRESSING policy. This is not the first time this happened. Two years ago, Aruba also refused entry to another high-profile person, the comedian and entertainer, Inday Garutay. In the mad dash to get Inday's message out there, her handlers from the Lesbian and Gay Legislative Advocacy Network (LAGABLAB) immediately branded it a gay issue, called the establishment anti-gay, and in the process invisibilized the reality of transgender oppression.

In justifying their actions, Inday's handlers said Inday herself identified as a gay man so it was not a case of trans discrimination. As I pointed out in an earlier entry, this was a clear reflection of sexual orientation being conflated with gender identity, an unfortunate reality in this country which many lesbian and gay advocates have refused to acknowledge. And now, we have the case of BB being refused entry by the same establishment. That only means nothing has changed. This time though I hope the wrongs of the past can be righted by properly arguing this case along gender identity and expression lines.

I am not saying that gender is solely the concern of trans people. We all have gender and we are all affected by the oppression it brings. In the same way, we all have sexualities for which we are punished as well especially if it is non-heterosexual. But legally speaking there is a need to clarify what a sexual orientation issue is from a gender identity and expression one because it is the only way protections to trans people will be granted. In fact, more often than not, discriminatory acts toward LGBT people happen not because of what they are perceived to do in the privacy of their bedroom but because of how they look and present themselves in public.

Anyway, below is BB's recounting of her experience of discrimination as a woman of transgender experience. Another day, another case of trans oppression.


Time for change
by BB Gandanghari

“Rules,” Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “are not necessarily sacred, principles are.” The incident that happened to me and my friends on the night of April 24 is an example of rules violating the principles which motivate humanity to live in equality, to treat each other with respect, and to uphold each other’s dignity.

I was all set to watch Rannie Raymundo’s show in Metrowalk. Dee and my assistant Sass were with me. I didn’t know where exactly in Metrowalk the show would be. So while I was on my way, I texted Maegan, who would also be watching with us. She told me that it was going to be in Aruba Bar & Restaurant. Upon hearing that it was going to be there, Sass brought up the unfortunate incident Inday Garutay experienced there. I heard it before but I didn’t know that it happened there. Feeling worried, I requested Sass to ask Aruba Bar & Restaurant whether they have any problem with me watching the show.

Sass talked to the bouncer of Aruba Bar & Restaurant but she was then referred to the manager. She asked Sass: “What is she wearing?” Sass told her that I was wearing what every woman wears. The manager then iterated the blatant “No Crossdressing” policy hanging on their door. Sass refused to accept her reasoning. The manager then offered to consult the owner of the bar. The manager returned and gave a compromise: We can stay outside of Aruba Bar & Restaurant. Sass left and narrated what she was told. We left Metrowalk and transferred into a bar that understands that bigotry is not a sound business strategy.

I have felt perhaps the same feeling Rosa Parks felt when she was asked to give up her seat so a white passenger could sit. We, and countless human beings like me, suffered and are continue suffering the same indignity of discrimination: Rosa Park was discriminated because of her skin color; human beings of transgender experience are being discriminated because of their gender identity, the deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which of course does not always match the sex assigned by the doctors upon our birth.

I wasn’t demanding any special treatment from them. I was just there looking forward to enjoy the music and performance of Rannie, just like any other human being inside their bar. Certainly, I dressed up as a woman because I am a woman. If I dressed up in a masculine way, that would be the time that I would be crossdressing. But let’s discard all the labels, it’s not the issue. I am a human being just like yourself, just like the owners of Aruba Bar & Restaurant. I’m a human being denied of her right to express her unique existence.

What special right does Aruba Bar & Restaurant have that they can just force human beings to conform their gender expression to the gender expression traditionally associated with their assigned sex at birth? What special right does Aruba Bar & Restaurant have that they can just inflict indignity on their fellow human beings? What special right does Aruba Bar & Restaurant have that they can just enforce such transphobic policies with impunity?

I don’t understand where they are getting these special rights. My Christian upbringing has instilled in me one of the two greatest principles Jesus Christ deemed to be the commandments at which all commandments bow. This principle is also common in all spiritual teachings: “Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself”.

We can also find this same principle in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood (Article 1). And “everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms…, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status (Article 2).” This is also echoed in the Yogyakarta Principles: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Human beings of all sexual orientations and gender identities are entitled to the full enjoyment of all human rights (Article 1).”

Even the Philippine Constitution upholds this: “The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights. (Article II, Section 11).” Jesus Christ was all about love, compassion, and inclusion and never about discrimination. The Philippine Constitution and international law are all about upholding the dignity of each human being regardless of who and what they are.

Without a need for complicated mental calisthenics, discriminatory rules, practices, and policies are very incompatible with these principles. And history has shown that rules, practices and policies constantly change so society can fulfill the highest principles of humanity: women getting the vote, end of apartheid, outlawing child abuse, to name a few.

So what special right does Aruba Bar & Restaurant have that they can just enforce rules that violate these principles of humanity? What special right does Aruba Bar & Restaurant have that they can continue doing business like this for years? Since when did a business license become a license to violate human rights? Does my gender identity & expression violate their right to conduct their business in a socially responsible way? Why are we turning a blind eye to this inhumanity?

Enforcing gender conformity is not, and will never be, a corporate social responsibility; ending discrimination is. Philippines, it’s NOW time for change.

Love & Peace,
Ms. BB Gandanghari