Bataan 1st District Representative Geraldine Roman said that females should share the women’s bathroom with the transgender people or just ignore them if they feel uncomfortable sharing their space.
In a press conference, Roman who’s the first transgender women elected to the Congress of the Philippines said that women should also respect the rights of the other genders who only wanted to use the female restroom.
Roman also pointed out that there’s no valid reason for any woman to be uncomfortable sharing their restroom with some transgender.
She even pointed out that transgenders using the female restroom in the Congress building is already normal.
“Pumasok nalang sila sa cubicle and do their thing, wag nilang kausapin,” Roman said.
“Ano ngayon kung transgender? There’s no valid reason… if you have a problem… magtiis ka, pero h’wag mong ipagkait sa kapwa tao mo yung karapatan niyang pumunta sa banyo,” she added.
The transgender lawmaker said that incidents like what happened to trans woman Gretchen Diez might be prevented if the Congress just passed the SOGIE bill last year.
Roman urged President Rodrigo Duterte to certify SOGIE bill as urgent so it would be prioritized by the lawmakers.
She believed that it’s already the right time for the government to give equal rights to the LGBTQA+ community to prevent another inequality incident again.
Roman is one of the first lawmakers who expressed support to trans woman Gretchen Diez after a janitress stopped her from using women’s restroom.
However, it seems that the SOGIE bill would receive opposition from several lawmakers including Senate President Tito Sotto.
“If you are infringing on the rights of others, particularly the women, then you have no right to do it,” Sotto said.