Jake Zyrus said that he’s still using restroom designated for females because he believes that he’s a biologically woman.
In his album launch press conference, Zyrus, a trans man known before as Charice Pempengco said that he’s not forcing himself to use the male bathroom because of his respect to the law.
“I used to think that way. Pipilitin ko ‘yung sarili ko to go to male’s restroom. But the more that I grow older, the more I realized that not everyone thinks the same. Not everyone believes in the beliefs that you believe… so nagsi-CR ako sa kung saan ako dapat mag-CR,” he said.
“So, kung ano po ‘yung naiisip ninyo, dun ako nagsi-CR, I simply follow the law. I respect the law, and if I respect the law, hopefully, the government will see it and I hope everyone follows it,” he added.
According to him, if some women became uncomfortable with his presence in the female restroom, he cannot do anything about it because he’s just following what is in the law.
He believes that the SOGIE bill is not only about the “restroom” rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“This is about how we are going to treat each other and how we are going to understand each other. This is not just about understanding me, understanding the LGBTQ community, this is both ways,” said Zyrus.
Zyrus also said that he’s going to respect the opinion of the majority on the proposal to implement a third restroom designated for LGBTQIA+ community.
“There are so many problems that we should face a lot more than this. I am more concerned of that. Pabor ako kung mababasa ko sa comments na okay na ang lahat,” he said.
The SOGIE bill became a viral topic after trans woman Gretchen Diez was stopped by a janitress from using a restroom designated for females.