Jude Bacalso made her first public appearance since the day she was charged by the waiter who called her ‘sir.’
During the Cebu Press Freedom Forum on Thursday, September 19, Jude insisted that she was misgendered by the waiter, not once, but thrice.
Jude said that her complaint was valid as people working in the service industry were already expected to be knowledgeable when it comes to addressing their customers with proper pronouns.
“I had a valid complaint. I was misgendered three times. My standard response is always humor, but inclusivity is crucial, especially in public-facing industries,” she said.
Jude also insisted that she didn’t want the incident to go viral, and the issue was supposed to end the day after the incident.
“I never intended for this to be public. I wanted it handled quietly,” she also said.
Meanwhile, calling someone with a proper pronoun was “a form of respect.” and anyone who followed it would not lose anything.
The writer didn’t directly give any comment on the charges filed by the waiter against her.
It can be recalled that the waiter’s camp already said that their client couldn’t interact properly with people since the incident happened after being allegedly forced by Jude to stand for two hours and listen to her lecture.