MANILA, PHILIPPINES — In commemoration of International Transgender Day of Visibility last March 31, the non-profit organization PridePH launched a harrowing video about the discrimination of transgender students in schools as a movement to #MakePHSchoolsInclusive.
The video, Batang Hinarang sa Lupang Hinirang, features Jelai Balbaera, a student and transgender woman, being forced to present herself as a male student during the flag ceremony.
In 2017, the Department of Education released a memorandum that recognizes the sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual characteristics (SOGIESC) of teachers and students.
In its Gender Responsive Basic Education Policy (No. 32, s. 2017), teachers and students are respected and are allowed to dress according to their gender identity.
However, many schools refuse to follow this and transgender students like Jelai continue to be barred from being free, even in their chosen land or lupang hinirang.
Jelai hopes that this video raises awareness for the plight of transgender students in school.
She said, “Kailangan po namin ng tulong dahil dini-discriminate po kami ng school namin.” (“We need help because we’re being discriminated by our own school.”)
She also expressed her anxiety about her upcoming moving-up day rites. “Hindi daw ako pagma-martsahin kung hindi daw ako mag-comply sa hair requirement for boys.” (“I was told that I won’t be allowed to march if I don’t comply with the hair requirement for boys.”)
PridePH National Convener and Miss Trans Global 2020 Mela Habijan said, “Transgender students and teachers deserve to be in schools and to present themselves as they are!”
Mela hopes that this video will convince schools to follow the DepEd memo, for DepEd to create a new memo directly stating that transgender and non-binary students and teachers are free to express themselves as they are in schools, and for DepEd to impose sanctions for schools that do not comply.
DepEd reiterated its memo last August 19, 2022. However, there is no penalty or punishment for schools that do not abide.
Habijan also says that the fight in the Philippines to recognize and protect the rights of transgender students is far from over. “We continue to get tragic accounts of trans nenes (girls) and totoys (boys) who are prohibited from expressing their true selves by their schools. Yet, we shall continue to fight.”
Ad Hoc Marketing spearheaded this campaign as part of its mission to develop communication materials for the good.
“We want real change,” said Mark Blanco, Creative Lead of Ad Hoc Marketing, “This is why we intentionally showed the pressing and sad realities of transgender students in the Philippines.”
Henson Wongaiham, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Ad Hoc Marketing, said, “There’s still so much to do and to fight for when it comes to the LGBTQIA+ community. We look forward to developing more creatively effective campaigns in the future.”
International Transgender Day of Visibility is an annual event occurring on March 31 dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of the discrimination they face worldwide.
