CEBU, Philippines – Should homosexuals have their own separate comfort rooms?
For Provincial Board Member Arleigh Sitoy the answer is yes. He believes that it is high time to end the confusion of what public restroom should a member of the third sex enter given the present set up wherein there are only male and female comfort rooms available.
Sitoy has proposed an ordinance requiring owners and operators of business establishments in the Province of Cebu to designate a separate restroom exclusively for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders or LGBT.
Sitoy said that as human beings LGBTs should be accorded the same rights, dignity and respect due them for them to feel safe, comfortable and convenient in using public restrooms.
The members of the third sex however have different opinions on the proposed ordinance. There are those who welcomed it but are opposed.
Nikka, a gay, told The FREEMAN that he feels insulted when people are laughing at his back every time he goes to a male restroom.
"Okay ra nga naa jud untay para amo kay kung muadto mi sa male restroom, lainan sila kay sa babaye kuno mi. Unya kung muadto mi sa female comfort room ang tan-aw nila namo laki jud biologically," he said.
But for Ana Lee, who admitted being a lesbian, it is not anymore necessary to have a restroom for the third sex because ever since LGBTs are free to choose between male and female restrooms.
"Dili ko okay because mao man jud nay naandan nato nga CR from the start, male and female ra jud. You know maski papart ko wala ko mangita ug laing CR. Okay nako sa female nga CR kay if paundayunan nang third sex nga CR for sure mismo taga simbahan labi na mga pari masuko jud," Lee said.
Sitoy wants the provincial government to denounce any form of discrimination committed against anybody based on their sexual orientations and gender identities.
In his proposed ordinance, Sitoy states that the "society has slowly come to realize that the traditional but shackled conception of strictly two gender-societies often re-sults in patterns of abusive behavior and discriminatory treatment against its members whose genders appear to resist normative standards."
To cure this defect, Sitoy believes that business establishments should be required to put up a separate facility for the LGBTs. Once the ordinance is approved, business establishments should comply it or face revocation of their business permits. - /FPL (FREEMAN)