House bill seeks 'protection' of the 'rights of heterosexuals'
MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker in the House of Representatives has filed a bill "recognizing, defining and protecting the rights of heterosexuals" allowing them to publicly express biblical views on the LGBTQ community.
In filing House Bill No. 5717, evangelical pastor Rep. Benny Abante (Manila, 6th District) pushes for the State to protect heterosexuals or straight people's right to freely practice their religion and express their views, particularly opinions concerning the LGBT community.
From the get-go, Abante begins his explanatory note arguing that "God created man in his own image and created male and female only and gave the decree of procreation to a male and female only, [and] it is clear that God created only two genders." He went on to call the LGBTQ community a "detestable reality [that] was virtually unknown and unimaginable since time immemorial."
"If, therefore, we seek to ‘grant’ and/or ‘protect’ rights to homosexuals, bisexuals, transgenders and queers, in the spirit of justice, equity and fair play, we must also ‘grant’ and/or ‘protect’ rights to heterosexuals who are the actual and direct creations of God," he wrote.
Abante also claims that it is the right of heterosexuals to "enjoy their religious profession and worship without interference or abridgement with the right to exclude therefrom others of different beliefs or faith" and "impose [these views] when running or operating their churches, businesses, schools or workplaces."
The bill penalizes any violations of those rights with imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine of at least P100,000.
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The bill has since been referred to the House Committee on Women and Gender Equality chaired by the transgender Rep. Geraldine Roman (Bataan, 1st District).
As it currently stands, though, heterosexuality also already falls under the umbrella of SOGIE, which stands for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression.
But the proposed SOGIE Equality Bill has been pushed for decades in Congress to protect against SOGIE-based discrimination in the workplace, educational institutions, healthcare facilittes and public places, among others.
Abante has also consistently opposed the bill, claiming there is no need to pass a law against gender discrimination. One compromise he's suggested is for Congress to first pass a comprehensive anti-discrimination law to prohibit all forms of discrimination instead.
The conservative lawmaker indicated opposition to the SOGIE Equality Bill once more in his latest bill, writing in its explanatory note: "Bills are now before us that smacks God’s laws and standards, particularly on creation, human dignity and morals. These Bills not only recognize, but worse, promote and give reward to ‘genders’ not created by God."
Though Abante claims passing a law for straight people is a matter of equality, the Commission on Human Rights has backed the immediate passage of the SOGIE Bill after noting widespread discrimination and other forms of abuse against the LGBTQ+ sector.
“The current laws that we have are not sufficient to protect our LGBTQ,” the CHR’s Centers for Gender Equality & Women’s Human Rights said in a statement earlier. “We need to acknowledge the marginalization of a community in order to better address their marginalization and discrimination.”
— with reports from Xave Gregorio
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