By Hannah Torregoza Senator Richard Gordon believes that all people should be treated equality and with respect, regardless of gender. Gordon made the pronouncement after Senator Risa Hontiveros brought to the Senate floor the discrimination transwoman Gretchen Diez suffered at Farmers Plaza Mall in Cubao, Quezon City last week. Sen. Richard Gordon
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN) “Everyone has to live with who they are. The problem is society would not let them (LGBTQIA+) live for what they are. Convention has forced us to take traditional positions that we are going to have to make adjustments to,” Gordon said. “I would just like to emphasize that I am for equality. I respect the individual for what he or she is,” he said. Gordon said it is high-time that Philippine society start acknowledging the members of the LGBTQUIA+ community for “what they are and what they choose to be.” “We should not judge them based on the life they choose; rather, we must embrace them as members of our society. It is high time we end the stigma against them, for they are, after all, our fellow Filipinos,” he said. “I have friends and staff who are members of the LGBTQ+ community and they live and work really passionately and virtuously. They exert tremendous effort to make sure that they live their life with utmost pride. And I commend them for that,” he said. He pointed out that, though, it may be a challenge to fine-tune society to accept the reality that there are people born outside conventionally-accepted genders and adjustments would have to be made in terms of culture, language and even in some infrastructures. “It may be a challenge to fine tune society to a new reality but we will definitely strive to make sure that everybody treats everyone equally,” he said. “After all, the Constitution assures us that all men are created equal and everyone has the right to life, liberty and property,” Gordon stressed.