Various advocates urged candidates and political parties engaging in the 2022 National Elections to speak up on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and questioning (LGBTIQ+) rights.
About 165 LGBTIQ+ organizations, networks, and individuals released an open letter reaching out to candidates, political parties, and coalitions intending to run in the incoming elections to seek clarity on their political stance towards LGBTIQ+ rights.
Among the questions asked in the letter were the parties' or candidates' stance on the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill, marriage equality, legal gender recognition, and support for LGBTIQ+-owned businesses.
"As we advocate for equality and human rights for all as members of the LGBTQIA+ community, we need to assure our fellow LGBTQIA+ Filipinos that we have the right person, the candidate that is an ally to uphold their advocacy towards equality. It is the right time to step up and heed the call of equality. We will never be silenced anymore," Reyel Xavier Inocencio, Pioneer Filipino Transgender Men Movement Deputy Executive Director for Programs, said.
"We urge political parties to support the LGBTIQ+ electoral agenda, ensure political participation, and representation of LGBTIQ+ people and field candidates support of LGBTIQ+ rights," Atty. Clara Rita Padilla, EnGendeRights Executive Director, added.
Padilla also stressed that they "will not support candidates who are known to have homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic views" and those aligned with groups that discriminate against LGBTIQ+ people.