Teen transwoman from Tacloban allowed to wear female school uniform
TACLOBAN CITY – A 17-year-old transwoman thanked her school for allowing her to wear a female uniform.

Sessy Maravillo, a senior high school student from Leyte National High School here, said that with the rising number of members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA+) in the community, uniform for transwoman and other members of the community has been an added concern.
"In my case, I am very much blessed and grateful at the same time for being in a school that totally accepts LGBTQIA+ members of the society," Maravillo said.
She added that it gives her comfort as a member of the LGBTQIA+ and that she also wants others to feel the same way as she feels – "the acceptance, freedom, love, and above all, the respect."
"I feel the strong and warm support of my school, especially the love of my teachers and their strong regard towards the gender that I have," she added.
She hopes that other schools will also be gender-friendly in terms of wearing uniforms.
"It does not only intend to help in amplifying gender acceptance in our society, but as well as helping our fellowmen to build strong confidence within them," she said.
Maravillo pushed for the adoption of gender-neutral uniforms as a significant and positive step toward a more compassionate society.
"We should always remember that forcing clothes on children or students won't make a school better, but a uniform combined with reforms can."
She believes that if society wants to practice inclusivity, then it must allow the freedom of choice.