As we approach the final days of Pride Month, it’s time to move beyond rainbow celebrations and face a truth we can no longer ignore: while the LGBTQIA+ community in the Philippines has come far, the road to real equality remains long, and we are running out of excuses not to act.

Pride is not just a party. It is a protest, a history of struggle, and a declaration of existence in a world that still too often refuses to fully see or protect queer or different lives. And in the Philippines, where a vibrant queer culture flourishes but legal protections remain stalled, the contradiction has never been more glaring.

The passage of local policies like Quezon City’s Right to Care Ordinance is proof that progress is possible. Spearheaded by City Mayor Joy Belmonte, this ordinance affirms the right of same-sex partners to make medical decisions for each other — a right many heterosexual couples take for granted.

The introduction of the Right to Care Card through City Ordinance No. 3221, series of 2023, cements this commitment, enabling queer couples to act as legal medical proxies through a Special Power of Attorney. In Quezon City, love and care between queer partners is finally being recognized — at least inside hospital walls.

But isolated victories are not enough. The hard truth is this: LGBTQIA+ Filipinos still face widespread discrimination, lingering prejudice, harassment and legal invisibility. And the law has yet to catch up.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the 24-year wait for the SOGIE Equality Bill — a landmark measure first filed in 2000, repeatedly debated, and endlessly delayed. The fact that it remains unpassed as of 2025 speaks volumes. It tells us that even as society evolves, power remains stubbornly stuck in prejudice.

This failure is not just legislative — it is moral. How many more queer Filipinos, or those who live their lives differently from the majority, must be denied jobs, bullied in schools, refused services, and even killed before the law decides their lives are worth protecting?

The SOGIE Bill is not radical. It doesn’t create special rights — it simply ensures equal ones. It doesn’t dismantle institutions — it strengthens them by insisting on fairness. It doesn’t threaten values — it upholds dignity.

Every Pride Month we chant “Love wins,” but love alone cannot secure equality. We need laws. We need action. We need political will. And most of all, we need the public to rise and demand what should never have been negotiable: respect, safety, and human rights for all.

As the current month ends, let us remember: Pride is not just about who we are — it’s about who and what we’re fighting to become. A society that protects, not just tolerates. A country that legislates and implements equality, not just celebrates it in June.

The time for change isn’t someday. It’s now. And we will do well by making Pride a promise we intend to keep.