Rody to certify SOGIE as urgent

President Rodrigo Duterte Photo by Yummie Dingding

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday announced that he will certify as urgent the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill which seeks to protect LGBT rights.

In his speech at the Palace, the President stressed that he would do whatever would make the LGBT community happy.

“Yes, whatever would make the mechanisms, what would make them happy… like Senator Enrile said, I want them to be happy,” said Duterte.

The measure, filed by minority Senator Risa Hontiveros, aims to prevent and penalize discriminatory acts against a person’s sexual orientation and it is undergoing hearings at the Senate, which came in the wake of the controversial detention of a transgender woman following an argument with a janitress over the former’s use of the women’s toilet at a Quezon City mall last month.