THE COMMISSION on Gender and Equality and Central Student Government of the College of Saint Benilde called for the promotion of the rights of members of LGBTQIA+ community as the country celebrates Pride Month.

“The institutionalized oppression of the LGBTQIA+ community creates a stigma that suppresses their rights and prerogatives. It is within the intention of the celebrated month to advocate for gay visibility and acceptance to break the social stigma and societal shaming of homosexuals that have dominated throughout history,” CGE and CSG said in a statement.

The groups denounced the discrimination against members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and stressed the need to protect them  “from institutionalized and internalized oppression.”

They urged lawmakers to pass the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression Equality bill which seeks to provide legal mechanisms to hold into account perpetrators of gender-based discrimination.

“The murders of Jennifer Laude, Julie Catamin, and Ebeng Mayor have highlighted the importance of speaking out and passing the SOGIE Bill into law,” they said.

“Our society has to realize that every person has the right to life, liberty, and security. We must learn to realize that freedom of expression is a right; this should never be endangered through discriminative and violent means,” they added.

Pride month is celebrated in commemoration of the Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan in 1969, a milestone for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States.

This movement sought to counter the discrimination and violence on the community, prompting society to give them the equal rights they are entitled to.