MANILA, Philippines — The House human rights committee approved Thursday a bill that would ban discrimination based on a wide range of factors including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE), ethnicity, race and religious belief. With the bill clearing the committee, it will now be up for debates in the plenary before it is voted upon by all members of the House. The bill is seen as a compromise between conservative legislators and proponents of the anti-discrimination bill that is based on SOGIE alone, which has been languishing in the legislative mill for over a decade. Including intersex in the definition of sex would have been a landmark recognition of intersex people in legislation, which currently only recognizes two sexes — man and woman. Abante also attempted, but failed, to remove gender identity as one of the protected classes against discrimination.

Source: Philippine Star May 20, 2021 08:37 UTC