'Women's Month includes transgender women'

GABRIELA first nominee Sarah Elago said on Saturday that transgender women should be included in the celebration of Women's Month. March was designated as Women's History Month to recognize the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. "Women's Month is a month of recognition of the contributions of women in history; this includes transwomen," said Elago. Elago issued the statement following an online debate resulting from a TikTok post by Jamie Casino, a transwoman, saying, "When I say Happy Women's month, transgender women are included because transwomen are women." Social media personality and content-creator Tito Mars replied to the post, saying that transgender women should not be included in the commemoration of Women's Month because they do not experience the same biological struggles that cisgender or biological women face. Elago said transgender women and biological women experience the same oppression, abuse and discrimination in a patriarchal society. Data from the National Institute of Health showed both cisgender women and transgender women were both subject to abuses, with 46 percent of transgender women having experienced physical and sexual violence in their lifetime. Elago cited the need for the passage of the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (Sogie) bill, which aims to address sexual identity discrimination. "The Sogie bill is not a special treatment for members of the LGBT community because we all have a Sogie. What it stands for is equal protection," said Elago. "We don't have access to gender-affirming care for transgender women. Some have to land into high-paying jobs to get it, some have to go abroad for it," she added.