Interview with Brenda Rodriguez Alegre, Visiting scholar at CERI

Brenda Rodriguez Alegre has joined Sciences Po (CERI & PRESAGE) for a visiting stay as part of the Gender studies programme. A specialist of the transgender identity and community, with a special focus on the Philippines, she answers our questions about her research focus in the short interview below.

You have joined CERI as part of the Visiting Faculty initiative in the Gender Studies Programme. Can you briefly present your academic path, as well as your project for this stay?

I am so honoured to have been given this amazing opportunity at Sciences Po. At the University of Hong Kong, I am a Lecturer in the Gender Studies Programme in the School of Humanities within the Faculty of Arts. I am more of a full-time teacher, but I do my best to push forward my research agenda. Here at CERI and Presage, I look forward to meeting and linking up with other academics and researchers in the general area of gender studies and feminism and I wish to further develop my initial research agenda of understanding the diasporic and migration experiences of trans and queer Asians in France and Europe more broadly.

As a gender studies scholar, you examine transgender identity, with a special focus on the Philippines, your home country. In particular, you show how the pre-colonial society of the Philippines was a much more tolerant society in terms of gender identity. Would you mind telling us about this?

The Philippines today is more tolerant than it was during colonialism, but it is still not fully accepting. We still experience discrimination and prejudice. For instance, we have no protective anti-discrimination laws, no gender recognition, and no same-gender marriage laws, among other things. Trans and queer people still experience discrimination every day, even to the extent of experiencing violence and death. That being said, comparing the experience of trans and queer Filipinos living in the Philippines to that of those living in Hong Kong and Europe, at least they don’t also experience added layers of racism, colourism, and migrant status as they often do in the latter.
However, in my talks, teaching, and research, I highlight the importance of acknowledging the pre-colonial inclusivity and gender pluralism of Asian societies that should remind us to work harder toward decolonisation and honouring our inclusive and diverse past to achieve a similar future.

Are comparisons with other countries with similar colonial history interesting?

Yes, it is interesting, for example, to compare the Philippines to Hong Kong as well as to Indonesia and India and even to the African diaspora. It is also noteworthy to compare the Philippines to a country like Thailand that was not colonised but has a similar sociological and historical tapestry to the Philippines in terms of gender and sexuality. It would also be interesting to think about how colonial empires practice gender and sexuality in this day and age in relation to how they were among the causes of oppressive and marginalising gender and sexual cultures in their colonised societies.

What is the situation currently of the transgender community in the Philippines? Are there specificities to the country?

We do not have gender recognition laws. This means trans people suffer from being misgendered when using our official documents. We experience this in travel and visa applications, especially abroad. Transwomen in particular have been held at immigration counters for being suspected of doing sex work which is in itself another layer of oppression and marginalisation. Discrimination is rampant across societies including the Philippines. But at the same time, likely because of our diverse and inclusive precolonial past, many of our people are quite tolerant of and recognise our gender diversity.

What is the SOGIESC bill?

SOGIESC stands for Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics. Basically, SOGIESC exists for all people. We all have sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and sex characteristics: being gay or straight (SO), being trans or cis (GI), being trans, queer, androgynous, masculine, or feminine (GE), and being intersex or endosex (SC). SOGIESC is an acronym used in human rights advocacy and law and in agencies such as the United Nations and World Health Organization. The SOGIESC Equality Bill in the context of the Philippines corresponds to our anti-discrimination ordinance which has not yet been enacted. The country does not have an anti-discrimination law because conservative forces and actors maintain their dominant prejudice toward LGBTQI people.

What is the position of the main religion in the Philippines regarding transness? Do other religions or communities adopt a different stance, and what does the Church’s position do to the community?

Religiosity among Filipinos has greatly influenced our highly conservative and rather backwards view toward many issues. Being a population of mostly Christians and some Muslims, our people have suffered in some areas of living because of the constrictive aspects of religion in our society. We have no divorce, abortion is not legal and is treated as a highly immoral act, being LGBTQI, although tolerated, does not have protections and recognitions in the law, among many other things. People have become judgmental toward women who do not conform to conservative ideals and although there is a false sense of gender equality, our society is still patriarchal, not to mention very heteronormative. Although religions are supposed to teach love and acceptance, this does not seem to be the case in the most religious countries in Asia at least.

Interview by Miriam Périer, CERI.