The Rainbow Blog Philippines

20 October 2011 – Naomi Fontanos, chairwoman of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) the pioneer human rights advocacy organization of transgender/transsexual Filipinas or transpinays, spoke on a panel called Trans* Rights Are Human Rights organized by the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Berlin, Germany on 5 October 2011, Wednesday (see video below).  The panel focused on the initial research findings of the TransRespect Vs TransPhobia (TvT) Project of Transgender Europe (TGEU) , which investigates the legal and social situation of transgender people globally. Talking about transpeople in East and Southeast Asia, Fontanos said "From East Asia to Southeast Asia, transpeople face a similar situation: silenced, excluded and erased. Most transpeople have no say over their identities; their lived realities are belittled and dismissed and state and cultural forces act to render them powerless, with no control over their own lives.” “Like others elsewhere in...

CSWCD, UP Diliman -- The Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) , the pioneer transgender human rights organization in the Philippines, makes history as they send off a communication to the United Nations (UN) that calls attention to state responsibilities of the Philippine Government as a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to pay careful attention to how the justice system updates itself with current developments in international human rights law in its understanding of gender identity through the lived experiences of transsexual women. "The launch of this historical and important communication to the United Nations comes at a very opportune time what with the recent hurtful pronouncements made by the mother of Congressman Manny Pacquiao. Mommy Dionisia has made comments about transsexuals and their use of the pill showing the widespread ignorance about transsexualism in the Philippines," says STRAP Chairwoman Nao...

STRAP wishes everyone a Christmas filled with warmth, laughter and hope and a New Year that affirms our dignity, protects our right to self-determination and ensures a good quality of life for all. Happy Holidays!

Eight years ago, Amazing Philippine Beauties was conceived to be the leading transgender pageant in the Philippines that would attract the most beautiful and talented transgender/transsexual Filipinas (transpinays) who can then become part of an elite group of performers. Eight years later it still holds that distinction. STRAP is honored to declare solidarity with Amazing Philippine Beauties and on its 8th year at that—truly an auspicious year! Eight years of showing the world amazingly beautiful transpinays has certainly brought not only luck to the girl who gets to wear the crown each year but also joy to their supporters, loved ones and communities. Indeed Amazing Philippine Beauties has played an important part towards building a unified Filipino transgender community. Coronation night always brings hundreds of transgender and gender-variant people and those who love them together in the spirit of high-level pageantry. For sure on pageant night (on November 26 at the Manila Film...

Every girl dreams of being treated like a Princess. But in Cebu, they can actually dream of becoming a Queen. The Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) congratulates the organizers of Queen of Cebu on its sophomore year. Envisioned as an alternative pageant, Queen of Cebu has proven not only to be a grand showcase of the beauty, talent & splendid uniqueness of the Cebuana transpinay but as well as a magnificent platform to advocate for respect of gender diversity & the right to determine one’s gender identity. Thank you to those who put together Queen of Cebu & for setting a very high bar indeed. As has been said, excellence is the best deterrent to sexism. Now our Cebuana transpinay sisters have another prestigious pageant that they can not only be proud to be a part of & call their own but as well as to use to break down barriers of prejudice. May dreams come true on pageant night (6 November 2010, Saturday, 8 pm, Waterfront Hotel Cebu)! May all ...

Below is a news article that came out in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Hong Kong's most widely read English broadsheet. Santy and I decided to go back to the bar in Wan Chai, Amazonia, that barred our entry in the past and luckily an SCMP journalist was there to see it all happen again. When we got there I had to politely introduce myself to the manager named Dave (see pic above) and he said that he'd let us in if Dr. Sam Winter and Atty. Michael Vidler, a human rights lawyer, who were with us that night would escort us the entire time. We said no. The Hong Kong trans community is in a very vulnerable position right now after the W decision barring a transsexual woman's petition to marry in the gender she identifies as. I hope that by exposing more of the bigotry that seems to pervade Hong Kong society nowadays, we have been able to call people's attention in Hong Kong enough for them to start agitating for badly needed change. Wan Chai bars shock transgender exp...

I am happy to announce the start of EDUC8, LIBER8, CELEBR8: The 8-Campus Rainbow Tour, a free symposium on LGBT human rights (see poster above). It will have its first stop at the College of Saint Benilde (CSB) on 29 September 2010. Below is a write-up of this historical initiative. TrueColors Publishing Inc., the makers of Ketchup Magazine , the only Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) magazine in the Philippines in keeping with its thrust to promote social awareness of LGBT issues, proudly presents Educ8, Liber8, Celebr8: The 8-Campus Rainbow Tour. This Rainbow Tour brings together noted leaders of the LGBT community to conduct a free symposium targeting students in 8 colleges and universities in the Metro Manila area in an 8-month period from September 2010 to April 2011. The symposium, which covers various issues including LGBT Politics, Spirituality and Sexuality, Gender Identity and Human Rights & Media Activism, is designed as a “crash course” on human rights and ...

With just two weeks before June (Pride Month) ends, our beloved sorority, STRAP , decided to increase our fans on Facebook. The STRAP girls who have Facebook accounts (I don't) made profile pictures of themselves with the STRAP logo (see above) and encouraged all their friends to like STRAP's fan page. It was really sweet and I appreciate all the girls who took part in this mini-project. My lovely ladies, you rock! I do not think that we'd be able to reach our target of having 1000 fans by June 30th. At any rate, it was truly a valiant effort. Still, we have four days to go. So just in case you love STRAP as we all do, please be our fan on Facebook. Also, tell all your friends? Thank you so much. Just in case, you can see the STRAP Facebook Fan Page here . Happy Pride Month to all!

Dear friends and allies, May 20 marks the official foundation date of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) . On our 8th year, we proudly present the The Sybil Awards honor those who have promoted transgender visibility, equality, acceptance and dignity. The Sybil logo has three elements: a silhouette of a woman in a dance pose with raised arms, an oversized S that covers parts of her body and the name of the award and the year that it is being given. The woman with outstretched hands represents the gallae, a cult of priestesses who dedicated their life to the worship of the goddess Sybil in ancient Greece and Rome. The gallae were assigned male at birth but transformed themselves by means of castration. During the festival honoring Sybil, the gallae danced wildly in veneration of the Great Mother. They are recognized as precursors of modern transgender identity. The oversized S, aside from standing for the S in Sybil, represents the female garb that gallae wore....

This May 2010, the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) celebrates 8 years of struggle, standing up and successes as the first and, as yet only human rights advocacy and support organization for transpinays (transgender/transsexual Filipinas). In line with our 8th year anniversary celebrations, it is our pleasure to present the following events: GLBT FLOREZ DE MAYO 2 May 2010 (Sun), 7 pm Bgy.Bagong Pag-asa Covered Court, Quezon City The Flores de Mayo is a Filipino cultural tradition that celebrates the blooming flowers of May. The festival culminates with a procession that depicts the finding of the Holy Cross by Queen Helena, mother of Constantine the Great. On 2 May 2010, selected STRAP ladies will serve as sagalas and parade in Bgy. Pag-asa in Quezon City in the first Gay Lesbian Bisexual & Transgender (GLBT) FlorEZ de Mayo. This event is brought to you by EZ Lubricating Jelly in cooperation with the Metropolitan Community Church Quezon City (MCCQC), Progres...

In celebration of International Women's Day, STRAP is holding a Day With Rica Paras , the first transpinay on the hit reality TV show, Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) at the University of the Philippines Diliman Gender Office (UPDGO) this coming Thursday. See poster below. Hope to see you there!

May this season bring us all joy, love and peace!!!

This year, STRAP is partnering with the first-ever TLBG student group in the University of the Philippines (UP) system, UP Babaylan to commemorate the International Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) (see the beautiful poster above created by our very own Ms. Dee Mendoza). The TDOR is meant to honor people who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. It began a decade ago after the death of Rita Hester who was brutally murdered in November 1998. Hester’s death resulted in the creation of the Remembering Our Dead website and a candlelight vigil in 1999. Henceforth, transgender people killed due to hatred are honored in annual TDOR activities worldwide. We are holding TDOR week in UP and our activities are as follows: November 24 - 27, 2009, UP Diliman Campus, Quezon City Nov. 24 (Tue.) 10:00 AM, TDOR Exhibit Opening | Palma Hall Lobby (Exhibit runs until the 27th) Nov. 27 (Fri.) 2:30 - 5:00 PM, TRANSCEND: Stories and Struggles of Transpeople in the Philippines (Foru...

After almost a month on air, I was starting to get bored with Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) , the Philippines' version of the Endemol-produced hit reality TV show. This week, I only tuned in twice just to see how our STRAP girl, Rica Paras is doing so far. As the joke goes, according to Ate Vi (that's Vilma Santos for you, an actress turned politician who has a quirky way of speaking), so far so good so far. During Rica's first week, she was asked by Big Brother to pretend that she's the girl friend of the Filipino-Austrian housemate, Rob Stumvol. They were able to pull off the task pretty well. It even reached a point where Rica and Rob had to pretend that they were getting married with Rob proposing and all. It had the entire nation glued to their TV sets. So many people found the Rica-Rob pretend love team so cute, including me and the girls. This week I learned that the housemates are anticipating a swap where a housemate from the Philippines will be swapped with another...

It seems like STRAP is on a roll this year. After the entry of Rica Paras, a true-blooded STRAP girl, into the hit reality TV show Pinoy Big Brother comes another feather in STRAP's cap. I just learned today that a STRAP girl by the name of Rain Villagonzalo (see pic above) has won the first edition of Queen of Cebu, a new and prestigious pageant for Cebuana transpinays. Rain, who is Cebu-based, was Miss Philippines and she bested 20 other beautiful Cebuanas representing different nations of the world for the title of Queen of Cebu Universe. Days before the pageant night, Rain emailed the STRAP e-group announcing her participation in the pageant so everyone was overjoyed upon hearing of her win. Completing her court are Miss Lebanon, Queen of Cebu World and Miss Spain, Queen of Cebu International (See pic below). Cebu, which is also known as the Queen City of the South, is home to some of the Philippines' most beautiful transsexual women. This Saturday night, 24 October 2009,...