Quezon City, November 11, 2014 – The QC City government led by Mayor Herbert Bautista believes in the equality of all people and continues to empower the marginalized sectors like the LGBT constituency of the city by giving them a voice and a platform to articulate their issues and concerns. Under the auspices of the Quezon City Pride Council (QCPC) under Soxie Topacio’s watch, the City of Stars produced one of the most crucial landmark local legislations to date in the country—the “Gender-Fair Ordinance”. Vice-Mayor Joy Belmonte steered the smooth enactment of this local legislative measure which was authored by Councilor Mayen Juico and co-authored by Councilors Doray Delarmente and Aly Medalla.
The ordinance effectively prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and expression and provides affirmative actions for the treatment of the same. By far, the said ordinance is the most comprehensive anti-discrimination policy pronouncement from a local government unit (LGU). It covers incidents of discrimination in all public spaces and private establishments and provides for penalties for infractions.
Meanwhile, as part of its mission to engage the larger public of the necessity to put premium on LGBT rights as human rights and as envisioned in its advocacy role, the QC Pride Council stages its first ever International Pink Film Festival under Nick Deocampo as the festival director showcasing selected works and a plethora of LGBT films of celebrated artists and film makers. Another feature of the festival is the conduct of the International Gender Rights Forum on December 10-12, 2014 at the Trinoma Mall.
The culmination of the week-long events is the most-awaited QC Pride March that will see LGBT community-based organizations, civil society groups, activists, LGBT advocates and private entities joining hands together clamoring for equality and the respect for basic human dignity.
This year’s line-up of celebrations is made more significant as QC celebrates its 75th Jubilee Founding Anniversary. With all of these bold moves, QC serves as the beacon of PRIDE all throughout the nation.
