Rep. Roman says 'Ladies should not be offended by trans women using female comfort rooms, “If you have a problem, magtiis ka!”

Bataan Representative Geraldine Roman photo from cosmo-ph (ctto)

With the recent incident that took place inside a mall in Araneta Center,where a trans woman was not allowed to use a female comfort room despite an anti discrimination law  Quezon City.

Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman, a trans woman herself, stated Wednesday, that 'women have “no valid reason” to be offended if a transgender woman shares a public ladies toilet with them'. 


Roman, together with Gabriela Partylist Rep. Arlene Brosas, said 'transgenders have the same rights as any woman to use a comfort room even if assigned to female users.'

“If you have a problem, magtiis ka!,” answered Roman when asked in a press conference on how she sees women who feel offended and are not comfortable in sharing female comfort rooms with transgenders.

“Bakit pumupunta ba sila sa banyo para ma-offend or hindi ma-offend? Pumasok na lang sila sa cubicle to do their thing. Huwag nila kausapin,” she added.

Roman and Brosas were joined in the press conference by television personality and Bataan board member Teri Onor (real name: Dexter Dominguez), himself also a member of LGBT.

The three condemned the alleged maltreatment suffered by transwoman Gretchen Custodio Diez after she was barred to use women’s comfort room by a janitress of Farmer’s Mall in Quezon City.


Teri Onor claimed that gays and transgenders avoid using the men’s comfort room for fear of being harassed by users. “Hindi abuso ang ginawa ng aming kapatid. Babastusin siya sa men’s room,” he said. 

The law maker said the use of female comfort rooms has never been a problem for her even at the Batasan Pambansa where she is a member. “Pumapasok ako sa mga women’s CR, nobody makes a big issue out of it,” Roman said.

Roman reitirated that the proposed Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Express (SOGIE) bill received unanimous support in the Lower House but failed to make it on second reading in the Senate.


She said, such incident would have been addressed easily if Congress have passed the said bill. 

They also urged local government units to approved their own local ordinances that would protect the LGBT community against discrimination and other abusive acts.



Source: Politiko