All-gender restrooms to open in QC

The city government of Quezon City will be pushing for all-gender restrooms to be set up in all establishments following the reported discrimination against a transgender woman at a Cubao mall, according to Mayor Joy Belmonte.

In a radio interview Saturday, Belmonte said while they are pushing for the proposal, business owners raised concerns that construction of additional “all-gender restrooms” in their facilities would be costly during a public consultation.

The QC chief executive also admitted that constructing new all-gender restrooms is not necessarily required under the city’s Gender Fair Ordinance, which was passed back in 2014.

“There is really no need to put up a different restroom,” said Belmonte. “According to the Gender Fair Ordinance, you just have to designate a restroom that can be used by any gender.”

The Quezon City mayor emphasized that gender identity is something “very new to everybody.”

To recall, transgender woman Gretchen Custodio Diez on 13 August was handcuffed and brought to the police station after a janitress led her out of the female comfort room and insisted that she use the male’s restroom.

Belmonte admitted that the local government unit had its shortcoming in implementing the Gender Fair Ordinance and clarified she also understood the side of the janitress, whom she thinks only exercised the rights of women.

“I understand the janitress would just have wanted to protect the rights of women. Also, all rights have to be protected,” she said.

She cited cases where men, dressed as women, entered female restrooms in order to peep.

“The janitress had a point. That’s why we are still pushing for the all-gender neutral restrooms to be set up,” she added.

Belmonte said the concept of gender identity is fairly new to most Filipinos.