Abstract
Transpinays or Filipina transwomen are vulnerable to gender-based violence (GBV) and discrimination. In this chapter, I explore how young transwomen confront adulthood in a society that lacks support mechanisms for individuals who do not conform to gender roles and argue that discrimination leads young transwomen to commit crime to find love and plan a future outside the Philippines. This work focuses on young transwomen who engage with online sex work. From youth to adulthood, I analyse the life histories of two transpinays and reflect on the case of Jennifer Laude to show how sisterhood and family ties influence life decisions of young transwomen. I conclude that first, while there is no institutional support for young transwomen, their social networks provide them with information and strategies that are necessary for their emotional wellbeing. Second, families of young transwomen show care by being open to the idea that their sons will be coming back home as daughters (after sex reassignment surgery), and possibly with a male partner. Lastly, young transwomen engage in online sex work not just to fulfil their economic needs, but because it offers them an opportunity to meet potential life partners that see, treat, and love them as women.
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Notes
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“Any person found guilty of any of the offenses covered by this article shall be punished by arresto menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos, and in case of recidivism, by arresto mayor in its medium period to prison correctional in its minimum period or a fine ranging from 200 to 2000 pesos, or both, in the discretion of the court.” Atty. Ruby Roselle Tugade, Fellow at the Center for International Law in Manila, highlights that the law raises an interesting legal issue—if transwomen are not legally recognized as women in the Philippines (and the State cannot do so according to the Silverio ruling), they technically can’t be held liable under Art. 202, which only penalizes “women.”
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Elder sister.
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Tugade reminded me that the Supreme Court in denying to strike out provisions in the family code that only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman, the court stated that “this Court sympathizes with the petitioner with his obvious longing to find a partner. We understand the desire of same-sex couples to seek, not moral judgment based on discrimination from any of our laws, but rather, a balanced recognition of their true, authentic, and responsive choices. Yet, the time for a definitive judicial fiat may not yet be here” (Jesus Nicardo M. Falcis, III Vs. Civil Registrar General, G.R. No. 217910. September 3, 2019. p. 107). Also, in 2019, the Safe Spaces Act was passed which prohibits gender-based harassment in the streets and public spaces. The law specifically protects against “misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic and sexist slurs” (Republic Act 11313: Safe Spaces Act, Sec. 4; See also, A. Madcasim abd C. Dayday [2019] Defending “Safe Spaces”: Hate Speech and the Constitutional Mandate to Uphold the Dignity of Communities. Philippine Law Journal, Vol. 92, Iss. 4 (2019).
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Acknowledgements
This work was first presented at the Philippine Queer Studies Conference in October 2020 (via zoom). The author would like to thank the conference organizers and audience for providing comments and questions that refined the arguments of the paper. The author is also indebted to the NUS Sociology graduate students writing group participants who helped in the development of the manuscript. Lastly, the author is thankful to the editors, George Radics and Pablo Ciocchini for providing an early career scholar a space in this volume.
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Gregorio, V.L. (2023). Reaffirming Womanhood: Young Transwomen and Online Sex Work in the Philippines. In: Radics, G.B., Ciocchini, P. (eds) Criminal Legalities and Minorities in the Global South. Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17918-1_13
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