I wanted to make sure I gave STRAP a well deserved shoutout on the occasion of its tenth anniversary year and didn't want to wait until December to write this post
STRAP is one of the premier trans rights organizations in the world and it has grown exponentially since its December 2002 founding by four transpinays, Sass Rogando Sasot, Dee Mendoza, J.A. and Veronica Deposoy in Manila.
It is now ably run by its current chairwoman Naomi Fontanos and her leadership team and has expanded its reach from being a Manila-centric organization to one which is gradually spreading across the Philippines educating and empowering people along the way on a variety of issues, making allies and working in partnership with other organizations in the Philippines and beyond.
In addition to being well respected in international human rights circles and the Asia-Pacific Rim, it is also forging links with local transpinoy organizations to better coordinate their drive for trans human rights legislation that benefits all transpeople in their homeland.
Happy 10th birthday STRAP and may you have many more.
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As I've pointed out a few times in blog posts and am quite aware of, the Philippines is a serious pageant loving nation.
It is also the home of the Amazing Philippine Beauties pageant, one of the world's premiere beauty pageants for trans women.
STRAP chair Naomi Fontanos and I have had conversations in the wake of the latest Miss Universe contests when we were done catching up on each other's lives and talking shop in which we discussed those pageants with ESPN sports analyst like precision.
So it didn't surprise me that the Talackova flap would make its way across the Pacific to the Philippines where there is discussion and heated debate building in that nation about the opening up of the Miss Universe system pageants around the world next year to trans women.
The STRAP women and their allies are leading the way to insure that the debate in their nation is a reasoned, informed and educated one and not one that devolves into being founded on ignorant stereotypes and faith-based disinformation about trans women.
Check out the videos to see what I'm talking about. The report is in English, Naomi pops in to speak a few minutes into the first one.
Part 2
Naomi also had an appearance on a local television news show Wednesday night
Philippines time (Tuesday on our side of the International Date Line) in which she was paired with former Miss Philippines and 1999 Miss Universe 1st runner up Miriam Quiambao who is opposed to transwomen competing in the pageant.
According to a comment posted on Fontanos' FB page:.
1999
Bb. Pilipinas (Miss Philippines) & Miss Universe 1st Runner-up
Miriam Quiambao. Miriam does not believe that transgender women are
women and should join the Miss Universe.
In a tweet, she asked, "What
ever happened to the essence of a woman?" Well, for me the essence of a
woman goes
beyond her reproductive capacity. Women are multidimensional beings and
should not be reduced to a singular aspect of themselves. The essence
of being a woman is her existence, the truth and reality of her life
that she herself has shaped.
And to piggyback on your eloquent comment sis, gender is between your ears, not your legs.
STRAP is considered one of the premiere trans rights organizations on the planet, and in their 10th anniversary year they are proving once again why they are held in such high esteem by international trans activists around the world.
Thanks to Naomi's excellent PinayTG blog, I've been able to keep up with developments happening with our transpinay sisters in the Philippines and around the world through links from her site.
I learned that the 8th anniversary of STRAP's founding is occurring this month as well. I have had the distinct pleasure of not only getting to know Naomi, but Sass Rogando Sasot, one of the founders of that trailblazing organization.
Since 2002, STRAP has grown to not only become an advocacy and support group for transpinays, they have developed transwomen who are highly regarded leaders on the world stage in terms of transgender rights issues.
So I definitely wanted to give STRAP a shout out at the beginning of its anniversary month.
Happy 8th Anniversary STRAP!
May you continue to grow, prosper, and educate people about our lives in the Philippines.
May you also continue your tradition of being shining example of courageous leadership for transpinays and your trans sisters around the world.
These ladies are doing wonderful work in the Philippines and in conjunction with transwomen across the Pacific Rim and Asia of doing the work to educate people about trans issues. They also are just openly and proudly living their lives in the process and standing up for their human rights in their homeland.
It gives me great pleasure to share with you the video from Sass' inspiring December 10 UN speech on the occasion of the International Day of Human Rights entitled 'Reclaiming The Lucidity Of Our Hearts'.
It's also another concrete example of what I'm talking about when I say that the fight for transgender rights is a worldwide struggle.
Let me begin by expressing my warmest gratitude to the permanent missions to the United Nations of Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, France, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, and to the coalition of non-governmental organizations defending the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people. Thank you for making this event possible, and for giving us this opportunity to contribute our voices to this ongoing conversation for change. Our esteemed participants, beautiful beings and profound expressions of this universe. A warm, vibrant and dignified afternoon to each and every one of you.
Burned at the stake, strangled and hanged, raped and shot and stabbed to death. Throats slashed, left to bleed to death. These are just some of the ways transgender people were killed in different parts of the world, in different times in the history of our humanity. These are just the tip, the violent tip, of the iceberg of our suffering. I can go on and on, reciting a litany of indignity upon indignity. But my time is not enough to name all the acts of atrocious cruelty that transgender people experience.
But what is the point of counting the dead bodies of our fellow human beings, of narrating how we suffer, and of opposing violence against us if we don’t challenge the root of our oppression? The sincerity of our intention to address the human rights violations against transgender people rests upon the depth of our appreciation of human diversity, and the breadth of our understanding of why transgender people suffer these indignities.
The root of our oppression is the belief that there is one and only one way to be male or female. And this starts from our birth. Upon a quick look at our genitals, we are assigned into either male or female. This declaration is more than just a statement of what’s between our legs. It is a prescription of how we should live and must live our lives. It is a dictation of how we should think about ourselves: the roles we should play, the clothes we should wear, the way we should move, and the people with whom we should have romantic and erotic relationships. But this belief is so wrong. Very wrong. The existence of people whose identities, bodies and experiences do not conform to gender norms is a proof that this belief is wrong.
Nevertheless, even though the truth of human diversity is so evident and clear to us, we choose to hang on to our current beliefs about gender—a belief that rejects reality and forces people to live a lie. This is the belief that leads to attacks on our physical and mental integrity, the different forms of discrimination against us, and to our social marginalization. This is the belief that led to Joan of Arc to be burned at the stake because she was cross-dressing. This is the belief that motivated the rape and murder of Brandon Teena on December 31, 1993. This is the belief that led to stabbing to death of Ebru Soykan, a prominent transgender rights activist, in Turkey, on March 10, 2009. This is the belief that led to the arrest of sixty-seven Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia for cross-dressing in June this year. This is the belief that keeps the list of transgender people being harassed, killed, and violated growing year after year. And it is very unfortunate that our legal systems, religions, and cultures are being used to justify, glorify, and sanctify the violent expressions of this belief. [Scattered applause.]
So we question, is human life less precious than this belief? Is our right to life, to dignified existence, to liberty and pursuit of happiness, subservient to gender norms? This doesn’t need a complicated answer. You want to be born, to live, and die with dignity. So do we. You want the freedom to express the uniqueness of the life-force within you. So do we. You want to live with authenticity. So do we. Now is the time that we realize that diversity does not diminish our humanity, that respecting diversity does not make us less human, that understanding and accepting our differences does not make us cruel. And in fact, history has shown us that denying and rejecting human variability is the one that has led us to inflicting indignity upon indignity towards each other.
We are human beings of transgender experience. We are your children, your partners, your friends, your siblings, your students, your teachers, your workers. Your citizens. Let our lives delight in the same freedom of expression you enjoy, as you manifest to the outside world your unique and graceful selves. Let us live together in the fertile ground of our common humanity. For this is the ground where religion is not a motivation to hate, but a way to appreciate the profound beauty and mystery of life. For this is the ground where laws are not tools to eliminate those who are different from us, but are there to facilitate our harmonious relationship with each other. For this is the ground where culture is not a channel to express the brutality of our limited perception, but a means to express the [stability?] of our souls. For this is the ground where the promise of universality of human rights can be fulfilled. And we will be in this ground if we let the sanity of our desires, the tenacity of our compassion, and above all, the lucidity of our hearts, to reign in our hearts. Thank you.
The Society of Transsexual Women of The Philippines and I have in common wishing to see trans people in our nations and around the world gain human rights coverage and respect. 
