DEE MENDOZA
Former President, Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines
Empowering the Transpinay
By M.D. dela Cruz Tan
Photos by Diana Prado
PUBLISHED: JUNE 2009
UPDATED: JUNE 2010

A WOMAN IS A WOMAN IS A WOMAN. “I was born the way I am, therefore, who I am is innate in me.  I am a human being whose gender identity happens to be female.  I may not have been reared in the traditional manner, still I believe I am a woman, therefore I am," Dee Mendoza, former STRAP president, says, as she continues to aim to empower the transpinay.

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"The personal is political.”

That, says Dee Mendoza, former president of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP), was how she became a GLBTQIA advocate.

“Little did I know that the day I became at peace with who I am would be the day I start my activism.”  This was back when “my friends were either women who were assigned female at birth, or gay men.  No one among them understood or knew what I was going through.  In the lonely (but joyful) path to living my true self, I sought after a community – a group of people – whose experience was the same as mine. I met a young trans activist online who then introduced me to two other women who shared my experience.  The four of us conceived STRAP.  In fully and wholly embracing myself, I took on the responsibility that came along with it – the assertion, defense and celebration of myself.  In looking after myself, I needed to look after others like me.  What they were subjected to was a possible subjection of myself.  When a group of people feels the same way or shares the same experience, a community is born.”

BIG NEED

Asking a person when he/she became what he/she is, is in itself discriminatory.  It is like asking “when did the leopard recognize its spots?,” Mendoza says.  “I was born the way I am, therefore, who I am is innate in me.  I am a human being whose gender identity happens to be female.  Like the rose’s fragrance, womanhood is every bit a part of my nature.  It was formed in my brain as a fetus and grew on my skin when I was born.  I may not have been reared in the traditional manner, still I believe I am a woman, therefore I am.  The question should then be: ‘When did society begin to not recognize me as a woman?’”

For gender activists, “the confusion began when society made me believe that my physical body is the sole determinant of my gender identity.  Because my body manifested that of a typical male body, I should identify and live my life as a man.  My inner being, then, should be imprisoned by my physical self,” Mendoza says.

Mendoza recalls her earliest childhood memories to “include paper dolls (because I was never given a Barbie, much to my great dismay), games played exclusively with my female cousins, dreams of being a princess, curtains transformed into dresses and towels wrapped in my head pretending it were my long hair.  I had crushes with the local boys, played mother in our bahay-bahayan,” she says.  “So you see, my earliest memories were that of me in the traditional female role.  No one forced me into it.  It was the most natural thing for me.”

It is the “norm,” i.e. to “attack” notions questioning the notion of segregating sex and gender only between male and female/man and woman that led to the establishment of STRAP.

There are challenges needed to be faced for this.

For one, there’s ignorance.  “We felt the need to create a group for transpinays because there wasn’t any at that time (it was established).  The existing GLBTQIA organizations at that time did not have any idea what transgenderism was all about, (and even those) who claimed to be inclusive of transgenders did not have any clue at all.  Simply, no one had heard of the word transgender.  In our culture, we only have lalaki (man), babae (woman), gay (bakla), and lesbian (tomboy).  All those who were assigned male at birth and chose to love a man and/or choose to identify as a woman were collectively known as the bakla.  The concept of gender identity, which transgenderism is all about, was unheard of in our society,” Mendoza says.  “It was only fairly recently that the trans movement in the world began.  It was even more recently that the trans movement echoed in the Philippines.  Because Filipinos were and mostly still are ignorant about the difference between gender identity and sexual orientation, this is often where the confusion, discrimination, harassment and oppression begin.”

Mendoza adds: “Gender equality cannot be achieved unless people are made aware about the basics of gender itself.  This is why we tirelessly give talks about gender and transgenderism.  We believe that to create change, people must first be re-educated.  To value the beauty of diversity, GLBTQIA organizations must leave their old notions of gender and sex behind, and open up to the new truth and the facts of gender and sex.”

Secondly, there’s complacency.  “I think it’s in the Filipino’s nature to just accept what is given.  Bahala na.  We never question, we just accept. Not all the things that we accept are truths.  Most often, they are impositions.  The same goes with gender. Blue for boys, pink for girls. One who is assigned male at birth must be registered as male even in one’s death certificate.  Life must be linear according to the accepted norms.  But now we know that this isn’t the case,” Mendoza says.  “STRAP brings this awareness to the fore.  We break the old notions and re-orient everyone of the truth.”

And thirdly, tolerance is still what is being done, not acceptance.  “We say that the Philippines are tolerant to transpeople.  Then again, tolerance is just a bittersweet substitute for acceptance.  We don’t want to be tolerated, we want to be accepted and acknowledged in the gender we live our lives in. We don’t want to be tolerated in schools by allowing us to get in the campus’ gate.  We want to be accepted as a student who identifies as a woman, and therefore be allowed to wear the female uniform.  We don’t want to be tolerated to use the bathroom; we want to be accepted to use the female restroom,” Mendoza says.

Mendoza believes the Philippines still has much to do for equality to become the norm.  “So far, here in the Philippines, there is no law that allows or prohibits us to change our sex and name in our birth certificates.  There has been controversial news pertaining to this (Jeff Cagandahan and Melly Silverio cases). The thing is, until we are granted by the government the right to a change in our legal documents, and whilst our society continues to employ, educate, care for, insure, and account for, on the merits of one’s gender, as transgender people, we will not have the peace of mind to live our lives,” she says.  “Like any civilized, humane and progressive country, we need to create a law that gives the human being the freedom to identify and express his or her gender the way he or she wants it to be expressed.  This, or the creation of a gender-less society is what the Philippines needs to be in order to be at par with other countries.”

And it is on this that she sees STRAP’s relevance lies. 

“STRAP is the first and only support, contact, information and advocacy group focused on the needs, issues and concerns of girls and women of transsexual experience in the Philippines. It seeks to improve the public understanding of transsexualism, encourage a helpful and supportive community among transpinays, and promote positive, empowering, and dignified images of Filipinas with transsexual experience.  Having said that, we illuminate the (otherwise invisible) ‘T’ in the country’s GLBTQIA community.  In that sense I would say that STRAP is not only relevant, but vital at the moment,” Mendoza says.

STRONG LEADERSHIP

In 2006, Mendoza started acting as chairwoman of STRAP – which continues to be a “very loose organization with an even looser leadership structure.”

While STRAP has already helped initiate and engage in dialogues local and international groups, both from the public and private sectors – e.g. Ayala Group of Companies, owner of Greenbelt 3 in Makati City, due to a discriminatory policy on transgenders applied by select venues in its properties – “what makes STRAP successful is not the grand acts of activism.  For me, it is the ability to touch a single person and change his or her opinion and views about themselves and transpeople.  What makes me proud the most is to see the members of STRAP reclaim their dignity not as a woman, but as a person.  To have the power to once again believe in one’s self and one’s capacities is something to be proud of,” Mendoza says.

The group’s focus now is to empower the transpinays.

“For a very long time, transwomen have been stereotyped and made to believe that their chances in life are limited.  In the past we had been made to believe that we could only earn a living solely by being an entertainer, a parlorista, or a prostitute. We were made to believe that we could never have meaningful romantic relationships unless we pay.  That we would always be the butt of jokes and everything we say would not matter.  For a very long time, transwomen were not allowed to maximize their fullest potential.  For a very long time, transwomen have had to subject themselves to the oppression, discrimination and repression directed towards us. STRAP now wants to enlighten the transpinay.  We want to tell everyone that we have the power to choose who and how we want to become. That we can live dignified lives.  That we can be doctors, teachers, engineers, mathematicians, IT professionals, marketers, et cetera.  That we are worthy of true love.  That our lives are as valuable as anyone else.  That we have a voice and that we can use it to better the world,” Mendoza says.

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