Special People
Disability in the GLBTQI Community
By PePe A.C.

Arguably the biggest issue may be the attitude of Filipinos (and people, irrespective of nationality, in general) when it comes to dealing with people with disabilities.  “People actually question why other people bother bringing someone in a wheelchair to watch a show in the Cultural Center of the Philippines, for example,” Carlomar A. says.  “Makes my concern seem trivial, when I witness (situations) like this.  I am still able to walk, after all.”

SUPPORT – IF IT CAN BE CALLED THAT

Interestingly, the Philippines actually has the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons (republic Act 7277), which outlines the national mandate to eliminate the discrimination against people with disabilities to allow them to participate in the social and economic mainstream of the society.  Seemingly empowering, the law actually aims to shift the attitudes towards people with disability from being charity cases to active partners in development.

But what the law admirably states in writing isn’t necessarily what’s in practice – e.g. even with the implementation of the Accessibility Law, which emphasizes the equal access of people with disability to, say, public transport areas, when electric black-outs occur along the MRT/LRT lines, no one in a wheelchair can access any of the train stations due to the lack of access provided for them.

If it’s any consolation, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) provides trainings through its National Vocational Rehabilitation Centers for people with disabilities – though, yet again, what those who finish the training will do afterwards is another thing altogether, as employees still have the prerogative to hire or fire employees (i.e. there are no quota systems) no matter their abilities.

What may be saddest about all this is that laws promoting the rights of people with disabilities have been around since 1935, when the Care and Protection of Disabled Children Act (C.A. 3203) was passed to protect the rights of every child (no matter their physical and/or mental condition) to live in an environment conductive to his (complete) development, as it is the duty of the government to promote the full growth of every child.

“Laws won’t change the situation.  The implementation of the law will,” Carlomar A. says.

CHANGE INSIDE

At least heterosexual people with disabilities have it somewhat easier – “they have organizations to turn to,” Carlomar A. says.  “There is not a single group looking after the (concerns) of gays with disabilities.”

And this, he adds, may be because, particularly in the local gay community, “we continue to look down on the differently-abled (since) they’re not like everyone else.  This makes it doubly hard for gays with disabilities – we get pushed to the edges of two minority groups (i.e. being gay and having a disability).  You’d think our community would know more about being more accepting to the different.”

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