The ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC) is outraged by the brutal murder of Jennifer Laude, a transwoman from the Philippines, by a member of the US military. We are strongly concerned that there will be further exacerbation of the late Jennifer’s human rights should the perpetrator be tried in the US, due to the privileges, double standards and impunity enjoyed by these military personnel in the Philippines.

While we commend the actions taken thus far, including the investigation mooted by the Philippines police department, we echo the demands of the LGBTQ and human rights groups in the Philippines and around the world to:

1. Conduct a thorough investigation and demand to assert the country’s laws and have the suspect face Philippine court.
2. Immediately junk the Visiting Forces Agreement, which has been proven not to protect the rights of the Filipino people but to favor the protection of US troops and American imperialist power.

Criminalization, lack of protection, vilification, and marginalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, gender non-conforming and gender variant persons continue to propel violence and hate crime towards us. The ASC also calls for consistent and meaningful protection of the human rights of LGBTIQ persons in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, through measures such as the decriminalization of minority sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions, and enactment of anti-discrimination acts and/or other meaningful measures to protect LGBTIQ and other populations.

In this difficult time as we mourn Jennifer’s death, we are pleased that some media respectfully addresses her using her name and the correct gender pronouns. We encourage the media to continue the good example that they have set in future reports involving transgender persons.