On August 13, Gretchen Custodio Diez was taken to Camp Karingal after a custodial staff at a mall in Cubao, Quezon City forcibly removed her from the women’s restrooms. Diez, a transgender woman, insisted on using the ladies’ room because she identifies as a woman. However, the whole thing escalated after the staff physically and verbally assaulted Diez after she refused to use the men’s restrooms.
As the story developed, a lot of netizens rallied behind Diez and called out the mall and their staff for their actions. This specific mall was one of the establishments that celebrated Pride Month with the LGBTQ+ community last June and even displayed rainbow colors during the course of the month. A user on Twitter shared that the mall should “practice what it preaches” and that if the establishment really an ally, it would show it.
This incident also reignited the fight for the SOGIE Equality and Anti-Discrimination Bills. If these bills were implemented into law, this situation could have been prevented and Diez wouldn’t have been handcuffed in prison. Backpacking off of this, many netizens are urging companies to conduct sexuality and gender sensitivity seminars to prevent things like this from happening in the future.
What do you think of this incident? Share your thoughts with us!
