Activists in the Philippines are calling for the passage of anti-discrimination legislation in Congress in the aftermath of the human rights abuses inflicted on Jan Jan, a 39-year-old gay man who was filmed without his knowledge or consent while having rectal surgery in December 2007. A nursing student videotaped the procedure, which shows hospital personnel laughing and making jokes at Jan Jan’s expense, and posted it on YouTube. Jan Jan has subsequently taken legal action against the medical staff of the Vincente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, where the surgery was performed.

The Lesbian & Gay Legislative Advocacy Network (LAGABLAB) drafted the current Anti-Discrimination Bill (ADB) in 1999. The measure, formally entitled “An Act Prohibiting Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Providing Penalties Therefore,” has been filed repeatedly in Congress since 2000. Its review remains pending before the House Committee on Human Rights. Sections 4(e) and 4(g) of the proposed legislation deal specifically with discrimination in healthcare and in facilities such as hospitals.

For more information on the Jan Jan case, see Philippines: Will Hospital Be Held Accountable for Violating Gay Man? at http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/english/article/takeaction/resourcecenter/217.html And Philippines: Ang Ladlad Welcomes Suspension of 2 Doctors, Nurse in Rectal Surgery Scandal at
http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/english/article/takeaction/resourcecenter/222.html