Some 200 couples belonging to the LGBT community exchanged vows of commitment to each other on Saturday in a ceremony organized by the Quezon City government in recognition of gender equality and diversity.
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte officiated the ceremony participated by 222 LGBT couples two days before Valentine's Day. This was the second time such an event was organized in the city, the first of which was in 2020.
Quezon City councilors Hero Bautista, Irene Belmonte, and Ivy Lagman served as witnesses to the ceremony, along with LGBT rights advocates Ging Cristobal and Maica Teves, and Miss Trans Global 2020 Mela Habijan.
The commitment ceremony aims to further strengthen the love between the LGBT couples, Belmonte said as she assured that their rights will be protected under the city's Gender Fair Ordinance.
Enacted in 2014, the Quezon City Gender Fair Ordinance seeks to prohibit all forms of discrimination against LGBT members in the city and safeguard their rights.
Several measures seeking to allow civil partnership among couples of the opposite or same sex have been filed at the House of Representatives but they remain pending at the committee level.
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