Rep. Roman denies QC incident involving trans woman was 'planned'

Bataan Representative Geraldine Roman on Friday denied that the incident at a Quezon City mall involving a trans woman who was driven out of women's restroom was "planned" to bolster support for a proposed legislation.

"That theory is really out of this world," Roman, who rushed to the scene to assist trans woman Gretchen Custodio Diez, told ANC in an interview.

Roman, the first openly transgender woman elected to Congress, was refuting insinuations on social media that the incident was planned to bolster support for the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) bill.

"To begin with, I doubt that Gretchen would want to expose herself to so much humiliation just to prove a point," she said.

Diez, 28, was prevented from using the women's restroom at a mall in Cubao on Tuesday. She was handcuffed and brought to the police station after a heated confrontation with a janitress who insisted that she use the men's room instead.
 
Roman also criticism about her immediate presence at the Quezon City police station where Diez was brought.

"I was about to sleep already... tapos nagsisitawagan sa 'kin yung mga advocates," she said.

""They requested me to go there. They said maybe my presence would maybe remind the policemen to respect Gretchen," Roman added.

Roman said she went to the police station to give Diez moral support.

"You know, sometimes, the danger that we transgender women run [into] when we go to a police station that we might be verbally abused...there are [also] other possibilities," she said.

The incident at the mall took place amid the existence of a Gender Fair Ordinance in Quezon City which prohibits all forms of discrimination against members of the LGBT+ community. —Margaret Claire Layug/KBK, GMA News