Sara Duterte on Pride Month 2025: ‘Safeguard LGBT rights’

Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday called on the nation to protect the most vulnerable, including members of the LGBTQ+ community, as the country celebrates this year’s Pride Month. 

Duterte, who previously said she is a member of the LGBT community, highlighted the courage of the members to live truthfully, saying that it challenges the society “to embrace honesty, authenticity, and inclusion in all that we do.”

“To all Filipinos—our democratic principles demand that we protect our most vulnerable. When we safeguard LGBT rights, we reinforce the foundations upon which all our freedoms rest,” the Vice President said in a video message. 

She also said that she acknowledges the burdens that many LGBTQ+ members carry, may it be workplace discrimination, access to equitable healthcare, or mental health problems. 

“Pride reminds us that our shared humanity has the power to heal these wounds. It stands as living proof that our diversity is not a weakness to overcome, but a wellspring of resilience and creativity,” Duterte added.

She also expressed hope that the Philippines will grow to be a country “where diversity is recognized not as incidental, but essential to our national character.”

“Where human dignity needs no justification, where the courage to face adversity is honored as the highest expression of Filipino resilience,” she said. 

In 2023, Duterte said she would support legislation that would protect the partnership between members of the LGBTQ+ community.

She, however, clarified that she was not particularly pertaining to same-sex marriage, saying she wants the protection of such partnerships under the law. —AOL, GMA Integrated News