Our country is known for being religious; in fact, it is part of our culture and tradition. A relative of mine would probably say, ‘Edi pumunta ka sa kahit saan, pareho ka namang babae and parte ng LGBTQ+ community’, and they may think that this is apparently not an important matter for us. Imagine that you are choosing, contemplating, and worrying about where to go just to relieve yourself, which you actually need to do. Alright, I’ll go to the women's restroom because I identify myself as a woman. But seeing the LGBT-labeled portalet made me even think that, ‘Hindi lang ito tungkol sa pag ihi at pag dumi.’, it was giving me something else. There is a deeper context and impact to this. I don’t want this topic to be seen as ‘simple to solve’. I sure can go to both portalets, but can we still discuss how the labeled portalets are unnecessary?

An LGBT-labeled portalet is unnecessary, and I believe that it doesn’t perform inclusivity at all. Noting what Fershemae has mentioned, why do you need to label it if you are alone inside and you would not be able to interact with someone? If that was the concern, then there is no need to label it. Besides, portalets have always been unlabeled. It was in fact my first time seeing a labeled portalet which is why it has caught my attention. Additionally, if it was really inclusive, then why not have an all-gender—like a normal unlabeled portalet—where every individual can enter and use? The Manila North Cemetery did not directly mention that it performs and promotes inclusivity as to why they have labeled the portalets, however, all communities should be inclusive regardless of gender, sexuality, race, and social status. On a different note, I personally avoid drinking a lot of liquid outdoors just to prevent myself from going to the restroom. Since we entered the pandemic, I’ve been very cautious about going to restrooms as I could be exposed there. But seeing and realizing how some individuals among the LGBTQ+ community purposely prevent themselves from drinking and eating a lot outdoors because they don’t want to go to restrooms is different and a lot more painful to face. I could prepare a hygiene kit in just five minutes, but I couldn’t change a system within that duration; it would probably take us a lot more discrimination, stigma, and stereotypes before it may or may not happen.

There is a fine line between accepting and tolerating. When you accept something, you truly understand and recognize it, you even see the significance of it. When you tolerate, you simply agree with it because you know it's right and the right thing to do.You do nothing and say nothing; you just let it be there because you tolerate it. It’s very painful for me to see that they are more tolerating than accepting when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community.