DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Clara Escleto was waiting in line for a women’s restroom inside a major mall in downtown Davao when a security guard stopped her.
The 23-year-old transgender woman said she was directed to use the men’s restroom instead.
“When I tried to explain my gender identity, she called a supervisor on her radio,” Escleto recalled.
Rather than continue the confrontation, she left the mall entirely and searched for another restroom elsewhere.
Escleto said this experience was not unusual. Despite the visibility of Pride celebrations in Davao City and the existence of a local Anti-Discrimination Ordinance, she said many LGBTQ+ people continue to encounter subtle forms of exclusion in their daily lives.
“Discrimination often shows up as microaggressions or unspoken biases,” she said.
Another transgender woman in Davao, Sam Montejo, shared a similar experience.
Montejo, executive director of PrideFest 2026, a month-long Pride initiative led by student organizations and LGBTQ+ advocates in Davao City, said many members of the community continue to face barriers in accessing public spaces comfortably and safely.
“The problem is people say, ‘Use the gender-neutral bathroom,’ but they don’t realize those bathrooms aren’t always available or accessible,” Montejo said.
She said that the issue affects not only transgender women but also transgender men, masculine-presenting lesbians, and feminine-presenting gay men who are often scrutinized in gender-segregated spaces.
This June, rainbow flags, Pride marches, and LGBTQ+ community events are expected to make their way back to Davao City once again.
In recent years, the city has grown increasingly supportive of Pride celebrations.
In 2024, Davao City’s government, through its City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO), officially hosted its first institutional Pride Parade. The parade was integrated as a main feature of the newly established, city-funded Duaw Davao Festival.
Yet even as Pride grows more visible in the city, LGBTQ+ Dabawenyos do not necessarily agree on what Pride should represent—or how it should be expressed.
More visible now
LGBTQ+ visibility in Davao has expanded significantly, yet the community remains divided on what that progress means.
“There is definitely a noticeable shift… We see more LGBTQ individuals openly participating in local culture, business, and daily life without hiding,” Escleto said.
She pointed to the growth of student organizations, queer-friendly establishments, and online representation as signs that isolation is fading.
Matte, a 25-year-old gay Dabawenyo, confirmed similar changes. “Everywhere I go, I experience acceptance more than anything now,” he said.
While Matte occasionally encounters discrimination often from older generations with traditional mindsets, he said, “People are more accepting… if we compare it to decades ago, there’s definitely more space for LGBTQ+ people to exist freely.”
However, increased visibility hasn’t eliminated everyday challenges.
For Escleto, discrimination now manifests less through outright hostility and more through subtle exclusion.
Despite Davao’s Anti-Discrimination Ordinance, she still faces stares while commuting and feels cautious in government offices and commercial spaces for fear of being misgendered.
“The implementation fails because there is no strict enforcement or accessible grievance procedure,” Escleto said. “People have no fast, practical way to report daily discrimination without navigating tedious legal processes.”
She argues that without mandatory SOGIESC training across institutions, the ordinance risks becoming obsolete.
“Acceptance is an everyday reality, not just a written law,” she said. “Otherwise, it becomes just a piece of paper rather than active protection.”
Pride as protest
This renewed visibility has also sparked debate over what Pride itself represents.
For some, it is primarily a celebration of identity; for others, it remains inextricably linked to the political struggles that birthed the movement.
Escleto firmly aligns with the latter.
“As long as we are still fighting for basic rights, legal recognition, and protection against discrimination, celebrating our existence is a political act,” she said.
“I always associate Pride with survival and authenticity. We celebrate who we are, but existing openly as a trans woman is a victory on its own.”
Matte shares this perspective: “Pride is rooted in the fight for basic human rights that LGBTQ+ people are still often denied,” he said. “We’re not asking for anything excessive. We’re asking for things that should already be guaranteed to us.”
These discussions have intensified following recent remarks by Willenito Tormis Jr., head of the City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO). While acknowledging that participants in this year’s Duaw Davao Pride Parade are welcome to express concerns, Tormis discouraged turning the event into a “political” spectacle.
“Pride Parade is a protest mao na ginaingon sa atoang LGBTQIA+ community, but we want to protest in a way pud na they know unsa pud gyud atoang gi-protest, the rights of the LGBTQIA+,” Tormis said.
(“The Pride Parade is a protest, which is how our LGBTQIA+ community sees it, but we want to protest in a way where they also understand exactly what we are protesting: the rights of the LGBTQIA+.”)
Tormis’ statement mirrors restrictions from the 2024 parade, when organizers prohibited anti-government chants and certain slogans, signaling a tension between institutional oversight and the movement’s activist roots.
Debate not new
For Montejo, the CTOO’s statement was contradictory.
“I was very mad. They acknowledge that Pride is a protest, but at the same time, they’re trying to define what kind of protest is acceptable.”
This tension is not new.
In 2024, PrideFest helped organize AlterPride: The Real March, an alternative community-led mobilization that emerged alongside the city’s official celebrations to preserve Pride’s activist roots.
However, AlterPride was paused in 2025 as partner organizations underwent leadership transitions and reorganized priorities. Conversations about independent spaces never fully disappeared, though.
Now, PrideFest is set to join this year’s Duaw Davao Pride Parade while simultaneously exploring a separate community-led mobilization later in the month. Montejo emphasized that participating in the official event does not mean surrendering its political nature.
“Regardless of what they say, we will continue to make it political,” she said.
“We plan to use the parade to distribute educational materials on SOGIESC issues and other concerns affecting marginalized communities.”
While plans for a second AlterPride-style march remain in flux, Montejo said the core objective remains unchanged: “The essence of Pride shouldn’t be dictated by the government. It should belong to the community and the people behind the movement.”(davaotoday.com)
