Feminism and the Women's Movement in the Philippines: Struggles, Advances, and Challenges consequent sidelining of the problem of compulsory heterosexuality(Pineda 2001:139). This problem and the attempts to discuss it met resistance not just from mainstream Philippines society but also within the women's movement. Pineda(2001:140) argued that this resistance was caused by the vicious cycle of the issue being ignored and not talked about that consequently leads to the problem being unappreciated even by feminists. Pineda(2001) and Marin(1996) locate the beginning of the lesbian movement during the Women's March in 1993. Prior to this, self-identifying lesbians in the movement had already started to coalesce and finally formed The Lesbian Collective(TLC) in 1992. The participants of the Women's March the following year witnessed the historic presence of a delegation under a lesbian organization. Ginney Villar delivered the first official statement of TLC for that year's celebration (Pineda, 2000: 143-144). Despite being short-lived, TLC served as the historic organization that opened up the space for the lesbian movement that developed in the later years. Alongside the development of the gay movement, the lesbian movement started identifying under the LGBT umbrella. In 1996, the first Gay and Lesbian Pride March (which later became the LGBT Pride March) was organized and celebrated. This was followed by fora and further collaborations with the wider LGBT movement. The following year, the First Gay and Lesbian Leaders Conference was held. It was seen as the first official collaboration of gays and lesbians where lesbian issues were discussed in the same breadth and depth as other homosexual issues(Pineda 2000: 148-150). The momentum of lesbian organizing was apparent in different areas and locales. Grassroots organizations initiated different activities like peer-counseling, culture gathering, and other socio-civic and political activities that highlighted lesbian presence and legitimized lesbians as respectable members of the society(Pineda, 2001:152). Marin(1996) explained how the rise of lesbian activism was anchored on the trope of human rights. Moreover, lesbian feminists assert that the lesbian issue must be considered a basic feminist issue because'(l)esbianism is seen as a rebuttal against a society that upholds and rewards relations but does not protect heterosexual women who are abused by men'(Marin 1996). Lesbian relationships, especially in the context of the Philippines, is therefore more than a preference or a personal choice. Rather, these relationships are manifestations of resistance against a heteronormative mindset where women get control over their bodies and emotions. In terms of government support,'both the national and local governments still lack nuanced actions to address the intersectionality of gender, class, and other differentiating factors'(Ofreneo and Illo, 2015: 9). Recent studies show how women who identify or are perceived to be lesbian, bisexual, or transgender(LBT) are more exposed to violence and discrimination, and suffer different kinds of cruelty committed by family members. They are also often prevented from accessing social welfare programs of the government. Many transgender women fall victim to brutal killings that many describe as hate crimes. This includes the murder case of Jennifer Laude, who was killed by an American serviceman in Olongapo City in 2014. 12 In recent years, women advocates have been stepping up for their LGBT sisters and brothers especially in the field of policy and legislation. In 2001, after consultations and discussions with LGBT advocates, Etta Rosales of Akbayan filed the Anti-Discrimination Bill(ADB) at the House of Representatives; Senator Miriam Defensor­Santiago filed a counterpart bill(Talabong, 2016). The ADB went farthest in the legislative mill in the 12th Congress when it reached third reading at the House through the efforts of Rosales, then chair of the Committee on Human Rights. This development was halted when Rosales was replaced as the Human Rights Committee Chair by Manila Representative Bienvenido Abante, a Baptist pastor who strongly opposed the bill. Local expressions of the ADB were enacted in several municipalities and cities with women at the helm. In 2014, Quezon City passed the Gender Fair City Ordinance authored by Councilor Lena Marie Juico. The ordinance has been described as the most comprehensive policy to protect LGBT people(Gamil, 2014). The Province of Batangas passed a similar ordinance in 2015, authored by Board Member Divina Balba(Pahayagang Balikas, 2015). Mandaluyong City 12 The Olongapo Regional Trial Court ruled that the crime was homicide on December 1, 2015. 15