Prior to the 17th Congress A senate bill against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity was believed to have been first filed under the
11th Congress of the Philippines in 2000 by then-Senator
Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Representatives Sy-Alvarado,
De Venecia, Reyes, Taduran, Bordado, Olivarez, and Violago also signed as co-author of the bill filed by representative Roman, Various personalities announced their support for the SOGIE Bill, namely:
Anne Curtis, The bill passed the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality in December 2022 with the support of 19 senators. Included in the signatories of the Senate committee report were Hontiveros, Senate president pro tempore Legarda, and Senate minority leader Koko Pimentel. Senator
Joel Villanueva and his father, Rep. Eddie Villanueva in the lower house of Congress, were accused of using underhanded tactics to delay or block discussions on the bill, after leaks about their attempts were made known to the public. In the House of Representatives, the consolidated Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, or Sex Characteristics bill passed the committee on women and gender equality in May 2023. The
Commission on Human Rights expressed support for the bill and stated that its passage complies with the Philippines' obligations to international human rights. Musician and former
National Youth Commission chair
Ice Seguerra has also expressed support for the bill. In February 2023, senator
Joel Villanueva, in a bid to block the SOGIE Bill, moved to revert the proposed legislation to the committee level he personally controlled, using some alleged letters from far-right religious groups who were against the SOGIE Bill as his primary reason. The move was highly criticized by the bill's sponsor, senator
Risa Hontiveros, who stated that the Senate leadership previously assured her of their support for the bill's progress. On the same month,
Rappler published an investigative report about an anti-SOGIE
disinformation network wherein the online network had been spreading disinformation about the bill since 2019. In early June 2023, senator
Joel Villanueva, in continuation of his attempts to block the debates on the SOGIE Bill, publicly announced that the bill, which has been snatched to his committee under his order back in February, was "not urgent", stating that he will not prioritize its passage. Senator
Risa Hontiveros criticized Villanueva, calling his words as "sheer numbness". Various pride marches also occurred in key cities throughout the country's regions from
Baguio City,
Davao City,
Iloilo City,
Naga City,
Angeles City,
Cebu City,
Cagayan de Oro City, and many more. In June 2024, over 200 organizations under The Equality Alliance signed an open letter urging President Marcos to certify the SOGIE equality bill as urgent. The proposed measure has been languishing in Congress for over two decades. However, President Marcos chose not to certify the bill and did not mention the plight of the LGBT community in his State of the Nation Address in July 2024. In June 2025, during the pride month celebrations, former Vice President
Leni Robredo again called for the passage of the SOGIESC Bill. == Current efforts ==