How long have we been using the word inclusivity? It appears in corporate campaigns, school policies, government statements, and pride celebrations. But in truth, how far have we gone in understanding and applying its real meaning—especially for LGBTQIA+ communities who continue to face deep-rooted struggles every day?
True inclusivity is not just about using the right terms or waving a rainbow flag once a year. It’s not simply about hosting events or adding “SOGIESC-sensitive” in HR manuals. Inclusivity, at its core, is about creating real, sustainable systems that protect the entire being of every person—mentally, emotionally, socially, economically, and spiritually.
For many LGBTQIA+ Filipinos, especially those working in the BPO, education, manufacturing, and service sectors, inclusivity remains superficial. It often stops at visibility but fails in addressing the actual struggles of queer workers—low wages, job insecurity, lack of benefits, misgendering, harassment, and career ceilings.
For example, many trans women and gender non-conforming people in private schools are denied regular teaching posts because they don’t conform to binary dress codes. In factories and service jobs, LGBTQIA+ workers face bullying or are assigned to “non-customer-facing” roles to avoid client discrimination. Even in the BPO industry, praised as a haven for LGBTQIA+ workers, challenges remain: long hours, emotional exhaustion, and minimal legal protections. As Boldr Impact notes, many companies praise diversity but fail to provide living wages or real mental health support.
But perhaps the most urgent issue today—affecting all Filipino workers, LGBTQIA+ and beyond—is the crisis of low wages. While the government approved a ₱50.00 minimum wage increase, many see this as both insulting and unjust.
According to IBON Foundation, the current ₱645/day nominal minimum wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) falls far short of the ₱1,221/day family living wage (FLW)—a gap of ₱576. That means that even a full day’s work is not enough for a family to afford food, shelter, transportation, education, and basic dignity. The situation is even more dire in other regions, where minimum wages are significantly lower.
Many political leaders—both newly elected and those who campaigned—have spoken in favor of wage increases, claiming they aim to uplift Filipino families. But promises alone do not feed people. The reality is clear: it is no longer enough to offer token increases that fall drastically short of the cost of living. The demand to raise wages to meet the actual family living wage is not an act of generosity—it is a moral and social obligation. Anything less is a form of institutional neglect.
As BeGlad, asserts:
“Inclusivity without economic justice is a betrayal of the people. You cannot claim to support queer lives while allowing them to starve, struggle, or suffer in silence.”
Inclusivity must be intersectional, or it becomes empty. One cannot claim to be inclusive if they ignore how gender identity intersects with poverty, employment, housing, education, and health. LGBTQIA+ workers are not just identities—they are whole human beings, trying to live, love, and survive in a society that still offers them so little.
Yes, inclusivity is a beautiful word—but it is also meaningless without action. We must go beyond slogans, celebrations, and surface-level reforms. We must build systems that ensure genuine acceptance, economic justice, and total dignity for all.
And most importantly, we must act together.
We must organize, mobilize, and resist every attempt to reduce our worth to symbolic gestures or economic scraps. A collective movement toward true inclusion and a life worth living must be promoted—and it must never be silenced, forgotten, or obliterated.
Now is the time to rise—not just as LGBTQIA+ individuals—but as workers, as citizens, as full human beings.
Because to live fully and freely, we must demand not only to be seen—but to be respected, valued, and empowered.
FIGHT FOR GENUINE LIVING WAGE!
