LGBTQ+ rights. ...

The incoming Biden administration has stated its commitment to advancing LGBTQ equality, which will require undoing the harms caused during the last four years and by generations of discrimination, as well as proactively championing a progressive agenda.

This thesis analyzes the journey of Ladlad, a political party in the Philippines specifically representing the country’s LGBT citizens, within the context of a broader historicalanthropological perspective on same-sex sexualities and gender diversity in the Philippine Archipelago, the historical colonial implantation and contemporary persistence of heterosexismand homophobia in the country, and the current struggle for gender and sexual equality beingarticulated through both local Philippine and globalized discourses and traditions. For severalyears, Ladlad has sought to win seats in the Philippine Congress in order to fight for the equalrights, equal protection under the law, and state-sponsored support for the advancement andwellbeing of all LGBT Filipinos. By seeking to advance LGBT rights specifically as an LGBTpolitical party within the Philippines’ unique party-list system, Ladlad represents novel realitiesand future possibilities for both Filipino and global LGBT movements, electoral politics, andhuman rights advocacy.