Jennifer Laude: Remembering the Filipino transgender woman who was ‘full of joy’
Trigger Warning: This post contains reports of violence against transgender people.
A U.S. Marine was granted an “absolute pardon” by President Rodrigo Duterte on September 8 in the killing of transgender woman Jennifer Laude in 2014.
Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton served about six out of the ten years of his sentence. He was convicted of the lesser charge of homicide, rather than murder.
A police report says Laude was found in a hotel with injuries around her neck on October 12, 2014. Her head was leaning on a toilet bowl, while her “lower body was partially covered with a color cream blanket.”
According to the Rappler, Pemberton admitted he strangled Laude, but said it was “in self-defense.” He told the court on August 24, 2015, that Laude was performing oral sex when he felt a penis while he put his hands between her legs. Pemberton was shocked by the discovery and pushed Laude to the ground, but she got up and slapped him in the face. Pemberton says he fought back by choking her, which left her unconscious. He dragged Laude to the bathroom to try to pour water to revive her but decided to leave her when he couldn’t find water.
On September 11, Laude’s mom, Julita Laude, said Duterte broke his promise to keep Pemberton behind bars for as long as he was president.
“It would have been okay if the President did not give absolute pardon, so that at least we could have had a chance — we were only asking for 10 years as payment for the life of my child. That’s a very short period of imprisonment compared to the lost life of my child,” Julita said.
A 2014 survey by the Pew Research Centre found that 73 per cent of Filipinos believe that homosexuality should be accepted by society. These attitudes are comparable to Italy (74 per cent) and Britain (76 per cent), and is ahead of the Americans who have a 60 per cent acceptance rate.
According to the Trans Murder Monitoring project, 41 transgender people were killed in the Philippines between 2008 and 2016, the second highest rate in Asia after India.
On October 11, the Rappler posted a picture on its Facebook page commemorating Jennifer Laude on her death anniversary. On the post, there are about 9,300 reactions. Around 6,400 used the tearful emoji, but just over 700 reacted with a laughing emoji.
The post also has over 2,000 comments, and it’s not long before you scroll past a comment where the writer believes Laude shouldn’t have hidden her identity.
“A good lesson to learn for everyone. Hiding an identity to someone a very dangerous precedence,” one comment reads.
“What God has created , it should be, and don’t change it. Accept happily what you are, or else, consequence is surely faced…and do not lie of yourself,” another comment says.
On the other hand, there are a multitude of replies and comments on the post showing people believe a lie shouldn’t have resulted in Laude’s death.
“Worth talaga na patayin over lying? Wow. Eh di dapat pinatay na din mga politicians natin sa dami ng kasinungalingan nila,” one reply reads.
“No matter the circumstances, it is wrong to kill a person! And I don’t understand how hard it is for some to realize that,” another commenter posted.
In France Villarta’s TED Talks called “The gender-fluid history of the Philippines,” he explains that people in pre-colonial Philippine societies were mostly egalitarian. ****
“Men did not necessarily have an advantage over women,” Villarta says. “Wives were treated as companions, not slaves. And family contracts were not done without their presence and approval.”
Women in the early societies of the Philippines were babaylans, which is a collective term for shamans of various ethnic groups. They were community healers, they delivered babies and communicated with the spirit world. Babaylans had important roles in their communities.
Reports from Spanish chroniclers contain references to male shamans who didn’t conform to the Western masculine standards, according to Villarta. They cross-dressed and appeared to be effeminate or sexually ambiguous.
“A Jesuit missionary named Francisco Alcina said that one man he believed to be a shaman was ‘so effeminate that in every way he was more a woman than a man. All the things the women did, he performed, such as weaving blankets, sewing clothes and making pots. He danced also like they did, never like a man, whose dance is different. In all, he appeared more a woman than a man.’”
Gender nonconformity and gender equality in the early societies clashed with European thought. Spanish missionaries spent their colonizing years enforcing their two-gender model.
According to the Rappler, those who knew Laude well called her “Ganda.”
“She was full of joy. She was selfless, and did not get on bad terms with anyone,” said her friend, Roann Dollete Labrador.
Laude’s sister, Marilou remembered how Jennifer would never hesitate to help friends out financially. She was also regularly sending money to their mother in Leyte as the family’s breadwinner.
According to the Rappler, Laude was dating someone for two years. She met her German boyfriend online and they planned on getting married in Thailand.
Laude’s friends believe that her efforts to look good was proof she was confident about her sexuality. She was out and proud. Using clothes and makeup to own her sexuality.
References
- Facebook post on the Rappler’s page.
- “Remembering ‘Ganda’: The tragedy of Jennifer Laude” by Katerina Francisco for the Rappler.
- “The gender-fluid history of the Philippines” a TED Talks by France Villarta.
- “The Global Divide on Homosexuality” from Pew Research Center.
- “TIMELINE: The killing of Jennifer Laude and release of Joseph Scott Pemberton” by Michelle Abad for the Rappler.
- “US Marine pardoned by Philippines for killing of transgender woman” by Brad Lendon for CNN.
