MANILA – Ateneo de Manila University law student Sean Borja plans to use his recent achievement in the 2018 bar examination to push for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.
Borja on Friday said he advocated for the rights of the third sex after he was bullied during his elementary school days for being gay.
“I experienced discrimination myself when I was just a child exploring my real identity,” Borja said. “Many in the LGBT community are still afraid to come out and need some encouragement.”
“Other than the mundane, I think what I want to show is to keep pushing my limits so that people like me, people from my community can achieve so much if people will just listen and look out for us,” he added.
Borja shared a previous Facebook post where he cited how society looked down on gays, never considered them holding key leadership positions.
“For a long time, I was made to believe members of the LGBT community could never be anything beyond mere providers of entertainment. The moment we come out, we will never make CEO, President, or Senior Partner. After all, society itself has charted our destiny to become marginalized, second-class citizens,” Borja said.
“Eh bakla ka eh, so hanggang parlorista ka lang o ‘di kaya talk show host. So don’t ever make the mistake of telling anybody about who you are. Don’t come out. Fake it,” he added.
“And yet I’ve seen people like me who’ve made great strides in the fields of law, science, business, the arts, and even politics – more so than their ‘normal’ counterparts,” Borja said.
“It is in the LGBT community where I’ve observed love – whether spousal, friendly, or familial – that was genuine, unconditional, and limitless,” he added.
Borja bested 8,153 bar takers after garnering 89.3 percent average during the Nov. 2018 examinations. /PN
