Mara La Torre

Last updated
Mara Orendain La Torre
Mara La Torre, fashion model.jpg
Mara La Torre joined the Miss Universe Philippines 2021, pictured on Vice World News
Born (1993-11-18) November 18, 1993 (age 31)
Manila, Philippines
EducationBachelor of Arts in English Literature
OccupationModel
Height5 ft 4 in (163 cm)

Mara Orendain La Torre (born November 18, 1993) is a Philippine fashion model. In 2021, she became the first transgender woman known to have competed in the Miss Universe Philippines. Her participation pushed boundaries in the Philippine pageant scene, which conventionally has cisgender women as the only participants, sparking reactions and hate nationwide.

Contents

She previously gained media attention when she filed charges after being blocked from using the women's restroom at her workplace. [1]

Early life

La Torre was born in 1993 in Manila, Philippines. She had sex reassignment surgery prior to her rise to prominence in 2014. [2]

Bathroom lawsuit

In 2014, La Torre worked as a call center agent at business process outsourcing companies. [3] That year, while working at Teleperformance, she was using the female restroom when she was told by two security guards that she could not use the female restroom even after insisting that she is a woman. [4] She filed a lawsuit against them which gained media coverage at news outlets such as GMA News, ABS-CBN News, and The Philippine Star . [1] [3] [4] Her lawsuit was met with mixed reactions from the public, especially when she became the banner story of an anti-discrimination policy that gave way to the building of gender-neutral bathrooms in the Philippines in the absence of a national law. [5]

Similar experiences of trans people being asked not to use a bathroom that identifies their gender occurred prior to the publicity brought by La Torre, but reforms hadn't been able to gain traction. [2] When Mara shared her experience of discrimination on national news, wearing pink clothe, donning pantyhose in her stilleto, strutting the hallway of prosecutor's office, and her air of confidence, [2] her portrayal of such discrimination experience was put to a different light. It became an inspiration to the LGBTIQA plus community where 30 of that groups signed a solidarity statement in her favor to blast the discrimination. [2] The human rights group also took notice of Mara's case who proposed a gender-neutral bathroom in the Philippines. [1] Aside from Fridae reporting the story, [6] The Windy City Times also delivered Mara's story to their audiences to report on such discrimination. [7] Also, UPR Info included Mara's story as a case analysis in their universal periodic report. [8] Soon after, a number of LGBT-themed programs aired on TV including The Richman's Daughter and Destiny Rose . Her story finally led to the enactment of Gender-Fair Ordinance that prohibits all acts of discrimination specific to the LGBTQ plus community. [9]

In 2018, Ateneo De Manila University followed suit by putting up an all-gender bathrooms in their campus, which, as reported by Esquire magazine published by Summit Media, "sparked heated debate". According to the magazine, Ateneo is not just the first one to put up a restroom for all genders, citing some universities in the Philippines that also installed third-gender bathrooms following Mara's story in 2014 such as St. Louis University in Baguio, Lyceum of the Philippines University, and Ateneo de Davao. [10]

More transgender women were seen empowered to come out with their stories afterwards. In 2017, Filipino International designer Veejay Floresca went public with her story after being denied entry at Valkryie Club and The Palace Pool Club in Taguig. [11] In 2018. KaladKaren Davila shared her story to the public after being denied entry in Makati Bar. [12] She gained support from other celebrities including actor Dingdong Dantes who reiterated the importance of anti-discrimination bill in the Philippines. [13] In 2019, Gretchen Diez also shared her experience of discrimination to the public. Her case became widespread news after experiencing similar situation. She was able to use the Gender-Fair ordinance as reported by One News Philippines, calling that "first of its kind in the Philippines" to tackle all acts of discrimination which was deliberated upon and enacted following Mara's case. [14] Due to Diez' case, the debate over the building of an all-gender restroom was brought up again to the public since, as GMA News reported, there was no national law yet covering it. But Executive Director of EnGenderRights, Atty. Clara Rita Padilla who assisted Mara in 2014, suggested to do it even without a law, citing Mara's story on the Gender-Fair ordinance as the first successful story that led to the building of the first all-gender restroom put up in Quezon City even in the absence of a national law. [5] The Sogie Bill is yet to be passed in the Philippines.

Miss Universe Philippines

In 2021, La Torre entered the Miss Universe Philippines pageant. As part of the pageant's requirements, she was asked to submit a medical certificate to prove that she was "female" after to suspicion from the judges as to her gender identity. When she went to see a doctor to be examined, the male doctor who examined her sexually abused her. She was able to obtain the needed medical certificate, but during her screening, she was shocked to find out that she was being disqualified due to a male gender marker on her passport. [15] This broke out on major news outlets and different social media platforms where she received hundreds of hate messages and further harassment coming from the fans of the pageant. [15] This led to IMG Worldwide that was handling Miss Universe before to pull out it's business from Miss Universe. Furthermore, IMG Worldwide sold the Miss Universe to a Thai transgender billionaire, which was an act seen to piss off those people who don't want transgender women to be in that pageant. [16] As an aftermath, major donors of Miss Universe could be seen pulling out their business, too, from Miss Universe leaving the Miss Universe filing for bankruptcy. [17]

Due to lack of a policy and national laws specific to LGBT participants, she had received mixed reactions from the public including online bullying, bashing, and harassment. As her story brought their absence to the attention of policy-makers, they were prompted to create an ordinance to protect against discrimination experienced specifically by the members of the LGBT community, calling the ordinance "the first of its kind in the Philippines", as it was the first ordinance enacted specific for the LGBTIQA members in the Philippines. [14]

Filmography

Television

YearTitleRole
2014 Failon Ngayon Featured Guest
2014 Wish Ko Lang: Social Experiment Featured Guest

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Takumi, Rie (28 March 2014). "Transgender woman barred from ladies' room files discrimination charges". www.gmanetwork.com. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Writer, Contributing (2 April 2014). "In defense of transgender rights in the workplace" . Retrieved 2021-10-04.
  3. 1 2 Star, By Reinir Padua, The Philippine (2014-03-27). "2 guards charged for gay discrimination". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 2021-10-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. 1 2 Padua, Reinir. "2 guards charged for gay discrimination". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
  5. 1 2 TEAM, LIFESTYLE (20 August 2019). "After a transwoman was barred from using the female restroom, how do we move forward in a more inclusive manner?". GMA News Online. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
  6. ↑ "Transgender woman in Philippines sues to stop discrimination at work". www.fridae.asia. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
  7. ↑ "Ben Cohen issues 50th grant; group seeks to ban 'Warmest Color' - Windy City Times News". Windy City Times. 2014-04-02. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
  8. ↑ "Philippines Session 27 May 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  9. ↑ http://quezoncitycouncil.ph/ordinance/SP/sp-2357,%20s-2014-1.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  10. ↑ Philippines, Esquire (28 March 2018). "Ateneo Isn't The First to Install Gender-Neutral Restrooms Towards Inclusivity". Esquiremag.ph. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
  11. ↑ "Designer Veejay Floresca Denied Entry at BGC Clubs Twice". www.preview.ph. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  12. ↑ "House to probe Makati bar for keeping out KaladKaren Davila". Rappler. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
  13. ↑ "Dingdong Dantes reiterates importance of anti-discrimination bill". PEP.ph. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
  14. 1 2 "Primer: Quezon City's Gender-Fair Ordinance | OneNews.PH". Primer: Quezon City's Gender-Fair Ordinance | OneNews.PH. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
  15. 1 2 "A Pageant Welcomed Trans Women, Then Rejected An Applicant For Her Male Passport". www.vice.com. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-21.
  16. ↑
  17. ↑ Choi, Christy (November 10, 2023). "Miss Universe owner files for bankruptcy days before pageant". CNN. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
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