MANILA, Philippines – In a time when the world is now open to various genders under the LGBTQIA+ community, it is important to be aware of acceptable names or pronouns for them to avoid what is called "misgendering."
Transgender woman Jude Bacalso has apologized after receiving criticism for allegedly making a male server at a restaurant in Cebu City stand up when he addressed her as "sir."
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| Photo courtesy: Jude Bacalso, John Calderon via Ogie Diaz (Facebook) |
A concerned netizen named John Calderon shared the incident on his social media account after being bothered by Bacalso's actions.
After being criticized by netizens, influencers, and even some celebrities like Ogie Diaz, Iyah Mina, Kaladkaren Davila, Rosanna Roces, and others, Bacalso issued an apology post regarding the issue.
"Earlier today, I sat down to quietly settle the matter with the restaurant management, one crew and the store supervisor who were present last night. The waiter I had a disagreement with was not present. After each one of us aired our sides, I am happy to share that we have agreed to pursue together more inclusive practices in the restaurant," she said.
"I also realized that in the impassioned pursuit of my advocacy, I could have done with a little measure of kindness, sadly quite absent in the ruckus this has all unnecessarily created when it was made public without our knowledge. I made a personal apology to the group present, and requested if I may do so for the concerned waiter. I am also making it very public with this post, as it has become quite public fodder."
However, Bacalso insisted that she did not demand the waiter to stand for two hours because he addressed her as "sir." She explained that her discussion with the waiter took a bit longer due to the gender sensitivity issue and they were also waiting for the arrival of a representative from the restaurant management to mediate between them.
"I also want to underscore that the management always had the back of their personnel with constant communication with me on behalf of their employees, who are all treated as family, as I know personally from their history. To quote the supervisor, they served me as best they could even if it was most difficult for them to do so. I would like also to reiterate that I did not demand that the waiter stand for the whole length of time, as I was explaining my side of the gender sensitivity issue, it was he who chose to stand in front of me as we waited for input from management, who I attempted to contact."
"My apologies also to the rest of the staff who are disheartened by the way things have escalated, as well as to the customers present at that time. This is a huge chunk of humble pie that I must ingest, because I have erred. May we start here with, as the supervisor pointed out, an uphill path to reconciliation and we hope you will be able to allow us and yourselves to do so unhampered so we may all learn and heal from this," she added.
— Noel Ed Richards, The Summit Express
