29/06/2025
๐๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ก๐๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ | On Different Portraits: One is a (Trans)Woman
If you could paint an image of MSU-GSC for what it's known for, what would you paint?
This question could illustrate numerous scenes: the crown of academic prestige, the pencil for free education, the dust that swirls and clings to the atmosphere's neck, or even the heat, shouts and scratches. Penetrating the skin of every person inside the campus. But beyond this plethora of parading choices lies the most important one: the g**s. Vibrant. Enduring. Excellent. This is especially true in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH), where, in the eyes of most MSUans, both within and outside the college, CSSH is predominantly home to individuals who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Let us not be mistaken. The institution and the college are already great themselves.
However, the alive and thriving individuals of the third gender have significantly contributed to the values of diversity, inclusivity, and peace for which the university is known. For reference, it was in 2023 (just two years ago) when the past administration under then-Chancellor Usman D. Aragasi, MPA, JD, along with various offices of the academic institution, responded to persistent calls from its LGBTQIA+ constituents. That year, the university finally allowed students to wear gender-affirming clothes and haircuts during graduation ceremonies and other formal operations, highlighting and honoring our trans sisters.
One individual from the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, a transgender woman whose identity and strength were primarily nurtured by the institution she has been part of for four years, shared that her exposure to the university made her bolder and more confident about herself. According to her, MSU-Gensan is more accepting of transgender women than other institutions in the city or even in the province. MJ stated that she has been able to align her gender identity and expression with the way she presents herself to others, which also improved her motivation to focus on academics and assert her rights in spaces where they are often lacking. When asked when she first felt like she was in her own skin, MJ responded: "It was when I entered the academe. I felt empowered the first time I was addressed with my preferred pronouns."
Marwin John O. Arivas is her legal name, but she prefers to be addressed as MJ Arivas-or simply MJ. She is a 22-year-old Bachelor of Arts in Political Science student and was hailed as the Queen of MSU 2025 1st Runner-Up last April 2. As a student with a keen interest in politics, she is deeply motivated to promote progress in the lives of her trans sisters. "One reason why I wanted to take up law is to continue the progress in the protection of transgender rights especially access to gender-affirming healthcare," she said.
For many transgender women in the Philippines, individuality comes at a high cost. In today's world where nearly everything is commodified. Access to gender-affirming medications becomes a battle, one of both economic status and personal belief. With limited access to affordable and gender-affirming healthcare, many transgender Filipinos turn to do-it-yourself (DIY) hormone therapy, relying on online guides and peer-shared medications.
As Philippine Collegian reports, this practice driven by medical neglect and systemic inaccessibility has prompted trans individuals to self-medicate using hormone pills purchased through unregulated platforms such as Shopee and TikTok, often without any clinical supervision (Philippine Collegian, 2024). In an interview with GMA News,
Love Yourself founder Ronivin Garcia Pagtakhan emphasized that the lack of accessible affirming medical services forces trans Filipinos to rely on informal hormone replacement therapy, leading to dangerous outcomes such as overdosing, incorrect dosages, or unmonitored intake (GMA News, 2023).
As a transgender beauty queen, MJ has been vocal about these issues. For her, the biggest decision she has made, and the one she's most proud of, is taking up the challenge to prepare herself to make a greater impact in local legislative spaces advocating for LGBTQIA+ rights.
As an active officer of the Human Rights Society (HURISO), a non-academic organization under the Department of Political Science, she aspires to push for a society that upholds values and everyone's fundamental rights, including the right of transgender individuals to accessible healthcare.
While there has been progress, thanks to the efforts of students and institutions to foster an inclusive learning environment, MJ acknowledges that a certain degree of transphobia still exists within the university. She attributes this to "sociocultural beliefs or political structures in our country." However, she clarifies that as long as the trans community has a space for protectionโwhere they feel seen, represented, and valued-then trans visibility at MSU-
Gensan is adequate, if that is the metric we choose to use. Still, she recognizes the complexities: "[In the context of MSU, I would generally define [representation] as the balance of interests among different sectors. [T]here should be tolerance and shared respect for one another's existence, [b]ecause that is what we continue to put forward as a peace institution," she added.
Looking ahead, MJ hopes the university will solidify initiatives against gender-based violence and adopt more inclusive policies that allow people to express themselves freely. She especially emphasized the need for policies that ensure transgender and q***r students can participate in activities aligned with their gender identity such as in sports and other co-curricular spaces. For her, the simple exclusion of LGBTQIA+ members from class activities because of their gender is a clear form of discrimination.
As another transgender woman leaving the university to pursue greater aspirations. MJ prays that her presence in MSU-Gensan, as a queen who dared to speak her strength, will inspire the trans community to resist discrimination and challenge transphobia. "My struggle as a trans individual will continue to shape my will to fight for the equality we deserve... That is what I want Mindanao to seeโthat our existence poses no threat to anyone, except to conservative structures that deem themselves absolute."
In our years in college, many of us have dreamed of a kinder life: to breathe without the burdens of the heart and of poverty, to live without having to endure the weight of our gender, and the seemingly unending exams, to love our chosen path, softly. Light. Unbound. Dauntless. To speak without silencing ourselves. To finally release the words we've threaded into our thoughts, which are the truths hiding in the limelight of our tongues, but life rarely lets us slip away that easily. We often feel small as we aspire to greatness. And such greatness is never without cost. It hasโand always will be-born out of blood. Of tears and joy. Of sleepless nights and trembling hands. Of fear and courage. If not, then at least, the scars will remain. Quiet wayfinders urging us toward the next attempt.
That is another aspect of the colors we've grown so adamant to embody the trying part. Because after all, just as MJ did, it is in holding so tightly to the rainbow, which ties us to our place in this institution, that we ignite a more inclusive and diverse university. One where the definition of what MSU-Gensan's whole identity is complex and nuanced.
So if you're asked to paint your vision, perhaps you could just drop the canvas entirely and simply say: "It's the experience that defines MSU-Gensan." That one works well too.
Written by: Jerald Dinglasa
