Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman

BATAAN Rep. Geraldine Roman, a transgender, joined Hillary Clinton, singer Beyonce and Olympian Yusra Mardini as three of Time magazine’s 13 Most Inspiring Women of 2016. Roman made it to the list as part of the recent celebration of the International Day of the Girl, a United Nations initiative to promote greater gender equality worldwide. Time cited Clinton for making history as the first female nominee for a major party in a presidential race, and singer Beyonce for her global success as a recording artist. It cited her recent album Lemonade.In an article written by Kate Samuelson and Suyin Haynes, Roman was cited for her trailblazing electoral victory as a transgender, and for her advocacy of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender or LGBT rights. Olympic hero Yusra Mardini, 18, a Syrian refugee who now lives in Germany, also made it to the list, after competing as part of the Refugee Olympic Team―the first year that the Games featured a group made up of stateless refugees. Mardini and three other people had pushed the boat that she and other refugees were traveling in to flee Syria when it began to sink until it reached the safety of Lesbos.Roman said her inclusion in Time’s list of inspiring women strengthened her resolve to push for greater gender equality across all regions. “A person’s gender should not stand in the way of educational and employment opportunities, or be the basis for exclusion in any meaningful activity,” Roman said. She said she looked forward to the first public hearing by the House committee on women and gender equality on her bill to stop discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity to be held on Monday. “The anti-discrimination bill based on sexual orientation and gender identity seeks to extend legal protection to LGBT Filipinos based on the universal principles of human rights,” Roman said.