The Filipino Experience on Gender Expression in Surigao City

Abstract

This study explored the Filipino experiences of LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) individuals in Surigao City. This qualitative study used Colaizzi’s (1978) descriptive phenomenology. The researchers identified their informants based on the criteria such as: being part of the LGBTQIA+ community, residing in Surigao City, and are 18 years old and above; objectives of the study, and through the use of the snowball sampling method to find the ten (10) people needed for the study. The researchers’ followed the process of the phenomenological descriptive method of Colaizzi's (1978), 267 meanings units were extracted from their responses which evolved into the development of emergent themes reflecting the experiences of the informants. From these meaning units, twenty-four (24) cluster themes and six (6) emergent themes were drawn from the informants’ narrative data.