On the latest episode of singing competition Idol Philippines, the judges had an important and relevant exchange about one particular contestant, Jeremiah Torayno. While discussing the next stage of the competition, Vice Ganda wanted to group Jeremiah, a transgender woman, with the female contestants, saying, "She's a trans woman. Dapat nasa babae siya."
Jeremiah's previous performance in the group round was with three guys:
Regine Velasquez's only concern was that Jeremiah's voice is distinctly deep and male, and it might affect her performance. Vice Ganda, however, stood firm, saying, "We did not base it sa voice. Sa gender niyo binase, e. Dalawa lang ang grupo—babae o lalaki."
Finally, James Reid suggested that they should ask Jeremiah which group she identifies with and she said that she identifies herself as a trans woman. Twitter fans and members of the LGBT community applauded the show for being the first of its kind in the Philippines to do this.
In May, 21-year-old Jeremiah auditioned for the show with the song "Pare Mahal Mo Raw Ako."
She has been making song covers and joining competitions for years now! Here's a vid of Jeremiah singing as a kid:
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