A Facebook post claiming trans woman Gretchen Diez wants lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) representation in online games, including popular mobile game Mobile Legends (ML), is a hoax.
A netizen published the fake post on Sept. 6, which splices together two images.
The top photo features a screengrab of Diez speaking in an Aug. 15 interview with Rappler, juxtaposed with the quote,
“…At sana sa Gaming Community magakaroon (sic) ng equality, Sana sa mga online games Hindi lang male at female ang mga character dapat may LGBTQ din po. ..at higit sa lahat sana magkaroon ng bakla o tomboy na hero sa ML (And I wish there would be equality in the gaming community. I hope there won’t only be male and female characters but LGBTQ as well… and most of all, I hope that there will be a gay or lesbian hero in ML).”
Below it is a photo of an ML “hero,” a player-controlled character, called Badang. However, the netizen edited Diez’s face over Badang’s, and labeled the character in red text, “BADENG” — a variation of “bading,” a colloquial term for “gay” in the Philippines.
Diaz made no such remark in the Rappler interview. The have also been no news reports reflecting the netizen’s claim.
The fabricated post made the rounds on the internet two days after the second Senate hearing on the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill, which Diez attended. The trans woman recently made the news after she was detained following a quarrel with a janitress in a Cubao mall on Aug. 13.The fight occurred after the cleaner asked her to use the men’s restroom after two women complained of her presence in the women’s restroom.
This is the third fake quote card on Diez that VERA Files has flagged this week. (SEE: VERA FILES FACT CHECK: FB posts claiming Gretchen Diez wants ‘trans’ names for typhoons FAKE, VERA FILES FACT CHECK: No, Gretchen Diez is NOT calling for ‘exclusive schools’ for LGBTQ)
The netizen’s fake Facebook post, which bore the caption “Ginawan na kita ng hero…anu masaya kana (I already made you a hero… are you happy now)?” has been shared over 51,000 times and has received over 24,000 reactions.
