Today, the young woman filed a complaint with the LGBT Ombudsman's Office in the City of Buenos Aires. "It's important to put a stop to this and not normalize it," she said. A map compiled by INADI (National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism) revealed that nightclubs are the places where people feel most discriminated against. Paula Cáceres is from Tierra del Fuego and has lived in Buenos Aires for five years. On the night of Saturday, December 10, this 22-year-old political science student decided to go dancing with her group of friends at Jannoy, a nightclub in Palermo that serves as a meeting point for young people from the interior of Argentina. Paula doesn't usually go to clubs that aren't gay or queer; she says she doesn't feel comfortable. But that night she had agreed to go: it was a friend's birthday, and she and another group of people from Tierra del Fuego had signed up on a guest list. While they were waiting at the door, the security guard looked at Paula and said to her friend: "She can't come in with her hair like that." "Like what?" "Like that, with the dreadlocks." "You need to have more normal hair." "What?" "Like this, long, feminine, like you," the security guard replied. Paula's friend started to protest. In the end, they didn't let anyone in. "I froze. I couldn't say anything. I didn't want to cause a scene because I felt like I was creating an obstacle for my friends. I felt excluded for being different. I felt like I had already fulfilled my gender obligation by dressing the way they usually require you to in those places, but I can't change my hair. I'm bald. What am I going to do? Wear a wig?" Paula told Presentes . "It's something that happens very often, but that doesn't mean we should normalize it," she added. When she got home that morning, Paula wrote a statement on her Facebook page and on the club's Facebook page, where complaints and grievances from other young people multiplied. Today she filed a complaint with the LGBT Ombudsman's Office of the City of Buenos Aires. This is a space created by FALGBT (Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Trans) in partnership with the Ombudsman's Office of the City of Buenos Aires in November 2014. Since then, it has received complaints, forwarded them to the appropriate agency, and followed up on them. In this case, Paula's complaint will be sent to INADI (National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism). “We also work as a safe space to prevent revictimization, because the person can't be constantly moving from institution to institution,” Flavia Massenzio, coordinator of the LGBT Ombudsman's Office, explained to Presentes . “Depending on where the incident occurred, we coordinate with the Ombudsman's Office of the City or the Nation. Furthermore, in the City of Buenos Aires, the Law Against Discrimination has been in effect since 2015. While it doesn't establish criminal penalties, it can provide for compensation. It serves as a legal framework for support. In addition, in the City of Buenos Aires, Article 65 of the Code of Misdemeanors classifies discrimination as a misdemeanor,” added Massenzio from the LGBT Ombudsman's Office, which is now part of the Institute Against Discrimination of the City of Buenos Aires Ombudsman's Office, created this year.

Bowling alleys are the most discriminatory.

The Map of Discrimination A survey conducted by INADI reveals that nightclubs are among the places where people have felt most discriminated against. 78% of those surveyed said they suffered “a lot” or “quite a bit” of discrimination in these establishments. INADI sources told Presents This happens because establishments hide behind the misinterpreted "right of admission." "In the law, the right of admission can only be used when people's safety is at risk, due to carrying weapons or other serious crimes. Nightclubs often behave like private individuals when, in reality, they are public spaces," they added. Paula, who is about to receive her Diploma in Organizational Management with a Gender Perspective at the Evita Museum, knows that what happened to her is repeated in nightclubs and public spaces. That's why she insists: "It's not that I think I'm some kind of victim or anything like that, it's just that it's important to put a stop to it and prevent it from continuing."

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