On Saturday, February 18, two LGBTQ+ couples were attacked in very close proximity to each other in the City of Buenos Aires. Both attacks were motivated by homophobia, lesbophobia, and transphobia and occurred in broad daylight. In addition to physical violence, a common element was the insults and indifference of passersby. [NEWS UPDATED 7:30 PM] – “Disappear in five seconds, faggots,” Germán Tosto, a 30-year-old man, heard while waiting for a taxi with his partner and a friend. They were on the corner of Lacroze and Delgado streets in the Colegiales neighborhood. It was 7:00 AM on Saturday, February 18. From the opposite block, a group of eight young men, who had been insulting them from a distance, approached and attacked them. Germán was first punched in the jaw. Then one of the men took off his belt and began whipping him across the ribs. “I’m not going to let two guys touch each other on my block!” the aggressor yelled. Then another blow. “I was the one who reacted to the insult, and that’s why they singled me out,” Germán told Presentes . While the attack lasted, dozens of passersby watched the scene without doing anything. “That’s what surprised me the most, that people were paralyzed, just watching. It seemed like they were afraid. They didn’t even call the police. I had to call 911,” Germán added.

“They’re like they’re unleashed”

The patrol car took twenty minutes to arrive at the scene, but the assailants—between twenty and thirty years old—hadn't escaped. They were still half a block away. The police arrested only three of the assailants and took Germán's statement at the 31st Precinct. "I have friends like you, they're good people," the sub-lieutenant told him. He then added that the assailants were being "detained" but that "for simple assault, the judge releases them and I can't do anything." "Nothing like this has ever happened to me. Insults, yes, but it's like you live more peacefully in the city. These people are the same kind who can hit a woman, a lesbian, a trans person. There's a resurgence of sexist violence; they're like they're unleashed. There's a political reality that seems to embolden them," Germán told Presents. [READ ALSO: Violent attack by a gang on three LGBTI activists ] Now Germán, who made it public the attack on his Facebook accountHe will continue with the legal complaint, accompanied by the Argentine Homosexual Community (CHA). "From the CHA, regarding the various acts of violence against the LGBTI community, we always express our strong condemnation. Beyond demanding that the facts be clarified, and that there be justice and reparations when it comes to criminal matters, we believe that the State bears responsibility," Pedro Paradiso Sottile, secretary of the organization, told Presentes.

With cutting-edge legislation, but without the full exercise of rights

“Historically, CHA has been proposing, demanding, and calling for public policies and programs to promote inclusion and education in diversity. Many of these cases end up as hate crimes. It's related to a sexist and heteropatriarchal perspective, to discourses from those in power that encourage certain individuals or institutions to commit these kinds of acts of violence and feel protected. We want concrete actions from the State, in this case, from the City of Buenos Aires,” said Paradiso Sottile. “In Argentina, and in the city of Buenos Aires as well, there has been significant progress in rights for the LGBTI community. We have cutting-edge legislation, but it needs to be translated into the actual exercise of rights. Public policies, educational programs, and diversity inclusion campaigns are lacking, not only for the LGBTI community but for all citizens,” said the CHA secretary.

"You stupid girl, what's wrong with you? Are you afraid of being heterosexual?"

Hours later, at 6:30 p.m., in Plaza Noruega (Belgrano), Jazz Castello was with her partner, Andrea Pasut, drinking mate on the grass. Andrea is trans and afraid to go out in the street, afraid of being attacked. That's why this simple outing was so important to them. But trouble soon arose. On the other side of the plaza's fence, a group of six men stared at them intently. Until one of them approached, standing about ten centimeters away. They asked him to leave. He challenged them: “Look what I'm doing. It's a public space.” And he sat down next to them. “That's when something incredible happened. When the guy saw my leg hair, he lost it. All his hatred came rushing up. He was completely out of control, hard. And he said to me, 'Let's see if you make up your mind, you stupid bitch. What's wrong with you, are you afraid of being heterosexual? Did your daddy rape you?' I couldn't believe it and I told him to get lost,” Jazz told us. Presents. After her response, the man lunged at her. She pushed him away, and that's when Andrea intervened. When Jazz tried to step in, he said, "No, no. You get out of here. Not with you. I want to fight him"—referring to Andrea. Andrea reacted and confronted him for referring to her as a man. He grabbed her hair, they both fell to the ground, and Jazz took the opportunity to kick him. Finally, amidst the struggle, another man from the group arrived and started hitting his friend to make him let go of Andrea, telling him he couldn't hit two women.

[READ ALSO: #Argentina: She was attacked for being a lesbian and is in jail for homicide ]

“Besides the fear and anger I felt towards them, I was furious at the attitude of the people in the Plaza. Nobody did anything. Everyone watched, but nobody defended us. And it was crystal clear what was happening. Even when we left the plaza to look for help, we passed by a family, and the mother covered her children's eyes, as if to prevent them from seeing us,” said Jazz, who also made her story public. your complaint On Facebook. Walking towards Barrancas de Belgrano, they ran into a police officer who said he couldn't help them, even though the attackers were still a few blocks away. He said they had to go to the police station. "The guy was more worried about my armpit hair than about what had happened to us," Jazz said.

"A new context of impunity"

Andrea told Presents This is the first time she has suffered such a violent attack. “I had experienced verbal abuse before. But this was very physical from the beginning. He wouldn't leave us alone. He wanted to invade our space, cross that boundary. Take us out of there. I didn't want to play along, but when he touched Jazz, I jumped in. And we defended ourselves. We were covered in bruises from the blows.” Just one day after these two attacks, in Glew, Buenos Aires Province, a gang of 18 men attacked for twenty minutes with three trans activists. “We have been seeing an increase in social violence against LGBTI people. In the new context of impunity that this government provides, they feel greater freedom to act. It is something we have been denouncing since December 2015,” she told Presents Darío Arias, from the organization Conurbanos por la Diversidad.

"Officials are not coming forward to condemn the events."

For Paradiso Sottile (CHA), it is no coincidence that these recent attacks in the City of Buenos Aires, along with the one perpetrated by a gang in Glew, are occurring "amidst the rise of conservative rhetoric, which promotes exclusionary views in many areas. This is happening, for example, in Mar del Plata, but not only there," referring to Mayor Carlos Arroyo (Cambiemos), a former official of the dictatorship and denounced by the CHA for xenophobia and misogyny. "We must end the impunity that this exclusionary view fosters, in which some people feel protected and emboldened to attack," says the CHA secretary. In addition to publicly expressing its concern about the escalating violence against the LGBTI community in Argentina, the CHA has requested a meeting with the governor of the province of Buenos Aires, María Eugenia Vidal, to discuss the issue. But the request for a formal meeting—made through a formal request for an audience and several phone calls—has gone unanswered to this day. Over the past year, several organizations have been warning about the escalating violence, not only against the LGBTI community. Paradiso Sottile, from CHA, says: “In addition, the responsible officials are not publicly condemning these acts. If there is no clear statement of condemnation, if the main figures in the State remain silent, impunity is reinforced by omission or inaction. It's not that these acts will automatically stop just because the Head of Government speaks out. But we believe that officials must take responsibility for these acts and promote inclusive public policies.”  

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