What do we mean when we talk about lesbian visibility? Women from different generations share what visibility means to each of them today. What activities are planned in different cities across the country. Why are they marching with their own contingent on March 8th? By Amanda Alma Photos: Ariel Gutraich and Mariana Leder Kremer Hernández After the hate crime against Natalia “Pepa” Gaitán in March 2010 in the city of Córdoba, every year in Argentina, March 7th is commemorated as Lesbian Visibility Day. It is a political action to occupy the streets, build community, and showcase the diversity of ways lesbianism is experienced. Is it possible to think of lesbian visibility only as an expression of love between women?

Expand your romantic possibilities

Kekena Corvalán is a professor of Latin American art history, teaches at private universities, and is active in Peronism through the Instituto Patria. To discuss visibility, she argues, one must begin with the central value society places on heterosexuality. “It functions as a system for ordering bodies, where the male-female relationship is considered 'normal' and natural. Anything outside of this is labeled as abnormal, which is why visibility seeks to transform this idea in order to expand people's possibilities for love,” says Corvalán.

Lesbian visibility, an individual and collective process

Visibility is part of an individual and collective process. It begins with the discovery of lesbianism, continues with acceptance, and culminates in the act of becoming socially visible. It involves a great deal of work to confront fears, guilt, feelings of being different or strange, and prejudices. Pepa Gaitán was 27 years old when she was murdered because of her visibility. Corvalán is 52 years old and became visible in the 1990s, when being a lesbian could cost you your job. While discrimination and workplace harassment persist, before 2010, when the Equal Marriage Law was passed, many more women "avoided talking about their partners or didn't specify who they were in a relationship with because the prejudices were so strong." The emergence of lesbianism in the public debate and on the societal agenda has allowed society to become more receptive. For her, "it's about not having to hide, being able to be myself and live my happiness in a relaxed way."

Lesbians in the media

For many lesbians, it's clear that the legal changes have impacted social and media discourse. Since the passage of Law 26.618, more than 10,000 same-sex couples have married in Argentina. Furthermore, the massive Pride marches and their proliferation in different cities across the country have fostered better organization. And this mobilization on various fronts generates stronger responses to the attacks lesbians face. Another important effect they highlight is the increased media coverage. from the #Tetazo protest on February 7th in downtown Buenos AiresThis act of occupying the streets with lesbian bodies allowed other reflections on non-heterosexual bodies to appear in the mass media. The same media that generally reduce dissident identities solely to sexual practices.

"I'm here, this is who I am, and this is who I want to be."

Mariana Leder Kremer Hernández is 28 years old, a photographer, and a member of the Emerging Independent Artists collective. She affirms, “Calling myself a lesbian means acknowledging that I am here, that this is who I am, and that this is who I want to be.” As a cultural worker, she focuses on the social representation that portrays only heterosexual love as natural in film, music, and literature. This generates survival mechanisms that affect the free expression of desire, leading to lies or falsehoods about names and identities to avoid detection. “It’s not about an individual act, but about giving space for another person to listen and recognize that they are not alone,” says Leder Kremer Hernández.

When relationships between women move beyond fiction

Lesbian poet Gabriela Borrelli Azara recalls that for many years, female couples “had to maintain a fiction. They are friends, partners, they live together.” From a literary critic's perspective, the author of Ocean She says that visibility allows us to “bring romantic relationships between women out of fiction and give them their proper name.” The representation of sex between women is often associated with male desire. And because lesbians challenge the place society has assigned to women, they take the risk of “not being for” men. That's why it's common to hear heterosexual people say, “It doesn't matter who a lesbian sleeps with” or “Why do they need to say who they have sex with?” Many believe that this idea of ​​intimacy condemns lesbianism to secrecy and concealment.

Proudly out of the closet

Coming out as a lesbian is a way of distancing oneself from the characteristics traditionally associated with women. The act of rebelling against what is expected of an entire gender also provokes a reaction within that community. And it is women themselves who sometimes hold lesbophobic prejudices that complicate the path to visibility. An example of this is the murder of Marcela Crelz in Isidro Casanova, Buenos Aires province. In mid-October 2016, her mother killed her for being a lesbian. The hate crime, which came to light in the media, exposed the violence that visibility can unleash within institutions like the family.

More attacks on lesbians

Many lesbians continue to be attacked in the street, in plazas, or in bars while enjoying their visibility. They are discriminated against for kissing or insulted for holding hands. In Buenos Aires, in September 2016, a lesbian couple was kicked out of the traditional bar La Biela. This sparked a protest. Something similar had happened in 2015 at the Kentucky pizzeria. There, the owners of the establishment publicly apologized due to the media attention the public outcry received. Others are sexually assaulted in an attempt to force them back into "normality." This is what happened to Analía de Jesús – Higui. deprived of her liberty for more than four months for defending herself against an attempted corrective rape. "Many men treat you as if you were one of them." Visibility isn't easy. Borrelli Azara exposes some reactions that seem to accept lesbianism but actually assimilate it to the male gaze. She says that many men "start treating you as if you were one of them, as if we shared the same male perspective on women's bodies."

"A way of positioning oneself and living in the world"

For Kamila Villar, a social worker, journalist, and teacher who has been openly lesbian for over 20 years, “being a lesbian is not the same in some worlds as in others. But by making ourselves visible, we pave the way for others, and others for us. It is a transcendent act because it is a way of positioning oneself and living in the world.”

More exclusion for trans lesbians or "transbians"

Everything becomes more violent when it comes to trans bodies, which further challenge the tranquility of the average mindset that assumes genitalia as the defining factor of identity. https://agenciapresentes.org/2017/02/22/caba-dos-ataques-personas-lgbti-dia/There, the backlash also affects the LGBTQ+ community with the same force as it affects the heterosexual world. Trans lesbians and trans women are viciously targeted when they become visible even among cisgender bodies. They are often excluded from lesbian organizing spaces and prevented from participating.

Is it possible to be an open lesbian on your own?

Lesbians on #March8th with their own column

Corvalán affirms that “cultural change is not immediate, and although there is currently a setback where fear, attacks, and lesbophobic comments are on the rise, ground has been gained.” Experiencing sexuality in a pleasurable way is the starting point for visibility. That is why, on March 8th, within the framework of the #InternationalWomensStrike, lesbians will have their own contingent. They will also carry the #FreedomForHigui banner, highlighting the need to take up her defense as part of the collective demands. The reaction to sexual dissidence is so violent and disproportionate because heterosexuality enjoys the privilege of being the standard by which deviation is measured.

Actions for Lesbian Visibility Day, March 7th

 CABA: From 5 PM, at the Clock Tower Plaza in Retiro. Open stage for artistic performances and reading of a document. Organized by the Permanent Lesbian Assembly #FreedomForHigui  Bahía Blanca: From 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM at Estrada and República de Siria, near Av. Alem 2200. Artistic event, painting of the Pepa Gaitán mural, and a recital of "Lesbian Songs." Organized by Bruja Brújula Feminist Productions / Dissident Pride / Feminist Actions.  Chaco: From 5 pm to 11 pm, at Laguna Arguello, Resistencia. Lesbian picnic, mate, talks, music and sports.  Cordova: From 5 to 10 pm at Plazoleta del Fundador Obispo Trejo and 27 de Abril. Open radio broadcast and lesbian fair.  La Plata: From 4:00 PM at 1st and 66th. Workshops, zine fair, information table, transvestite manual of street advice, photographic interventions.  Mar del PlataFrom 5 to 9 pm, at Plaza Mitre, Av. Colón and Mitre. Picnic, self-defense workshops, tortilla vendors, fair, performances, soccer. Paraná: From 6 to 9 pm, at the intersection of San Martín and Urquiza pedestrian streets. Lesbian meet-and-greet and kiss-in. Posadas7 PM, Main Hall, Palacio del Mate, Rivadavia 1856. Film screening and discussion in memory of Pepa Gaitán and demanding Higui's freedom: screening of the film Freeheld, based on the life of Laurel Hester and her fight to obtain state recognition of a pension for her partner after his death. Organized by: El Mango Diversidad. Rosary: From 5 to 8 pm, at the steps of Parque España. Festival, music, poetry, stand-up comedy, lesbian lounge, closing with Chocolate Remix. Salta: From 8 PM to 3 AM, at Rivadavia 320. Lesbian Party. Santa Fe: From 5 to 9 pm, at Parque Federal. Soccer tournament, workshops on lesbian motherhood and assisted fertilization, stand-up comedy, panel: We'll get Higui out together. Organized by: Mesa Diversa Santa Fe.  Rio Cuarto: From 7 to 10 pm, in Plaza Roca. Picnic, live music, street performances, readings, leaflet distribution. Tandil: From 1 PM to 5 PM, in Plaza Independencia. Picnic, mate gathering, artistic recital, performances, soccer.   Thursday, March 9:  Castelar7 PM. At La Casita de Castelar, Almafuerte 2636. Cultural event "We Want to Live and Be Happy," a tribute to the 7th anniversary of Pepa Gaitán's murder and a call for Higui's freedom. Short film screenings, live music, poetry, an installation, and a community buffet. Admission: a non-perishable food item, to benefit the Los Gardelitos soup kitchen. Organized by: Conurbanos por la Diversidad and Juventud Nuevo Encuentro de Morón

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