Niki Raveau, historian and trans activist, attended the anti-LGBTI demonstrations that took place yesterday in Santiago, Chile. She was physically present and engaged with the participants, who told her they were against “gender ideology.” Here she chronicles the day and reflects: How long will we have to endure all these insecure and cowardly pastors, legislators, and rulers who incite death? Do they even know what it's like to be beaten in the street while being yelled at inches from your face? By Niki Raveau. After a day marked by anti-LGBTI demonstrations in Chile and following the police repression of activists on the “Diversity Bus,” Niki Raveau writes: Why does the State legitimize criminal positions disguised as free expression, at the expense of the transgender and LGBTI population? Because they are afraid of being criticized. Because they are afraid of innovating in public policy. Because they are afraid of losing voters, and that's what they really care about! The Santiago Metropolitan Region government has had no problem granting permits to fanatical groups that hold demonstrations directly inciting hatred and discrimination. So far, the Chilean government has allowed these voices to rise as if they were legitimate interlocutors. “Those for and those against,” as a terrible news report on Channel 13 called it today, contributing to the confusion. “The diversity bus versus the freedom bus.” An evangelical protester shouted at the demonstration: “They want to impose on us how to raise our children! The school curriculum teaches that we have to destroy the family and kill heterosexuals!” No, ma'am! We must allow other affective bonds to have the right to exist and heterosexuality should not be the norm or “normal,” because that generates violence and direct exclusion against those of us who are not heterosexual (or cisgender)! Furthermore, the actions of the Carabineros (Chilean police) were excessive. Protesters were beaten and violently arrested, including MUMS activists, among whom was a trans leader who was protesting against the circulation of propaganda calling for hatred.

[READ ALSO: #Chile: Police prevented the #DiversityBus from circulating ]

Ultimately, the bus that directly targeted trans children didn't dare to censor it and instead changed its message to one with homophobic content. In any case, I still agree with the words of Evelyn Silva (Selenna Foundation for trans children), addressed to her daughter: "However, people don't know that there are buses, like that one, that pass through your life and the lives of trans children every day, and nobody signs petitions to stop them." Those of us who work with trans children—myself included—as far as I know, didn't request the censorship of that damned bus. Rather, we demanded an explicit condemnation from the government of the content of the "hate-bus-poster." It's worth noting that hate speech is not "free expression" and that in more developed countries, a minister secretary general of government doesn't half-heartedly endorse the promotion of hatred or violence. The result: police officers attacking more trans people, queers, and lesbians. More transvestites, fewer cops! More education, less violence!

[READ ALSO: The bus that attacks transgender children arrives in Chile ]

“Gender ideology”

What I found most worrying this time was the large number of people who gathered "against gender ideology." I spoke with two elementary school teachers and was surprised by the poverty of their arguments in favor of "biology," "nature," and "individual freedom" (every now and then we were interrupted by an old/macho/aggressive man who insisted on "shaking hands" with me and my transgender companion...). It's very sad to think that the children who accompany them will grow up "anti-trans" and "anti-gay." I almost felt sorry for them seeing how they looked at me, this inconceivable and diabolical oddity I must seem to them... It's infuriating, because most of them were ignorant and fearful. A flock, but one willing to embody the worst of extermination ideologies.

[READ ALSO: Gender-neutral bathrooms in schools: a trans activist responds to a politician ]

Gender ideology? Biology? Don't give me that crap. I'm a transvestite, I'm trans*, I'm hermaphrodite, I'm intersex, I'm transgender, and I'm transsexual. I know trans children, I know they exist, I've worked with them, and I know what it's like. I hope they can learn to understand and stop being so afraid. It made me angry, and then saddened me, to try to peacefully approach another anti-LGBTI group, whose only argument was a man who chased me, blocking my path (there were quite a few nationalists, fascists, Nazis, and other "friends" of standard heterosexuality. Invisible to the wise "family" eye?). In contrast: how wonderful are the queer, lesbian, and trans* school-aged children who go everywhere, know how to argue, and communicate their ideas. With that image in mind, I'm going home.

Rulers and pastors

Why does the State legitimize criminal stances disguised as free expression, at the expense of the transgender and LGBTI population? Because they are afraid of being criticized. Because they are afraid of innovating in public policy. Because they are afraid of losing voters, and that's what they really care about! Otherwise, we cannot explain the irresponsibility and inconsistency of a bourgeois, Catholic father of nine, the politician José Antonio Kast, campaigning against a group of children he finds completely inconceivable: transgender children, hand in hand with the violent, self-proclaimed Pentecostal pastor, Javier Soto. For Kast and Soto, only some children exist…; nor can we explain Senator Chahuán, ridiculously and desperately clutching a Chilean flag defaced with the slogan “No to gender ideology,” even though trans leaders, along with a trans girl and her family—I know this firsthand—had gone to the trouble of trying to educate his limited understanding. What technique do you use to educate a member of parliament like that? It was very complex and unpleasant trying to educate the sector most opposed to voting for laws that benefit our people. At least some of us tried…

[READ ALSO: Schools ordered to respect trans identities: “A milestone in school coexistence” ]

How can a Walker, Van Rhysselberghe, or Ossandón be allowed to legislate on the trans population while introducing shamefully unfounded proposals with the sole purpose of blocking bills, year after year? How long will we have to endure all these insecure and cowardly pastors, legislators, and government officials who incite death? Do they even know what it's like to be beaten in the street while someone yells inches from your face, "I'm homophobic, evangelical, and what the hell?!" Do they understand that in Chile, gender is still a cause for abuse, exclusion, and death? Does the Catholic Pope, who has made the most abhorrent comparisons about transgender people, know that in a Catholic church in the Independencia district, in 2015, two members of Fundación Transitar (a trans children's organization) were baptized under their chosen names? As a non-believer and a participant in that organization, I could see that Kevin and Carolina were taking a very significant step for themselves, and that was what mattered. Creating safe spaces and affection where none existed. A social-community space despite the deaf state, the Vatican's gold, and the words that turn into knives in the street.

"They combine mainstream gay activism with the specific demands of transgender children."

Also well-known are the grotesque lectures given by law graduate Andrea Balbontín through a network of upper-class evangelical churches. Based on theoretically untenable arguments and subjective and personal traumas, it's difficult to discern clearly how much awareness—or intentionality—she possesses, like the Pope, that her words directly incite hatred, death, and exclusion against a specific group of people. The inventors of "gender ideology" are the only ones who are over-ideologized. I could coexist with Balbontín; she couldn't with me. If I am sin, disease, and corruption... On the other hand, they are ignorant because they haven't been educated and because they don't know real communities. Or is it perhaps more convenient and profitable to be ignorant?

[READ ALSO: Selenna, the Chilean trans girl who became a symbol of pride ]

They also confuse and conflate mainstream gay activism with the specific demands of trans children. Just look at, for example, their inexplicable obsession with same-sex marriage and their irrational fear of homosexuality being revealed in school, based on statements by the leader of the local movement "Parents Objecting to Gender Ideology." These statements are utterly absurd and homophobic. They demonstrate a complete lack of understanding. They know nothing about "gender." They know nothing about the realities of trans children. They have never interacted with trans children. They don't even dare to talk to a trans person. So, what are they talking about, and what are their true interests?

Violence in schools

Last week I heard that in one of the schools where a positive school climate had been achieved, a trans student left the classroom for twenty days. Out of fear. Because she was beaten up—guess why: because society has taught us that we can be beaten with impunity every so often. Because sexism is the foundation of the school curriculum. Because the Pope says we shouldn't exist. Let the Pope now go and tell the more than 300, 1000, 2000 trans children who exist in Chile today that from this moment on they can no longer exist, because the churches and their preaching of "gender ideology" have decreed it so! Let the Pope and the Pastor erase the fear, hatred, and violence they have spread in the streets and in schools.

Governments and campaigns

The President barely committed to marriage equality during her State of the Nation address. Marriage equality does nothing to change the life plans of trans children. Candidate Piñera adds nothing about LGBTI people to his government platform (much less about trans children). The presidential candidates are at the most basic stage of engaging with trans children and LGBTI people. The government has for years allowed all kinds of hateful and ignorant "opinions" on LGBTI issues and the rights of trans children. Chile has trans children's organizations that carry out community work and share their experiences visibly in a way that is unparalleled in the world. But here, ego, blindness, intransigence, and the commitments of the powerful prevail. The government legitimizes, once again, words that in daily life translate into death, hatred, violence, and exclusion. The reality of transgender children and the LGBTI population exists; it is not a story, it is not a deception, and it does not deserve to continue being violated or ignored by the government or by organizations that hide behind a supposed freedom of expression.