The LGBTIQ+ Training School in Greater Buenos Aires, launched two weeks ago and running until November, is an initiative of the Anti-Discrimination Liberation Movement (MAL) and Conurbanos por la Diversidad (Greater Buenos Aires for Diversity) to train political leaders from the LGBTIQ+ community in the Province of Buenos Aires. Trans activist Marlene Wayar opened the workshops. The participants were so enthusiastic that Wayar spoke longer than planned. The School is designed as a space for collective construction, replicating the format of Popular Education, where students contribute based on their own histories and experiences. The program's theme is "Sexual and Gender Diversity, Territory, and Public Policies in Greater Buenos Aires." It is divided into four modules, delivered over eight sessions. These modules cover fundamental concepts related to human rights and diversity, the history of the LGBTQ+ Movement in Argentina as part of the broader Women's and Human Rights Movement, and the situation of the trans and travesti community, among other topics. In addition to Wayar, activists Pedro Paradiso Sottile and Julia Amore participated. The initiative is in direct dialogue with other educational programs run by the organization Caribe Afirmativo in Colombia, the National Center for Sexual Education in Cuba, and the Arco Iris Foundation in Mexico. Participation is diverse: some students come from the feminist movement. There are community leaders and young people who don't belong to any organization but come seeking information they can't find in schools or at home. The program is offered simultaneously at locations in Greater Buenos Aires South (Lanús) and Greater Buenos Aires West (Morón and La Matanza).

A long-awaited space

Marcos Suárez is gay, 20 years old, and from Pontevedra, in the Merlo district. “The school’s objective and my expectations aligned,” he tells us. Presents“It was a much-anticipated space that includes all of us because it’s in the heart of Greater Buenos Aires. It’s often very difficult for us to travel to the capital to participate in discussions where we can address current issues or historical matters that affect us as a community.” The young man, a social activist, adds: “These kinds of spaces give us the tools to develop a deeper political understanding in a context where the rights we’ve gained in recent years are at risk. To defend them, it’s crucial to know what happened before us in terms of LGBT activism, what’s happening now, and what’s to come.”

To set a school of thought with the activism of Diana and Lohana

Say Sacayán, a representative of MAL, told Presents The school was born out of a series of needs and demands. “Both Conurbanos and MAL are organizations that have been working in the field following the example of Diana and Lohana. They were the driving force behind the Gender Identity and Trans Employment Quota laws, which have had a real impact on the lives of trans and travesti women. This places us, as an organization, within the history of the movement and makes us responsible for carrying on that legacy in the best way possible. In that sense, we are creating a 'school' from a different paradigm.”

Tools to defend threatened rights

Xhrisstinah Channel Freebush (21 years old) is gender fluid and from Lanús. She says she enrolled in the workshops looking for tools to address issues of sexual and gender diversity within activism. “I’m very interested in the heterosexual audience. When I signed up, I assumed we would all be diverse, but the heterosexual audience never crossed my mind,” she says. Ivana Gutiérrez is a 36-year-old trans woman. She lives in the Carlos Gardel neighborhood in Palomar, Morón. She says she came to the School to learn about public policies and inclusion rights. “I want to empower myself regarding LGBTQ issues so I can share that knowledge with my comrades who don’t know their rights,” she says. And she adds: “The community is threatened not only by the setbacks in rights but also by police persecution against the LGBTQ community.”

Political cadres to work in the territories

Demian is a 16-year-old trans boy in his fifth year of high school in Laferrere. He was deeply moved by Marlene's talk. "It opened my mind: it was amazing to see and hear her." The young man says there aren't many LGBT spaces where he lives and that he came to the school to be with people from the community and to learn more about the activism that has taken place in Argentina. "I think it's very interesting to be able to study it and meet more trans people to hear about their experiences and learn more." Darío Arias, a leader of Conurbanos por la Diversidad (Suburbs for Diversity), states that “in our region there is historical inequality and difficulties in building LGBTQ spaces, which is why our objective is to train political leaders with the tools to work in their territories and generate an LGBTQ political advocacy agenda that impacts our quality of life.” He adds: “The context of economic austerity, repression, increased institutional violence, and hate crimes requires us to give ourselves this opportunity to develop proposals that encourage us to learn more every day.”