By Ana Fornaro Photos: Agencia Presentes Mariana Gómez, assaulted by police while kissing her wife Rocío Girat last October, was indicted by Judge María Dolores Fontbona de Pombo and is now headed to trial for "resisting authority and assault." The judge accused her of "thumping her chest" at a police officer. Furthermore, as of today, Mariana and Rocío live in fear of a raid on their home. Fontbona de Pombo authorized this when she ordered a deposit of 30,000 pesos. This is a preventative measure to cover the costs of the trial should Mariana be convicted. They do not have that money, and the judge authorized in a written statement the "use of force" to enter the home if necessary and to seize assets.

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“Today Mariana went to be notified of the indictment and was surprised to find the document requesting the seizure of 30,000 pesos and the search warrant. We don't live alone. We live in my grandparents' house; they're both 80 years old. If the police come in here, they could have a health crisis. They're very old. We're scared because it could happen at any moment. The warrant was issued on April 11,” Rocío Girat told Presentes. Rocío and Mariana at the Buenos Aires City Courts 

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Mariana's lawyer added that in twelve years of practice he had never seen anything like it. “Mariana is being ordered to deposit 30,000 pesos—to cover costs in case she loses the case—and a search warrant has been issued in a case of 'resisting authority.' It's madness and shows that Fontbona de Pombo is out to get Mariana. This whole case demonstrates terrible lesbophobia on the part of the justice system.” This comes after the Criminal and Correctional Court of Appeals of the City of Buenos Aires rejected on March 9 (waiting until after the #8M feminist mobilization) the appeal filed by lawyer Lisandro Teszkiewicz. The judges also refused to listen to Mariana. Rocío and Mariana, who requested to speak before the court, were not heard by experts who submitted written statements requesting that the prosecution be dismissed for lack of evidence. Rocío and Mariana are married and both have experienced sexual abuse by family members. In Rocío's case, it was her father, Navy Petty Officer Marcelo Girat, and in Mariana's, it was her stepfather and his father. Both cases became public in 2014, and it was in this context that they met.

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“We both know about revictimization from our experiences of sexual abuse and then judicial abuse. Now we are trying to spread the word as much as possible because they could break into our house at any moment. We are afraid. Afraid they will beat us, that they will do anything to us like they already did, but we will not be silenced.”

Imprisoned for kissing

On October 2nd, Mariana accompanied Rocío to catch the bus at Constitución station in downtown Buenos Aires. Just then, a storm of rain and hail began. The young women decided to take shelter in the entrance of the subway terminal. They weren't alone: ​​dozens of people were doing the same. There were also other couples who, like them, were laughing, touching, or kissing. Many were smoking, like Mariana. "But of those smoking or kissing, we were the only lesbians," Mariana recounted at the time. They forced her face against the sidewalk, "in an act of unprecedented violence, since Mariana never resisted or used violence against the police officers." This is what the legal complaint states, along with three videos documenting the police abuse. Mariana was arrested and released after 9:00 p.m. Judge Dolores Fontbona de Pombo said in the sentence that Mariana had “beaten” her chest to Officer Jonatan Rojo.

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“In her ruling, the judge ignored a large part of the evidence: we offered the testimony of Rocío, Mariana's wife, and some video footage, and she didn't consider it important. She based her decision solely on the testimony of the two police officers and the Metrovías employee, focusing the entire incident on the fact that it was for smoking in a prohibited area and that the resistance to authority was a consequence of trying to prevent that,” Teszkiewicz told PresentsMariana's case reached all national media outlets, and support campaigns multiplied with the hashtags #ArrestedForKissing, #LebianKisses, and #ProsecutedForKissing. A press conference is scheduled for Thursday, April 19th, at 6:30 PM at Hipólito Irigoyen 1440.