Coverage: Gabriela Zampedri. One week after Joe Lemonge's conviction, LGBT activists mobilized in front of the National Congress to demand his acquittal and denounce the discriminatory actions of Judge Cristina Lía Vandembroucke and Prosecutor Santiago Alfieri. Gian Franco Rosales, a trans man and vice president of the Association of Transvestites, Transsexuals, and Transgender People (ATTTA), told Presentes: “We believe that defending oneself is not a crime, which is why we are asking for his acquittal.” He added: “We condemn the actions of the judge who constantly violated his gender identity by referring to him with feminine pronouns when he is a trans man. And also because she dismissed the defense's evidence and did not listen to the plea for justice, nor to Joe himself.” The demonstration began around 5:00 p.m. and ended after 7:00 p.m. More than 200 people chanted loudly: “Stop the hate and aggression, today we want Joe's acquittal.” And also: “…And where is justice? It plays into the hands of the patriarchal system.” During the demonstration, Gian Franco Rosales announced over a megaphone that Joe’s pretrial detention had not been requested: “This is good news because our comrade will not be detained during the appeals process,” he said. Marina, a lesbian and member of the organization La Fulana, told Presentes that they were supporting their trans comrades “because they are part of the same community that suffers the hatred of this society, which is reflected in the cis-patriarchal justice system that criminalizes us every day.”

🇦🇷 [NOW] @mariarachid says she is mobilizing to defend Joe and his rights: "He is being unjustly accused of the crime of defending himself as Mariana Gómez. We have to take to the streets to defend our comrades who are persecuted for being who they are." pic.twitter.com/hvxf8ydi6c

— Presentes Agency (@PresentesLGBT) May 11, 2018

The general secretary of the Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Bisexuals, Gays and Transsexuals (FALBGT), María Rachid, said she was mobilized in defense of Joe and his rights: “Unfortunately, he is being accused of the crime of defending himself, That's what Mariana Gómez did; she defended herself against the institutional violence of a police officer who was preventing her from kissing her wife. These events are becoming more and more frequent, and we have to take to the streets to defend our comrades who, because of who they are, are being persecuted and harassed and are victims of institutional violence by the Justice system.

Joe will not be detained during the appeals process

Judge Cristina Lía Vandembroucke read the full ruling this morning at the Paraná Trial and Appeals Court, located in La Paz (Entre Ríos). It was a purely formal act in which neither Joe Lemonge nor his defense attorney, Fernando Báez, participated. However, Lemonge told Presentes: “The chances of pretrial detention were practically nil, as attorney Fernando Báez explained to me last night, and today that was confirmed.”

[READ MORE: Joe defended himself against his attackers: he was accused of “attempted murder” ]

“The ruling was lengthy, and we don’t have access to the full text, which is over 150 pages long,” said Alejandro Mamaní of Abosex. He explained that the ruling states that Joe is a trans man, “but to avoid confusion, he is referred to by the name on his ID card, since there hasn’t been a legal gender change.” “The appeal process will begin next Monday, May 14th. That day marks the start of the ten-day period for filing it, and once it's submitted, the Court of Appeals will issue a ruling. We were told it will have three members, not a single judge as it was in this case,” Joe explained.

[READ MORE: Demands for justice for Joe Lemonge and an end to transphobia]

The young man announced that after the appeal is filed, associations, organizations, universities, and lawyers will present Amicus Curiae briefs to the Supreme Court of Justice. “The community of Santa Elena decided to remain silent when they were overwhelmed by the masses who showed their support. Thousands of people are aware of what is happening and are now acting like a giant video camera monitoring everything, and if something were to happen to me, it wouldn't go unnoticed,” Joe said. He added: “We were afraid, but we felt what happened as a small victory.” He On Friday, May 4, Joe Lemonge was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for being considered the "perpetrator of attempted homicide."“to a sentence of five years and six months in prison. The incident he was charged with occurred on October 13, 2016, at his home in the Hipólito Yrigoyen neighborhood of Santa Elena. On that day, Joe was attacked by two men in his house, and in defending himself, he wounded one of them in the neck, according to his testimony before the court.]]>