The #AbsolutionForHigui campaign celebrated the dissident Spring

With Analía Higui de Jesús as the protagonist, there was football, music and resistance from the afternoon until midnight.

September 22, 2018

More than 200 people gathered in front of the National Congress in Buenos Aires for a dissident Spring celebration. From 4 p.m. until midnight, it was a day of celebration and music, but also of resistance and struggle. Organized by the Campaign for Higui's Absolution, the event featured Analía "Higui" de Jesús, who was the star of the street soccer and dancing.

On the stage, located directly in front of Congress, the voices of dissent were heard: activists and artists spoke, chanted, and danced. One of the first was Alma Fernández, who shouted #AbsolutionForHigui and read the statements of support.

In addition to LGBTQ+ activists, human rights organizations were present. Among them were "Ni unx menos en las cárceles" (Not One Less in Prison), mothers of victims of police brutality, and mothers of the Cromañón tragedy victims. Alicia Caf, from Sueños de Mariposas (Butterfly Dreams), an intergenerational space that supports and assists older lesbians facing economic and social hardship, also participated.

Say Sacayán, Diana's brother and head of the Anti-Discrimination Movement (MAL), also joined Higui's lawyer, Chiqui Conder, on stage. He called for the support of organizations and activists to ensure they are strong for the public trial scheduled for April 23, 24, 25, and 26, 2019.

The dancing continued, and it wasn't until nearly midnight that the document prepared by the Campaign was read. In addition to recounting the history of the imprisonment and the unjust accusation, they called for the separation of Church and State and denounced the "capitalist, patriarchal, and heteronormative system that condemns lesbians, as well as transvestites, trans people, sex workers, bisexuals, intersex people, and the entire community of diversity and dissent."

Read by several activists, it concluded: “It was the organization and mobilization in the streets that allowed Higui to be released, and with her out of prison, we continue fighting for her acquittal. We mobilize, reclaiming our lesbian existence and confronting daily violence, because the more visible we are, the more brutal it becomes. We respond to this violence and the civil complicity that endorses it. We will not only no longer be silent—we will continue mobilizing and organizing.”

Then the slogans were read: Acquittal for Higui; I too would defend myself like Higui; Attacked for being a lesbian, imprisoned for defending herself, Stop the crimes of LesboTransHate; Down with the capitalist, cis-heteronormative and patriarchal system; Legal Abortion Now.

The closing ceremony was led by Higui, who conducted a raffle to raise money and thanked everyone for their support, joy, and dancing.

#AbsolutionForHigui The closing ceremony featured Higui de Jesús on stage, around 11 pm, who thanked everyone for their support and left visibly moved. pic.twitter.com/ry3ZKLtNwo

— Agencia Presentes (@PresentesLGBT) September 22, 2018

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