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Tiziana is a ten-year-old trans girl who lives in Salta. In April, with the support of her mother and father, she obtained her identity document, as permitted by the Gender Identity Law in Argentina since 2012. Now, amidst the general advance of anti-rights groups in the country, she and her family are victims of a social media and press campaign that violates their right to privacy.

The latest trigger for the attacks was the most recent episode of PPT, Jorge Lanata's program, in which the girl's mother and father were interviewed. In response, anti-rights groups in Salta, with the support of local journalists, launched a campaign to promote the idea that the girl's transition is "a lie." Twitter user Agustín Laje—known for his systematic and aggressive opposition to the struggles for expanded rights and inclusion, especially against the LGBTQ+ community—did the same, creating a video focused on questioning the girl's identity.

Remember "Tiziana," the trans child Lanata promoted on PPT last Sunday? Well, it seems he was manipulated by his mother, according to his own brother. https://t.co/OUp0blQkOa
Tonight at 10 PM we're going live with #TheLieAboutTiziana to condemn this!

— Agustín Laje (@AgustinLaje) November 25, 2018

“That girl has the right, just like all trans people, to be respected and treated with dignity. And this isn't just about one girl being attacked. They're trying to take away our gender identity law, that first redress we managed to achieve from the State,” María Pía Ceballos, an activist and leading figure in the Argentine Trans Women movement in Salta, told Presentes. As part of this campaign, Ceballos was also attacked, this time on social media, by journalists and women who align themselves with anti-rights groups.

“When they attack me, they don’t question my ability or my work; they target my gender identity. It’s not just harm to the girl or me, but to everyone. This is happening in Salta, in the rest of Argentina, and throughout the region. There are people who campaign against human rights and hard-won laws like marriage equality and gender identity, from both evangelical and Catholic churches,” Ceballos stated. “We’re concerned about the rise of the right wing, that they don’t care about exposing a young girl who has experienced discrimination and violence, and now they’re attacking a family. They’re doing it all for the sake of celebrity gossip.”

LGBTQ+ organizations, with the support of officials, legislators, institutions, and some local and national media outlets and journalists, issued a statement calling for Tiziana's protection. “We express our deep concern and urge the national and provincial governments, as well as human rights organizations that protect children, and in particular children with trans identities, to take action within their jurisdiction against those ideologically responsible for this public shaming and denigration of the girl and her family.”

READ ALSO Letter to Tiziana, the trans girl who made history in Salta

It continues: “We are shocked by the torrent of symbolic violence from adults accusing and discrediting trans children through harassment on social media, with false messages pathologizing trans children. These attitudes of inciting social panic, which they promote through their fallacious 'gender ideology' in a war against acquired rights—in accordance with those upheld by the Catholic, Evangelical, and Pentecostal churches, and other oppressive groups—attempt to re-establish sexual difference and hierarchies among people.”

“This is an organized campaign”

Alba Rueda, a leading figure in the Trans Women of Argentina movement—who spearheaded the statement—emphasized the concern to Presentes: “We are certain that this is a campaign, and it is not the only attack happening in Salta against members of the LGBTIQ+ community. We are facing an onslaught, and no one is putting a stop to it.”

Ceballos added: “There are people who are not just citizens, but who play a fundamental role as legislators at the national and provincial levels. And they are contributing to the violence against trans identities, gender identity, and human rights. So far this year in Salta, there have been 11 social transphobic murders. But no one asks why the last trans woman who died committed suicide at 25 years old. No one cares about the causes of that suicide, nor about the living conditions in a society that criminalizes us, insults us, singles us out, and attacks us. The institutions reinforce this. There are legislators who are contributing to this violence, when there is so much that needs to be done to address our needs, with such indifference toward our identities.”

[READ ALSO: Lucas, the trans boy from Entre Ríos who asked to change his ID]

Similarly, the statement asserts: “These anti-rights groups reaffirm a series of assigned and naturalized roles, criminalizing and pathologizing trans, transvestite, transsexual, or any other gender identities that dissent from their oppressive binary.” It concludes: “These individuals, lacking any intellectual merit, adopt a system of surveillance based on compulsive heterosexuality, forced pregnancies, and the use of sexual distinction as a policy of the oppressive, patriarchal, and repressive force. They attack with religious fundamentalism and attempt to argue, sometimes with faith in nature, or with pseudo-scientific, legal, or any other argument that suits them to hierarchize citizenships and restrict rights.”