#BuenosAires Attack on trans activist in San Telmo

It happened in Lezama Park around 11 p.m. Lara Bertolini was walking her dog when a young man yelled at her: “We don’t want faggots and transvestites here.” He threw a bottle at her, hitting her in the head, and escaped in a car.

January 9, 2019

Photos: Ariel Gutraich

Trans activist Lara María Bertolini reported that she was attacked Tuesday night in Parque Lezama, in downtown Buenos Aires, by a young man who insulted her while she was walking her dog and then threw a bottle at her from behind, hitting her in the head. A young man who was sleeping on a park bench helped her get to the hospital, where her wound was stitched and she was able to return home.

“I was walking my dog when a guy, about 20 years old, appeared and told me: 'We don't want faggots and transvestites here. Get out of here.' I replied, asking him who he thought he was to kick me out and if he had the balls, he could beat me up. Then I turned around and continued walking the dog. I walked a few meters away, sensed something, and when I turned around, he threw a bottle at my head,” said Bertolini, who is also a law student and works at the Directorate of Territorial Agencies for Access to Justice ( ATAJO) of the National Public Prosecutor's Office.

After the blow, Bertolini began to feel a ringing in her ear, became dizzy, and fell to the ground. Meanwhile, the attacker started throwing stones at the dog. She got up, and the attacker fled in a car where there were other men. “I think the plan was to rob the park. And I figure that since gay men and trans women are hanging around, we bothered them,” she added.

“What were you doing in the park at that hour?”

When the attacker fled, Bertolini realized he was bleeding heavily and his dizziness worsened. Nearby, two young men were talking. “I asked them for help, but nothing. Then another kid who was sleeping on a bench offered to walk me home,” he told Presentes. He added, “From home, I called an ambulance, and as soon as it arrived, the paramedic said to me, ‘What were you doing in the park at that hour?’ And I immediately said, ‘Look, if he’s going to beat me up, he can just hit me with another bottle and that’s it, it’s all the same.’ Then he became serious and silent.”

Accompanied by the young man who had been sleeping in the park, she returned home. “I’m recovering, but I can’t shake the feeling of powerlessness. It’s not just this attack. It’s everywhere. Because then you also have the patriarchal pressure from the nurse who asks me what I was doing there. And I’m also left with this feeling: I’m privileged because I have good health insurance, but I know I’m one of the few. And I think about how far removed trans women are from the healthcare system, all that’s lacking,” concludes the activist, who will be giving a formal statement about what happened this week.

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