Share

Share this

Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Tweet Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on WhatsApp

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER

By Elena Corvalán, from Salta

The family of Mirna Antonella Eva Di Marzo, the 30-year-old trans woman who died on Sunday in Güemes (Salta) after spending three months in a coma following a brutal beating, will push to change the legal classification of the crime to transfemicide or travesticide. This was confirmed to Presentes by her lawyer, José Lazarte: “Hate speech is what killed Mirna and what continues to kill trans women.”

Norma Di Marzo, the young woman's sister, told Presentes that the family hopes to meet with their lawyer as soon as possible to learn about the status of the case against Gareca and begin pushing for justice. "We don't know anything (about the investigation) because we've been with Mirna this whole time," she said.  

READ MORE Salta: Young trans woman dies after three months in a coma following hate attack

The man accused of attacking Mirna Antonella is José Gustavo Gareca, a 44-year-old who was arrested after the attack and has been in prison ever since. Originally from Güemes, he has a history of gender-based violence, including the femicide of a neighbor. In April, he was released on parole after serving 17 years in prison for that and other crimes. He is also responsible for another attack that occurred hours after Mirna's and before his arrest: he attacked another woman in Güemes Square.

While the request to change the charge to transvesticide or transfemicide is being prepared, it is expected that the Criminal Prosecutor's Office 3 of the Unit of Serious Attacks against Persons, headed by Rodrigo González Miralpeix, will accuse him of the crime of aggravated homicide due to gender violence.

Family, friends, and neighbors said goodbye to her.

Mirna Antonella passed away at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, January 27, at the Joaquín Castellanos Hospital in Güemes, where she had been hospitalized for three months in a coma. Her funeral was held on Monday, attended by family, friends, and neighbors.

READ MORE: Salta: She's trans, she was brutally beaten outside a nightclub and is in serious condition

According to Ángel Teseyra, a journalist from Güemes, who spoke to Presentes, Mirna was a well-known and beloved young woman in her city and neighborhood, La Tablada. From a working-class family, "in Güemes she wasn't discriminated against, quite the opposite," the journalist said. He recalled that "she was studying, hoping to finish high school," and that "her family was very supportive." Teseyra emphasized the flaws in the judicial system that allowed "someone like Gareca" to be free and able to commit further assaults.

The lawyer also explained that they are still investigating the conditions under which Gareca was granted conditional release.

“Hate speech killed her”

Members of LGBTQ+ organizations in Salta agree that this transphobic murder is part of the hate speech of anti-rights groups. “Mirna was killed by hate speech. She was killed by the intolerance of society… These discourses are still emerging and are present, and obviously some political and social leaders use this hatred to win votes, and this is directed by certain people we know,” says Victoria Liendro, head of the Sexual Diversity area, which reports to the Undersecretary of Gender Policies of the province of Salta. She emphasizes the need and urgency of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE): “For us, our lives, our stories to be understood, respected, and recognized, we need to talk about it in all areas: school is one, so that future trans classmates are not expelled from that environment, and so that families also support our children in the personal development of their identity,” Liendro stated.

Meanwhile, María Pía Ceballos, a trans activist and one of the directors of the Rosana Alderete Observatory of Violence Against Women (OVCM), denounced the persistence in the province of conservative groups that foment hatred toward trans people. “These anti-rights groups respond to conservative sectors in the province of Salta, led by National Senator Cristina Fiore, Provincial Deputy Andrés Suriani, National Deputy Alfredo Olmedo, and all those who talk about gender ideology, who say 'don't mess with my children.' What they are provoking in society is violence,” she denounced. She maintained that, due to the influence of these groups, the provincial government is not creating public policies to prevent these cases.

He also warned that these leaders not only spread misinformation and engage in religious proselytizing, but are “campaigning with this. The terrible thing is that, in their alliance with evangelical groups, they are encouraging voters to elect representatives from these sectors.”

In addition to their roles as public officials, Liendro and Ceballos are leaders in the LGBTIQ community in Salta and throughout the country. The OVCM is an agency created by law whose objective is to monitor public policies, collect data on the current situation, and recommend courses of action. In this specific case, it has been supporting the Di Marzo family since the attack occurred.

Like Norma Di Marzo, Pía Ceballos indicated that a meeting with the lawyer would take place shortly: “From Mujeres Trans Argentina, our social organization and organization for the diversity of trans people, we want life imprisonment. We want to ask the prosecutor and the presiding judge, Ada Zunino, to apply the legal definition of transfemicide and travesticide,” she concluded.