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On Thursday, April 11, during his television program on the national broadcast channel A24, journalist Eduardo Feinmann vehemently attacked a presentation by Facundo Nazareno Saxe, a researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and the Institute of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences at the National University of La Plata. “Are these the researchers who complain later?” Feinmann asked, referring to the presentation titled “Queer Memory and Anal Comics: When Comics Open Our Asses (and We Like It).” He continued, “They should create something called ‘noquiset’ (a play on words combining ‘noquist’ and ‘noquist’).”

Facundo Nazareno Saxe identifies as a “queer teacher-researcher.” He is a professor and lecturer in literature. In a conversation with Agencia Presentes, he says: “ These are hate speeches, homophobic rhetoric, that they use to attack CONICET . This is a way of trying to silence voices, to prevent certain topics from being addressed. The idea is to instill fear in us.”

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The day before Feinmann exposed Saxe on his television program, researchers, fellows and staff of CONICET from all over the country took to the streets to denounce the cuts that the entity suffers.

After questioning Facundo Saxe's work, the journalist, live on air, began mocking and exposing the researcher's social media. "Former Miss Cordillerita, faggot, CONICET researcher, agent of chaos, polyamorous," Feinmann read. And he added ironically: "Very good, sensational!"

Homophobic insults and threats

Following this, Saxe received insults and death threats on his personal social media accounts: “You don’t have to be called a fucking faggot for homophobia to exist. Homophobia is in the tone he uses, in that disgust that is evident,” says Facundo Saxe.

The attacks aren't just directed at her presentation and her work within CONICET. They also directly target her sexuality. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time she's suffered attacks because of her academic work. She says that since 2016, when she managed to enter the field of research, she's been receiving harassment. But this was the most serious. "I should close my profiles, but I don't want to," she says.

“We are never going back to the academic closet”

“If I were an academic queer who didn’t talk about ass, about topics related to queer theory, and who wasn’t visible in the Faculty—for example—or on its social media, nothing would happen. They use our visibility to attack us; visibility is something political,” explains Facundo Saxe.

The Interdisciplinary Center for Gender Studies at the National University of La Plata issued a statement supporting the researcher and condemning Feinmann's attacks. " The contributions from the field of gender studies—specifically, the queer perspective—were attacked through hate speech and fallacious simplifications that demonstrate absolute contempt for diversity, scientific work, creativity, and the research topic related to sexual dissidence being developed by one of our colleagues," the statement reads.

Among the various statements, there was also a communiqué from gay men, lesbians, trans women, non-binary people, and feminist women, self-taught researchers, and others who issued a statement in support of Facundo Saxe, denouncing not only Eduardo Feinmann's statements, which they consider homophobic and violent, but also the constant persecution and harassment of the researcher on social media. "We will never go back into the academic closet" is the slogan of the statement, which has garnered over 600 signatures.

Facundo Nazareno Saxe is currently considering filing the appropriate complaints regarding the attacks he received.