They marched for the young trans man who committed suicide after being bullied at school.
Matías, the 16-year-old trans youth who committed suicide last week in Copiapó, Chile, was honored in a march and vigil in front of his high school, where friends and family attended.
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Photo: Movilh
Matías, the 16-year-old trans youth who committed suicide last week in Copiapó , Chile, was honored in a march and vigil in front of his high school, where friends and family attended.
On Thursday, May 23, Matías, as he was known, jumped from the building where he lived. He left a letter explaining his reasons for his decision: he stated that he was constantly bullied at his school, the Sacred Heart High School. To date, the school has not issued any statement.
On that occasion, a friend of the young man, Catalina, told Movilh that “several teachers bullied him for being trans, sending him to a psychologist. On Thursday he told me, ‘Cata, I’m going on a trip.’ He said goodbye. He told me, ‘I’m going to miss you,’ and that night they told me what had happened (…) I’m not going to stay silent. Because of the girls who bullied him, he reached the point of suicide.”
[READ ALSO: Chile accumulates a record number of violence against LGBT people in the last year]
Meanwhile, the Undersecretary for Crime Prevention, Katherine Martorell, met with the family and expressed her regret over what had happened. “I have made a commitment to Marcela Guevara (the young man's mother) to advance inclusion and promote the value of diversity. Discrimination cannot be tolerated. It simply cannot be,” she said.
For his part, the mayor of Atacama, Patricio Urquieta, stated that “for us, the most important thing is that we can be actors in promoting a cultural change that we must experience in society so that we can promote respect, inclusion, and tolerance in social relations.”
Meanwhile, the National Institute for Human Rights (INDH) granted Movilh's request and announced it is coordinating with its representatives in Copiapó to assess what legal action to take. At the same time, the Children's Ombudsman's Office informed the LGBTI movement that it is evaluating how to contribute to clarifying the case within its purview.
While the Undersecretary for Crime Prevention and the Mayor of Atacama visited the young man's family, the National Institute for Human Rights (INDH), the Children's Ombudsman, and the Human Rights Commission of the Chamber of Deputies are already analyzing how to intervene in the case following the complaint filed by the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh). Meanwhile, new testimonies have emerged confirming the bullying.
The Chamber of Deputies held a minute of silence yesterday at the National Congress in Valparaíso following a request from Deputy Tomás Hirsh (PH).
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