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By Lucas Gutiérrez 

Photos: Mariana Leder Kremer/LegüeraProduAcciones 

On International LGBT Pride Day, Mariana Gómez, a young lesbian assaulted by a police officer on October 2, 2017, while kissing his wife , was found guilty and sentenced to a one-year suspended prison term by Judge Marta Yungano of the Oral Criminal Court No. 26 of the City of Buenos Aires. Gómez had been prosecuted by investigating judge María Dolores Fontbona de Pombo for “resisting authority and assault.” While listening to the verdict alongside her wife, Rocío Girat, feminist and LGBTQ+ activists had been demonstrating in the streets since 9:00 a.m. Mariana collapsed as she left the courthouse. After receiving medical attention, she regained consciousness. “The sentence is homophobic and discriminatory, and we came this far because we wanted an acquittal to set a precedent. We didn't expect this ruling.” "It's in suspense, and that's worse, because we have to be careful on every corner. We need your support, we need this to get out there," Rocío told the press.

On Wednesday, June 5th, at 8:30 a.m., Mariana's trial began. In that first hearing, Mariana was able to testify and recount what she experienced on October 2, 2017. At the end, she expressed her gratitude to the judge for listening to her: “I was raped for 16 years and I never managed to get a judge to listen to me. Now a judge is listening to me, but as the accused. I'm seeking acquittal,” she told Presentes that day, while outside, LGBTQ+ organizations were supporting her and demanding justice for Gómez, #ProsecutedForKissing, for being a lesbian.

Rocío and Mariana are married and both have experienced sexual abuse at the hands of family members. In Rocío's case, it was her father, Navy Petty Officer Marcelo Girat, and in Mariana's, it was her stepfather and his father. Both cases became public in 2014, and it was in this context that they met.

[READ ALSO: Mariana Gómez before the Justice system: “The judges didn’t let me speak”]

“We both know about revictimization from our experiences of sexual abuse and then judicial abuse. Now we are trying to spread the word as much as possible because they could break into our house at any moment. We are afraid. Afraid they will beat us, that they will do anything to us like they already did, but we will not be silenced.”

Imprisoned for kissing

On October 2nd, Mariana went to accompany Rocío to catch the bus at Constitución station in downtown Buenos Aires. Just then, a storm of rain and hail began. The young women decided to take shelter in the entrance of the subway terminal.

They weren't alone: ​​there were dozens of people doing the same thing. There were also other couples who, like them, were laughing, touching, or kissing. Many were smoking too, like Mariana. "But of those who were smoking or kissing, we were the only lesbians," Mariana said at the time.

They forced her face against the sidewalk, “in an act of unprecedented violence, since Mariana never resisted or used violence against the police officers.” This is according to the court filing, along with three videos documenting the police abuse. Mariana was arrested and released after 9:00 p.m. Judge Dolores Fontbona de Pombo stated in her ruling that Mariana had “thumped” her chest at Officer Jonatan Rojo.

“In her ruling, the judge ignored a large part of the evidence: we offered the testimony of Rocío, Mariana's wife, and some video footage, and she didn't consider it important. She only relied on the testimony of the two police officers and the Metrovías employee, focusing the entire incident on the fact that it was for smoking in a prohibited place and that the resistance to authority was a consequence of trying to prevent that,” Teszkiewicz told Presentes .