A transgender teenager was shot and killed in Guatemala

Brighiit Mirón, a 15-year-old trans teenager, was murdered on November 9 with a gunshot to the head.

November 25, 2019

By Pilar Salazar

Brighiit Mirón, a 15-year-old trans teenager, was murdered on November 9 with a gunshot to the head in the Chipilapa neighborhood, in La Gomera, a municipality in the department of Escuintla in south-central Guatemala, 47 kilometers from the city.

Brighiit was last seen at the town fair. Around 11:00 p.m., neighbors heard gunshots coming from behind the local church and alerted the Volunteer Fire Department of the 60th Company in La Gomera. Upon arrival, the firefighters found her lifeless body. Brighiit was buried in General Cemetery #2 in La Gomera, Escuintla.

A friend of Brighiit's, who asked not to be identified, told Presentes that both of them had been threatened. As soon as she heard the news, she decided to flee the area for fear of suffering the same fate. Another person who knew her told this publication that Brighiit lived with her mother and five younger siblings, for whom she was responsible. They added that she was a charismatic, kind, and affectionate person who worked as a sex worker, although her dream was to be a professional makeup artist.

“The Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office condemns and laments the violent death of a transgender teenager in La Gomera, Escuintla, last weekend. We have already requested that an investigation be launched by the Escuintla Departmental Office to monitor the case in conjunction with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, given that no arrests have been made to date,” they stated. At the time of publication, the Office of the Ombudsman for Sexual Diversity had not reported any progress in the case, according to information provided to Presentes.

During the year, the Violent Deaths Observatory of the National Diversity Network has recorded 16 homicides with the aggravating factor of hate crimes.

The 2018 report “Stop Trans Genocide,” produced by RedLactrans and Otrans, indicates that 90% of the victims are Guatemalan trans women. The remaining 10% were trans women from other countries in the Northern Triangle of Central America, for whom passing through Guatemala has not guaranteed an improved quality of life or protection.

According to the report, until 2018, the age group of trans women most affected was 18 to 30 years old: 59% of the most vulnerable trans women are young. The descriptive report “LGBTI Baseline,” from the Human Rights Ombudsman, indicates that the State of Guatemala does not maintain records on violations of the rights of LGBTI people, so an initial assessment of their human rights situation can be based on the complaints filed by this population.

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