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Around a thousand people gathered yesterday at the Antequera Steps to advocate for the rights of trans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and intersex people in Paraguay. Under the slogan " Ñande mbareteve oñondivepa" (We are strength, resistance, and community!), the TLGBI* Coalition organized the 18th march for the rights of sexual and gender diversity in downtown Asunción on National TLGBI Rights Day.

September is celebrated as the month of remembrance in Paraguay, alluding to the date on which the first written public protest was registered in relation to the arbitrary and mass arrests of homosexual people, which occurred during the investigation of the murder of Bernardo Aranda in 1959.

The march started at 6:30 p.m. from the Antequera Steps, located on Fulgencio R. Moreno and Antequera streets, the place where the first transvestites became visible during the years of Alfredo Stroessner's dictatorship. It passed through Plaza Uruguaya, in homage to sex workers, followed by Palma Street, where at the same time "the 108" (number assigned to 108 homosexual men identified as "suspects" of Aranda's murder) were forced to march, and ended at Plaza de la Democracia.

A year and a half into the COVID-19 pandemic, human rights organizations and independent activists marched to denounce abuses against the LGBTIQ+ community during the health emergency. “This year we took to the streets with all the necessary health precautions for everyone’s safety. We marched because the lockdown imposed on us by this government’s authorities fostered an increase in domestic violence, police abuse, corruption, and many other atrocities,” stated the LGBTI Coalition.

Last year, the march commemorating the 61st anniversary of the letter from an amoral man took the form of a caravan of cars, buses, and bicycles. Masks were worn, and there were few hugs. This time, the asphalt seemed to sweat as the mobilization moved through the streets of Asunción toward Plaza de la Democracia. Every face was adorned with glitter and makeup. Returning to the streets felt like an iridescent explosion, a reclaiming of time and memory. Demands were once again expressed on the bodies, one of the main ones being solidarity with the Indigenous communities repressed the previous day in response to the Cartes-Zavala-Riera bill that increases penalties for land occupations.

Pamela Montserrat marches alongside her partner with a sign that reads: “My identity is real, it has to be legal.” They are demonstrating for a gender identity recognized by society and the State. Both are activists with Diversxs de Alto Paraná. “If they don’t recognize my identity, I can’t work, and if I can’t work, we remain trapped in this cycle of exclusion,” said Pamela. Alma Rolandi, an activist with Sununu, part of the FACSO-UNA student movement , also carries a sign, but with a photo of Chana Coronel, spokesperson for the right to conjugal visits for incarcerated lesbians .

“This year, 2021, presents a challenge for us, taking into account the socio-economic-political context in which we find ourselves, which is expressed directly on our bodies with the increase in verbal, physical and symbolic violence towards people who do not fit into the regime of compulsory cis-heterosexuality,” the TLGBI Coalition stated in its manifesto. 

During the march, artistic interventions took place, such as the installation by Manu Alviso, also known for his Pop Pink Miliko . The backs of the four-colored queer soldiers formed the word "Goce" (Enjoyment). The aerial theater artists Nhi Mu, Fátima Fernández Centurión, David Amado, Ahmad Rahal, Sonia Moura, Pamela Cáceres, and Fernando Benítez, dressed in the colors of pride, hung from a building on Estrella Street. After the reading of the manifesto, the closing of the 18th LGBTI march in Asunción was celebrated with music by Aireana, a lesbian rights group, and a DJ.

Purahei Soul and drag diva Envidia Metenés closed the night with a unique duet. The arts festival in Plaza de la Democracia was not without political statements: “We know that this violence not only affects us as LGBTQ+ people, but that it becomes stronger when it intersects with other forms of discrimination such as social class, race, HIV status, disability, and other forms of oppression,” the Coalition pointed out.

*The TLGBI+ Coalition is a group of civil organizations and is made up of: Aireana, Asociación Panambí, Asociación Escalando, Fundación Vencer, It Gets Better Paraguay (ASOEDHU), Las Ramonas, Grupo de Ecología Social “Ñepyrũ”, Somos Pytyvohara, Transitar, Unidas en la Esperanza (UNES), Red Paraguay de la Diversidad (REPADIS), Unidos por el Arcoiris (Asociación de Familiares y amigos de personas LGBT), and independent activists.