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The video is 11 seconds long and devastating. The room of the president of the Gondolín Hotel Civil Association, where 47 trans and travesti people live in Villa Crespo , Buenos Aires (CABA), was set on fire in the early hours of yesterday morning. The mattress and blankets were burned, the windows were open, and her roommates were terrified.

Zoe López García wasn't in her room when the fire broke out. She was in Salta, and from there she saw the video: her room covered in soot, her belongings burned. In a week, when she returns to Buenos Aires, she won't find her things as she left them. 

“Even though I wasn’t physically present, this is still a horror. This is an attack,” Zoe told Presentes. None of her colleagues want to speak. The fire occurred while they were sleeping. 

“A tragedy could have occurred”

“After the Ni Una Menos march, I was working from here to get my colleagues from Gondo to participate, and especially during Pride Month , for this to happen is truly sad. At least there are no victims to mourn, but we shouldn't wait for something to happen. A tragedy could have occurred,” Zoe lamented from Salta.

Josefina Fernández, coordinator of the Gender and Sexual Diversity Program at the Public Defender's Office of the City of Buenos Aires, was one of the first to arrive at the scene. “They set fire to one of the rooms facing the street at the Gondolín shelter. It's the room usually occupied by Zoe, who leads the Gondolín organization,” she told Presentes. 

“The fire destroyed the room. I understand that the fire was arson, given the type of damage it caused. An investigation was carried out, the fire department responded, and a report was filed,” Fernández stated. 

The local police station 15B, from Villa Crespo, intervened and the case is now in the hands of the North Flagrancy Unit Court.

There's a police detail stationed outside the hotel. The residents of Gondolín asked that it remain there. They're scared. 

🇦🇷Authorities are investigating a fire in one of the rooms of the Hotel Gondolín, where 47 transgender and transvestite people live in Buenos Aires.

📢They allege it was a transphobic attack from the street.
📲 https://t.co/yJqPrgBlvh pic.twitter.com/yYOw5VTcLM

— Presentes Agency (@PresentesLatam) June 6, 2022

They are asking for swift action to clarify the fire

Today, both the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity of the Nation and Minister Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta wrote on Twitter asking for a swift investigation into the matter. 

“We strongly condemn the attack on Gondolín, a historic home for transvestites and trans people in Villa Crespo, Buenos Aires. We are in contact with the victims and have offered our support. We urge the Judiciary to act diligently and with a diversity perspective,” the Ministry tweeted

“The judiciary must act swiftly to clarify what happened in Gondolín, in Buenos Aires. We cannot tolerate any more incidents like these, which violate fundamental human rights and promote hatred in our society,” urged .

National deputy Myriam Bregman also condemned

What is the Gondolin Hotel?

The Gondolín Hotel has 20 rooms where some 47 transvestites and transgender people live in the City of Buenos Aires. It's a place of refuge but also a stopover: many come from other provinces and it's the first place they find.

In the mid-1990s , the Gondolín was a boarding house that rented exorbitantly expensive rooms to many trans women who earned a living on the streets and barely scraped by. Until one day they said enough was enough. They organized, filed a complaint, and an inspection led to the hotel being shut down… with them inside. Since that day, they have occupied the hotel, which is now their home, and have been managing it themselves for over 15 years.

Recover Zoe's room

To organizations asking how they can help, the civil association is requesting donations to help restore Zoe's room before she returns in a week. Donations can be dropped off at 924 Aráoz Street, Buenos Aires.