Tortazo: creating and sharing a lesbian community

People don't come to El Tortazo to find certainties, but to put individual experiences into the collective debate and build some common horizons.

February 20, 2023

Milagro Mariona and Mariana Rodríguez Fuentes

Luciana Leiras

Edited by Ana Fornaro

CORDOBA, Argentina More than 500 lesbian identities met in Anisacate , Cordoba, at the 2nd lesbian camp.

Alerta Torta is the local organization that conceived and is running this gathering. Starting Friday the 17th, this side of the Córdoba mountains began welcoming participants from different parts of the country.

The schedule of activities was divided into three days, alternating moments of reflection and debate with spaces for leisure and enjoyment. Self-care and camaraderie will be the cornerstones of the days spent surrounded by trees, river, and mountains.

Between last year and this year, word got around and participation doubled. The space is filled with leading figures in struggles that have shaped the lesbian agenda in recent years, as well as lesbian identities who feel called to spend an idyllic weekend in this fantasy we once called Lesbos.

The promised island that the Kumbia Queers sang about is becoming a reality.

“I’ve never seen so many lesbians together,” says 44-year-old Lourdes. It’s her first time at the Tortazo. Although she also wants to relax, some of the workshops have caught her attention. “I want to share with our students,” she says. She and her partner were one of the first couples to marry in Tucumán when same-sex marriage was legalized. They run an institute that prepares students for medical school. That’s why they think it’s so important to learn about other experiences. “I’m going to be surprised.”

The joy of sharing collectively in a space where we felt like equals and cared for was dampened when neighbors "reported" to civil defense the presence of bare breasts and torsos that supposedly disturbed public morality. The arrival of the police and the local court didn't lead to anything further , other than a constant reminder that the way we want to express our identities is still mediated by cisgender and heterosexual morality. Spaces like the "cake-throwing" event help us reflect on resistance.

The community lunch was awaited at the Transmitaxi campsite pool, while the spaces were being prepared for the themed rounds.

Lesbian agendas

In the afternoon, the dialogue was opened in different rounds to circulate the words and experiences.

The discussion on Tortx Memory left behind reflections and a desire to continue putting into words a history that seems hidden or silenced. "Lesbian memory isn't part of the mainstream outside of activism, which is why it's sometimes hard to understand what happened between the need to hide your orientation to survive and being able to walk hand in hand with your girlfriend peacefully down the street," said Brenda, from Paraná.

The session on pleasure, desire, and sexual and affective practices was one of the most popular. The list of topics was extensive, but the discussion flowed between personal experiences and opinions surrounding BDSM, fetishes, and the possibility of exploring desire outside of moral constraints. The space encouraged reflection and exchange on one's own sexual and affective practices.

Some of the topics discussed during the rounds of conversation need more time to mature and take shape. While there are similar perspectives on structural problems that affect us, there was a perceived difficulty in reaching conclusions or proposals.

In the violence workshop, the protocol for violence between lesbian identities was presented, which was carried out by Alerta Torta as part of the journey they began to reflect on the desires and ways in which political and affective bonds are built between lesbian identities.

The document is presented from an anti-punitive perspective, where public shaming and expulsion are not the first response.

“We need a protocol, but there are no set formulas,” they noted during the meeting. The document that was shared was the result of a six-month investigation conducted by Asamblea Torta, funded by the Southern Women's Fund.

The truth is that people don't come to Tortazo to look for certainties, but to put individual experiences into the collective debate and build some common horizons.

Thinking about violence between lesbian identities, imagining possible and livable futures for lesbian aging, the quality of healthcare we receive, how we experience enjoyment and pleasure, our political practices, our response to the rise of right-wing ideologies and violence, and how the economy affects us specifically and across the board in the present, in our daily lives, as we choose an identity in flux—all of these are possible topics for discussion in this space.

The final day of the "cake-throwing" event unfolded between the river and the pool. They even wrote a song that promises to be the anthem until the next gathering. After the conclusions of each round were read, the pool party began, bringing three days of pure lesbian fun to a close.

It's hard to explain the mystique of the place. Conversations alternate between celebrating the gathering and lamenting its end. The organization, Alerta Torta, which was impeccable, had to navigate the constant sexist and lesbophobic complaints from self-appointed moral authorities demanding that nipples be covered and the music turned down. Torsos and breasts ended up on full display around the pool. We made our escape.

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