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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. Following the hate crime against Natalia “Pepa” Gaitán in March 2010 in the city of Córdoba, Argentina commemorates Lesbian Visibility Day . Activities will take place throughout the country to fill the streets with lesbians. To mark this day, Presentes has compiled a series of resources that may be useful for these identities.

The tools aimed at this community are mostly created by lesbian people who organize to address specific shortcomings or needs. Faced with a lack of representation in official history education and cultural products in general, they create archives of memory. In response to medical curricula designed from hetero-cis perspectives, they develop resources that address their own sexuality and risks. In the face of patriarchal violence, they create their own specific protocols. And faced with the difficulties of expressing a diverse sexual orientation in the workplace, they form networks of professionals.

Lesboteca

The "Disney" love we absorb from childhood through stories, movies, and TV series has as its horizon a specific relationship: that of the prince and princess. Diverse forms of love, or even friendships, occupy a minority position compared to the abundant cis-heterosexual material available.

In this context, Ana Luz Vallejos created “ Lesboteca ,” a podcast featuring stories “about affection developed outside of heteronormativity, specifically lesbian stories,” as its creator explained to Presentes . Through the question “What was your first love story?”, each episode tells a story narrated by its protagonist, building a digital and oral archive of first, non-conformist loves. Delfina Peydro also contributes to the project with music, Caiu with art and design, and Clara Selser as community manager and writer. It has four seasons and is available on Spotify, Anchor, and iTunes.

Other archives of lesbian memory created by the lesbian collective include the Historical Archive of the Lesbian-Feminist Movement in Mexico, and the Notebooks of Lesbian Existence , published between 1987 and 1996 in Argentina. These notebooks, edited by activists Ilse Fuskova and Adriana Carrasco, comprised essays, testimonies, poems, interviews, and translations of articles related to lesbian activism, totaling 17 issues and 244 pages. The Potencia Tortillera archive digitized each of these fanzines, which are available here .

Protocol against violence

Patriarchal violence permeates every relationship, not just those involving cis men. Violence between lesbians is a problem that has been made invisible and treated as a "taboo" subject, even within lesbian activism and advocacy spaces.

Córdoba-based organization created a protocol to address these specific realities. The initiative arose from a previous project called “Cuarentorta,” a support network for lesbian identities during the crisis unleashed by the Covid-19 pandemic. “We placed special emphasis on supporting situations of violence, whether between lesbian identities or suffered by lesbians at the hands of institutions, families, communities, etc.,” Aye Perrotta, a member of Alerta Torta, told Presentes , regarding this proposal. The protocol against violence, launched at the last Tortazo ( ), was conceived as a result of the reflections sparked by that experience.

Aleta Torta frames these forms of violence within the context of patriarchy. “Our starting point is that male chauvinist violence has different ways of expressing itself. And that violence between lesbians is a form of reproducing patriarchal violence,” Aye explained.

However, violence among lesbians requires a specific approach. “We know it’s an issue that exists and that within communities or spaces of activism and militancy it is considered, but not widely, as a specific topic or with the depth we believe it deserves. It requires a specific approach and attention,” Perrotta said.

Regarding the "protocolization" of violence, the activist reflected that it is "a starting point, but not the end goal." "The issue of formalizing protocols is quite cumbersome, something we don't fully support," Perrotta acknowledged. Protocols help "understand situations and develop strategies for addressing them," but "always keeping in mind that subjectivity cannot be formalized and that each case individually is what matters."

Those interested in contacting us to learn more about this document can write to the social media accounts of the organization Alerta Torta Córdoba .

LesWorking

The developers of the LesWorking describe it as the first international professional network for lesbian and bisexual women. The initiative brings together professionals from Spain, Latin America, and other parts of the world and was created by Marta Herraiz, who is also co-director of the Business Network for LGBT Diversity and Inclusion (REDI) in Spain and an ambassador for It Gets Better Spain .

The platform has a LinkedIn group with 1,990 members. While it doesn't function as a job board, the intention of this initiative is to promote the exchange of professional experiences and establish connections among lesbian individuals.

In addition, LesWorking and the newspaper El País created the podcast “Secretos a voces” (Open Secrets) , which features interviews with five leading figures from different professional sectors. In each episode, they talk about their professional projects and “how they overcame the fear of coming out,” as described on the project's website.

Sexual health

Sexual health materials specifically for lesbians are scarce and generally not official, but rather created by activist organizations. Lesbian activists demand that their particular problems be addressed, such as the prevention of sexually transmitted infections during sex between people with vulvas. This is a taboo subject when discussing sexuality. Furthermore, the community faces risks and difficulties in freely experiencing their sexuality because there is no condom specifically designed for genital contact .

“We are fighting for the design, production, and free distribution of condoms that are suitable for all sexual practices, especially for vulvar rubbing,” Sofía Helena Fontana, a member of the organization Proyecto Preservativo para Vulvas (Project Condom for Vulvas Presentes . For sexual practices such as genital rubbing, oral sex on the vulva, or anal sex, there is “nothing specifically designed for these practices that we can buy at a pharmacy,” she explained.

Their organization is currently involved in two historical research projects to create safe condoms that are primarily useful for rubbing practices, within the framework of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Nation and together with Conicet.

Until the urgent demand for a condom specifically designed for vulvas is met, the organization also promotes other ways to protect oneself during sex. This publication provides information on methods of protection for oral sex on vulvas or anuses, such as dental dams and rubber dams.

The Kinky Vibe Argentina cooperative, on the other hand, is a dissident, self-managed enterprise with an erotic and care shop, as well as a publishing house and an online training platform. Through their social media and website , they disseminate, among other things, useful information on different types of sexual practices . Meanwhile, the LGBT organization Terrassa created the Sexual Health Guide for People with Vaginas of All Tastes and Genders . It includes information and recommendations on how to protect oneself during different sexual practices and is inclusive of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.