A police officer threatened people with his gun at an LGBT nightclub in Jujuy.
A member of the Gendarmerie entered an LGBT nightclub with a weapon and shouted homophobic slurs. Calls for an anti-discrimination law.
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SAN SALVADOR DE JUJUY, Argentina. In the early hours of Sunday, April 16, after being escorted out by security, a gendarme attempted to enter the Babylon nightclub in San Salvador de Jujuy with a weapon. The club reported that the intervention of its own security personnel prevented a more serious incident. The man was arrested shortly afterward by the provincial police.
Babylon is a well-known nightclub located in Alto La Viña, in the eastern part of the city of Jujuy . Its mission is to provide a safe space for non-binary people to enjoy themselves. It is open to everyone, with the sole condition that there are no discriminatory or violent acts.
Therefore, for the collectives, the novelty of the attempted attack caused great shock and highlighted the violence endured by the LGBTIQ community in that province. The organizations demanded the passage of an anti-discrimination law.
Homophobic speech
The bowling alley reported on its official accounts that the man was making “a homophobic slur against members of the #LGBTIQ+ community.” It also highlighted the actions of its security personnel and the Jujuy police in arresting the man.
Presentes was able to access the account of a witness who saw the incident at the nightclub that morning. “I don’t know if it was homophobic,” she said, first of all. She recounted that she had just left. Then she saw the gendarme return with a gun and cock it at the entrance. “I called, I spoke with the police, and he left, it seems, in a van.”
According to information posted on the bowling alley's official account, he was arrested and turned over to the authorities. There was no official statement on this matter. The bowling alley owner, Marcelo Fili, recounted that when the man saw the police, he locked himself in his vehicle. He later had to give in and surrender.
The bowling alley confirmed that the gendarme was inside and that he was "removed along with his companion for violent and homophobic behavior."
Then, “he tried to return, enraged, with a service weapon he kept in his vehicle, along with his uniform.” And “he didn’t hesitate for a second to pull the trigger in the most cowardly way, shouting that he intended to kill all the faggots.” “Our chief was able to save his life, thanks to the support of the Jujuy police force and our entire control staff,” Babylon insisted. Other accounts claim that the gendarme didn’t even manage to fire his weapon.
The owner of the bowling alley, Marcelo Fili, stated in declarations to Channel 2 of Jujuy that when the security guard prevented him from entering, the gendarme “pulled out a service weapon, put it to our doorman's head, pulled the trigger, it didn't fire, he tried again. He put it to the manager's head, pulled the trigger again, it didn't fire, and he did this ten times.”
An anti-discrimination law
The bowling alley issued two statements regarding the incident. In the second, longer statement, it lamented the attack on “a space where a community comes to be happy, to relax and have fun” with respect, it maintained.
“Babylon is the only club where LGBTQ+ people can go,” Sara Pérez, from the Anti-Racist Collective Brown Identity Xuxuy Presentes . “How long will we continue to tolerate these violent acts in spaces that are the only ones where we can have fun, go out, without hiding? It’s really the only place.” Because in other places, “we feel oppressed. Because Jujuy nightlife has that very homophobic, very transphobic undertone,” she explained.
Pérez, 34, told Presentes that she personally avoids being out in the open. “If we go to places like that in Jujuy at night, we avoid expressing our identity as a way to protect ourselves and take care of ourselves. We know what the nightlife is like ,” she said. “In most places, there’s that violence and those insults for being gay or trans. And that issue is very present. Jujuy’s nightlife is violent, and for sexual minorities, it’s doubly so,” she asserted.
Along with others, the Research and Studies Unit for Action and Reflection on Sexual Dissidence in Jujuy “ Guepardxs ” – Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the National University of Jujuy, the Quebrada LGBTTTIQ+ Community, the Self-Convened Collective of Diversity Perico and Libres y Diverses – Jujuy, the collectives that Pérez is part of, released a statement in which they also raised the issue of the right to fun.
They also made “a call to society on the importance of respecting and the right of each person to decide their sexual orientation, expression and gender identity.”
The organizations stated that this incident confirms “the lack of implementation of real policies with a gender and sexual diversity perspective.” “No matter how many laws or departments are created, our bodies continue to be violated by the system. And even by the very institutions that claim to 'care for and protect us,'” they denounced.
These organizations, along with the Ailén Chambi Movement , called for the passage of an anti-discrimination law. “And for the incorporation of a comprehensive perspective in gender policies aimed at the LGBTINB+ community,” the group of collectives added.
“We have the right to have fun and express our gender identities in festive contexts. A hate attack should not take away our right to dance, to enjoy a safe space, and to report any violent act that attempts to normalize our sexualities,” they asserted.
Ailen Chambi demanded that national legislators "commit to promoting and passing the anti-discrimination bill presented by the Argentine LGBT Federation (FALGBT). We need legislative reform that guarantees our protection and, in particular, promotes an action plan to prevent hate crimes and violence ," she stated in a post shared on social media. She also condemned "all homophobic, lesbophobic, and transphobic acts" and demanded a thorough investigation into the incident at the nightclub. "For a justice system that operates with a human rights, gender, and diversity perspective."
The use of standard-issue weapons
The collectives that spoke out together considered that the most serious aspect of the incident last Sunday in Babylon is that the aggressor "is part of an institution that claims to be defenders of the homeland."
Sara Pérez asserted that the Code of Misdemeanors continues to be used in Jujuy to harass LGBTQ+ people . “The police continue to intimidate trans women who work. Police violence persists; it hasn't stopped despite all the training they receive. Violence against us exists in various contexts, even on the street .” She added that it's so prevalent that “perhaps we've become so accustomed to hiding our feelings.”
What can be done about gender-based violence?
For Sara Pérez, the first step is for the Jujuy provincial government to "engage in dialogue" and for security institutions to "begin communicating with organizations, because we are always taking action from different places, in different ways," and the government doesn't respond. Meanwhile, "the LGBTQ+ community continues to be a victim of violence from various institutions, not only the police, but also hospitals, public offices, and the education system, which fail to respect laws and rights ." "We believe the government must reach out to us," she said, "and become aware of the work it needs to do to train the people who make up the security forces. Because these are institutions that are inherently sexist and classist."
Marina Vilte, from the Ailen Chambi Movement, told Presentes that the incident highlighted two central aspects of public policy regarding the LGBTQ+ community. On the one hand, the Argentine state's failure to pass an anti-discrimination law, a demand that predates even the passage of the equal marriage law. On the other hand, the ease with which members of the security forces can carry weapons even off duty, "and the only ones who suffer the consequences are LGBTQ+ individuals and poor kids."
In a statement released on social media, the Movement recalled that "this is not the first time that security forces personnel have used regulation weapons with impunity to intimidate, threaten, injure and even kill."
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