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The mural painted by the artist known as “La Korla” (Carla Bragagnolo) on a wall adjacent to Queen nightclub, the iconic dance venue for the LGBTQ+ scene in Cuyo, didn't last two months unscathed. It had been created to celebrate International Pride Day on June 28th, with the support of the Municipality of Guaymallén in Mendoza.

The mural, the size of an entire storefront, features interwoven concentric hearts in the many colors representing the rainbow flags. “It’s a public mural, for the whole community, so that our colors are recognized and we are respected. It came about as a message of love on Pride Day,” Ana Laura Nicoletti, the artist and owner of the bar, explained to Presentes .

She herself stumbled upon the vandalized mural on the morning of Saturday, August 26, bearing the message, “June is over, August will pass, it’s time to put them back in the closet.” “A horror,” she laments when she recalls it.

“Our visibility is a nuisance.”

The incident filled the community with unease due to the virulence of the message and because, in Mendoza, mural art is generally respected. One has to go back to the early years of Macri's presidency to find acts of vandalism against street art linked to symbols of the struggle for human rights.

“I don’t recall an act of this kind, so violent and offensive against the LGBTQ+ community,” says Diego Pedernera, a long-time activist in the province and coordinator of Omin (Mendoza Integration Organization). He says it was a message of hate: “Our visibility bothers them; they want us back in the closet.”

In addition to the political context, framed within an electoral campaign that so far seems to indicate a clear rise of the far right, Ana Laura Nicoletti adds to the reflection "the intellectualism" with which the insult was crafted: "The phrase is very well thought out; there is an organization behind it. It's not something random like when someone writes 'faggot' to you."

On the campaign trail

“Yes, I think it’s partisan. We’re in campaign season, and there are conservative political sectors that are against same-sex marriage and the Gender Identity Law, and very much in favor of churches. I don’t take sides, nor am I interested in doing so, but I feel that whoever spearheaded this idea comes from those circles,” says the owner of Queen.

For her part, Consuelo Herrera, Inadi's delegate in Mendoza, directly links it to the victory of La Libertad Avanza in the PA elections, held almost two weeks before the offense: "This has to do with the election results; there are groups emboldened by the numbers obtained by the force led by Javier Milei."

“The shadowy figures are emerging from their hiding places and beginning to project what a potential Milei government would look like in the face of the progressive advances that continue to be made in Argentina regarding gender and diversity. All these inclusive legal frameworks we have bother them. They don't realize that they too are bearers of the so-called 'gender ideology',” he continued in statements to this media outlet.

“July passed, August passed, Milei won and we’re going to have to hide in the closet,” Consuelo adds as if counting the days on an almanac, and her concern becomes increasingly evident: “They are warning us that we will not be able to live our lives free from violence.”

The monster in the closet

Although the municipality's response was immediate and the mural was restored to its original design within days, fear took hold among the community after it was bluntly described as "something threatening."

The provincial head of INADI, Consuelo Herrera, expressed her concern. “We acknowledge our fear and uncertainty about the near future. We have always lived with insecurity, but this reminds us of when the State itself used its tools to eliminate those who are different. The issue is that this offense aims to impose its position, its logic, its practices. You are telling us it's time to go back to hiding in the closet. It's threatening.”

The idea of ​​the "closet" resonates within the community with "dictatorship," confinement, and the self-denial of one's own identity. Ultimately, it evokes the end of hard-won freedoms. Hence the impact such a phrase has had on the LGBTI+ community in Mendoza. Even other prominent figures in the diversity movement declined to share their thoughts with Presentes , citing "discouragement" and "sadness."

Just over a year ago, Queen had already suffered an act reminiscent of the Dark Ages when, one early morning, a group of neighbors arrived at the front of the nightclub with crosses, Bibles, holy water, prayers, and supplications. But not even that attempt at a medieval "exorcism" caused as much of an impact as the call to return to the closet.

Ana Laura promises to paint the mural as many times as necessary. “They won’t intimidate us, and we’re not going back to the closet.”