Argentina: Four attacks on lesbians in two weeks
These are people who openly displayed their identity: feminist activists, a couple walking hand in hand, another couple living together in a home, and one of them was even returning from an assembly prior to the massive march on Saturday, February 1st.
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In 14 days, there were four attacks and attempted attacks against lesbians in Argentina. These occurred after President Javier Milei's speech in Davos , in which he delivered a hateful LGBT+ discourse rife with misinformation. They also took place during the weeks surrounding the Antifascist and Antiracist Pride March . The victims were openly displaying their identities: feminist activists, a couple walking hand-in-hand, another living together, and one woman returning from a meeting prior to the massive march on Saturday, February 1st. Many live in precarious housing situations. In some cases, the violence had been escalating beforehand with insults and threats.
The escalation of attacks over the past two weeks still carries a vivid memory: the triple lesbian murder in Barracas on May 5, 2024. Then, as now, disinformation against sexual diversity dominated the media agenda and contributed to a violent climate. Before the attack that took the lives of Andrea, Pamela, and Roxana and seriously injured Sofía, Justo Barrientos had repeatedly insulted them, alluding to their sexual orientation, and had threatened them with death. One day, he carried out his threat.
“These are not isolated cases,” acknowledged those who were harmed in the attacks and the people who accompany them.
Oran, Salta, February 11
In the early hours of Tuesday, February 11, a man identified as Juan Marcelo Córdoba entered Mariana Oliver's home while she was sleeping. He tried to suffocate her with a pillow, and when she awoke, he stabbed her seven times. Mariana and her teenage daughter managed to pull him away, and he fled. He was later arrested.
The 32-year-old is a dancer, a lesbian, and a well-known LGBTQ+ rights activist. She received 24 stitches in the attack, but her health is out of danger. “I’m alive and very lucky,” she posted on her social media after the assault.
The case is being handled by prosecutor María Soledad Filtrín Cuezzo and the District Court of Guarantees No. 1. Córdoba refused to testify and was provisionally charged with attempted homicide.
The Panambi , to which Mariana belongs, denounced the “explosive increase in cases of extreme violence and discrimination” in northern Salta. They also acknowledged that the attack occurred “within a sociopolitical context that legitimizes and promotes hate speech against women, and specifically against lesbians and trans people.”
In an interview with Presentes , Delfina Acosta, a member of Panambi, explained: “These neoliberal, right-wing, fascist governments create situations where anything goes. Especially here in the north. It's like the tables have turned; the same neighbor who used to respect and greet you when you were trans is now the one who insults you, abuses you, and denies you so much. This changes our daily lives because they don't allow us to enter, to speak, they deny us spaces.”
And she emphasized: “These attacks are not random at all; they occur within a socio-political sphere that allows them, primarily against those of us with non-heteronormative identities.” Panambi is calling for this attack to be investigated as a hate crime based on sexual orientation and an attempted lesbicide.
Mariana rents. She lives in a central location, but returning to her home is risky since it was easily broken into, according to her friends and family. “There’s security there, and we need that to continue,” Delfina warned. For this reason, Panambi is accepting donations through the alias MarianaOlivera29 to cover medical and rental expenses.
“We know very well that we are the target of many fascists, and we are organizing for defense and collective care. The violence does not paralyze us; it motivates us to continue in the streets,” the organization stated in a press release.
Buenos Aires, February 5
A week earlier, on Wednesday, February 5, YQ and AD, a lesbian couple aged 26 and 24 respectively, experienced an attack in broad daylight (6:30 p.m.) in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires. They were on their way to a dentist appointment. They were walking hand in hand along Ecuador Street when, before reaching Córdoba Avenue, a man stopped them.
“Why are you dressed like men if you are women?” he asked them and immediately began hitting one of them, while the other tried to grab him and called for help.
“There were a lot of people walking by, in broad daylight. My partner started screaming, and luckily a man arrived and managed to stop him until the police got there. The attacker tried to run so they wouldn't catch him. There was also a doctor there who checked my consciousness. I hit my head from the huge punch he threw. Many people came to help, and many others turned a blind eye,” the victim told Presentes via text message, as he has difficulty speaking due to a recent operation related to the attack.
The prosecutor's office classified the case as aggravated assault, following the broken nose and a broken tooth suffered by one of the victims, and the hand injuries sustained by her partner when she tried to stop the man. The case is currently being handled by the Criminal, Misdemeanor, and Petty Offenses Prosecutor's Office No. 16. They were offered a panic button, but when they went to pick it up, they were informed that the assailant was no longer in custody.
The young woman who was attacked is a student, and her daily life has been completely disrupted. She had an exam due in a few days. The paperwork, the surgery, the pain, and the need for rest prevent her from taking it. “If I have to go shopping and the alarm (on the panic button) goes off, I have to turn back because I'm the one who has to move. I can't go out on the street without fear of running into him. I don't want to go out alone,” she shared.
La Plata, Buenos Aires, January 29
On Wednesday, January 29, a young, openly lesbian woman committed to human rights—whose name she prefers to keep private—participated in the Antifascist Assembly held in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, ahead of the march the following Saturday. When it ended, she walked with a friend to a bus stop and said goodbye. She continued on her way, and as she crossed the train tracks at the intersection of 120th and 38th Streets, she noticed a man following her. She stopped at a kiosk to disappear into the crowd and then continued on her way. A few meters ahead, she again felt the same person watching her. There was an open field across the street, so she decided to walk along the shoulder to be more visible. Further on, she saw a bakery, but felt she wouldn't be able to reach it. Before reaching it, she ran into some neighbors and asked them for help, begging them not to leave her alone. The man continued waiting for her, but a patrol car appeared, he ran towards the open field and they caught him.
Later, the woman learned that it was Juan José Juárez, a 33-year-old man who, a short time earlier, around 10 p.m., had stabbed a 63-year-old woman in the street. She was taken to Gutiérrez Hospital and died from her injuries. Before chasing her, he also attacked two men, ages 37 and 53, who are now out of danger.
The man was charged with “homicide, attempted homicide and injuries” and the investigation was placed in charge of the Functional Instruction Unit (UFI) No. 2. The prosecutor in charge of the case, Betina Lacki, ordered that psychological and psychiatric evaluations be carried out to confirm his criminal responsibility.
The young feminist activist had recently lost her job and is barely managing to rent. To help her, Sueños de Mariposas launched a booklet about violence between lesbians . The proceeds will go towards helping her get back on her feet.
Cañuelas, Buenos Aires, January 29
That same Wednesday, in the early morning hours, Orlando Alcides Lutz Fogar set fire to the home of a lesbian couple. Security cameras captured him dousing the house with fuel around 3:40 a.m. The couple had decided to leave the home they had built because the man had been harassing them and their 5-year-old daughter since 2022. A total of 10 consolidated complaints were filed regarding the threats they received. He is currently a fugitive, with both national and international arrest warrants issued against him.
“We’re in a bad way. Days go by and this guy hasn’t shown up. His lawyer filed a motion online requesting dismissal of charges. Also, since I was accusing the president of being the mastermind, he argued that the case should be taken to federal court. It was rejected, but so far everything remains the same. We’re afraid of possible reprisals, and we’re exhausting all resources to resolve everything we need to do. We’re worried about the real situation of the entire community: the various attacks we’ve suffered these past few weeks, the current state of our children, the rights we’re begging to retain,” Agui, a non-binary person who lost everything, Presentes
The family's lawyer, Mayra Daniela Guzmán, informed this agency that they received a panic button, but are not currently receiving free psychological support. Meanwhile, the authorities continue searching for Lutz Fogar, who is accused of attempted murder aggravated by hatred based on sexual orientation (Article 80, section 4 of the Penal Code). The case is being handled by the Court of Guarantees No. 8 of La Plata.
Agui shared that they had to leave their home when the man's violence escalated. “We went to live with my in-laws. We had to change schools. The Argentine LGBT Federation us with those changes. For us, it's a loss because it's our only property; we don't own anything else. We also don't have a place to rent because our salaries aren't enough. We're managing between the homes of our two sets of parents,” she explained.
“Lesbians—whether we identify as women or not—are victims of violence against women and against LGBTQ+ people. Although not all of us have been attacked like the couples in Barracas, the family in Cañuelas, the women in Recoleta, or the activist in Salta, among others, we all see our lives limited by fear. Not saying something that reveals our sexual orientation, not walking in certain places or at certain times, leaving a city or province, keeping quiet about something we wanted to share, suppressing a kiss, a caress… these are the consequences of the fear of such violence,” analyzed lesbian activist María Rachid, a member of the FALGBT board of directors.
Furthermore, she acknowledged that in recent months there has been a more extreme expression of this violence. “Making these cases visible should help remind society that there are many other, less visible but commonplace cases that generate pain and suffering, and that to prevent them we need a present and effective State that creates public policies to build a more just society for all,” she concluded.
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