For dancing in front of libertarians at a Pride March, she is accused of "sexual abuse" and faces an unusual trial
Libertarians went to provoke a Pride March in San Martín in 2023, and LGBT groups responded by dancing. Since then, Cris, a trans activist and communicator, has faced accusations of "sexual abuse" in a trial that keeps getting postponed, along with her criminalization.
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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. The trial for simple sexual abuse that Cris Godoy, a trans activist from San Martín, is scheduled to face has been postponed. The incident for which she is accused occurred on November 11, 2023, during the fourth LGBT Pride March in San Martín, held in the main square. While trans women, trans people, sex workers, lesbians, and non-binary people were preparing to take to the streets, a group of activists from the Libertad Avanza (Freedom Advances) movement set up a table with flyers urging people to vote for Javier Milei. The San Martín march was one of the last of that year , prior to the runoff election that brought Milei to the presidency the following week.
The provocation and insults from the libertarians and the LGBT community did not dampen the day's festivities. After the march and towards the festival's close, the collective dance, and in particular Cris's dance in front of Yasmin Nadie Arabena, a libertarian figure who had been insulting her, sparked the fury of the Milei supporters present. Videos of an alleged attack and harassment of the Milei follower were shared hundreds of times that weekend. The libertarian narrative even claimed that alcohol and stones were thrown at them from the march. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Two years later, the case that was to go to trial was postponed one day before its scheduled start date, October 21, by decision of the Correctional Court No. 1 of San Martín, presided over by Judge Diego Calmanovici, at the request of the prosecutor, Ricardo Romero. Initially, the Guarantee Court No. 5 had dismissed the case against Cris, finding no crime had been committed. The ruling was based on images captured by security cameras that day. However, the prosecutor appealed, and the appeals court authorized the oral trial. Hours before the proceedings were to begin, they were suspended.
The cause that shouldn't exist
This is the second time prosecutor Ricardo Romero has tried to postpone the trial. To do so, he appealed the ruling that accepted LGBT and human rights organizations as amicus curiae (LGBT Federation, CELS, Innocence Project Argentina, and the Penal Thought Association). He also appealed the defense's request for expanded evidence to include new witnesses.
Aramis Amaris, the lawyer in the case, explains that this is the second time the prosecutor has delayed the legal proceedings. “The political dimension of the group involved in this case has made those who seek to maintain a closed justice system, devoid of a gender perspective or consideration for sexual diversity uncomfortable. This discomfort seems to have motivated the prosecutor to file new objections, delaying the progress of the trial,” she tells Presentes.
This postponement, she points out, deepens the harm done to Cris. For two years now, she has faced “the uncertainty and exposure of a legal process that should never have existed,” Amaris adds.
Criminalizing Pride
Amaris analyzes that the case against Cris Godoy has another component. It's framed within the Pride March, a collective effort of the LGBT community that takes to the streets every year. “It's a clear attempt to demobilize us and dismantle the collective support that has been built with encouragement and strength. Beyond Cris and this specific incident, it's important not to allow the Judiciary to set a precedent that criminalizes dancing at a Pride march.”
It was in this context that the "Culo Enjuiciado" (Ass on Trial) movement was formed, from which the demand for justice for Cris is articulated. "We remain steadfast in denouncing the criminalization of gender-diverse identities and demanding a fair trial with a human rights perspective, respect for sexual diversity, and freedom. We want Cris's immediate acquittal. We will not give up, not one step back, on our rights."
How the case was built
The promotion of the Pride March in San Martín usually begins in the middle of the year. From then on, the location and time of one of the most joyful demonstrations around are known. The selection of libertarian activists to distribute flyers there was no coincidence.
“They came to provoke us, to confront us in our own space,” Cris explained in this article by Mariana Sidoti in Perycia . “The closing festival was underway. We were dancing, relaxing after a lot of physical exertion. And this happened.” She also recounts that many of the march participants asked the libertarians to leave, but they refused. From above, Yasmin, the alleged victim, yelled at them, “You messed with the wrong lioness.” They were also threatened with shouts of, “The green Falcons will be back to take you away, freaks.” In another video, the LGBT movement was accused of being pedophiles.
“ What’s most striking is how the criminal case began, the context. It was before the presidential runoff between Massa and Milei, when they went to distribute Milei’s leaflets in the plaza. It was an intervention at the Pride March, a space that belongs to us, where we reclaim public space, which is generally hostile to gender-diverse identities,” the lawyer tells Presentes . “Cris’s dancing takes place in front of the Monument near these people, but there is no physical contact whatsoever. Security cameras confirm this,” she adds.
The day after the 2023 march, the case was opened. It was initiated ex officio by the criminal justice system, "with the police and the prosecutor's office in complicity. Initially, I wondered what a prosecutor was doing at six in the evening in a police station watching a video and deciding how to classify an event of this nature. It's not common for prosecutors to be so closely monitoring what the police are doing," emphasizes Aramis, Cris's lawyer.
The fact, which may seem routine, Aramis says, reveals an attempt at political persecution by the prosecution. The prosecutor who initiated the case is Mariano Becerra, who, according to Aramis, “responds to the most conservative interests of the judiciary and also of the political leadership.”
A network that criminalizes LGBT people
The case, framed within a political context, constitutes a new attack on the LGBT community within a libertarian framework. “The aim is to direct the persecution and try to associate aberrant sexual practices or sexual crimes that punish the violation of consent, sexual integrity, and cause psychological and other harm with our identities. It seems like a coincidence, but a year later, in Davos, Milei ended up confirming these kinds of associations. In that sense, it's clear how the leaders of La Libertad Avanza think, who in turn have representatives in the Judiciary and the rest of the State.”
The lack of a gender perspective remains a serious concern within the judiciary. “It’s not a matter of training,” says Aramis. “It has to do with a commitment to conservative interests, to anti-democratic values, to a perspective that doesn’t include the existence of our community. The judiciary is used to seeing LGBTQ+ people in the dock . It’s not used to representing our interests , and probably never will, given the nature of their work and their worldview.”
Cris, the fellow activist
“Having a legal process hanging over her takes a toll on a person’s mental health. Nor does it negatively impact their career or professional trajectory,” emphasizes Cris’s lawyer. The process also forces her to interact with actors within the criminal justice system, such as the police, and this creates a social stigma that affects her life, Aramis says.
Cris Godoy was the first non-binary graduate of the National University of San Martín. There, they received a degree in Audiovisual Communication. When the complaint was filed against them, they had already changed their legal gender on their national identity document; however, the judge who had acquitted them in January 2024 had to demand the correct use of their name in the case.
Cris is part of the organization La Disidente, where her testimony was published this week. “I am distressed and very worried about the rise of these right-wing groups and that this practice, as has already happened, will be repeated at all Pride marches,” she expressed days before the start of the trial, which was suspended.
A collective embrace and acquittal for Cris
"Culo enjuiciado" (Ass on Trial) is the name of the campaign demanding Cris's acquittal. Collective action is once again a crucial element in these cases based on stigma and prejudice.
“Many of the legal victories for our community have been accompanied by significant mobilizations, visibility campaigns, and important direct actions in public spaces,” Aramis points out, recalling the cases of Diana Sacayán, Pierina Nocetti, Higui, and Tehuel. “It’s often difficult to define the victorious nature of legal proceedings based solely on a person’s conviction. But in this case, we’re talking about an acquittal in a context of political and sexual persecution of members of our community,” Aramis concludes.
At this stage, we must wait for Chamber 1 of the Criminal Appeals and Guarantees Court of the Judicial Department of San Martín to decide on the appeal filed by the prosecution. From there, the case will return to Correctional Court No. 1 to set a new date.
Meanwhile, Cris remains accused.
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