Natalia Lane: the trans activist survived an attempted transfemicide and achieved a landmark ruling in Mexico
In a landmark ruling, the Mexican justice system declared the aggressor of Natalia Lane, a trans activist, sex worker and journalist, guilty of attempted femicide.
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MEXICO CITY, Mexico . After surviving an attempted femicide, Natalia Lane , a sex worker and journalist, achieved a landmark ruling yesterday in Mexico: her attacker was found guilty of attempted femicide. The verdict is a milestone because it involves a trans sex worker who has obtained a conviction while still alive.
After more than four years, Judge Agustín Moreno Gaspar determined - in a hearing of more than five hours - that Alejandro 'N' committed the crime of attempted femicide and proved that there were gender-based reasons for trying to take the life of a trans woman.
“Today, for the first time, a sex worker who was assaulted obtained a conviction while still alive. Very few can say that. Very few are here. Today we got back a little bit of justice. Today we achieved a little bit of the testimonial justice that (the State) owes us. Today we achieved a historic ruling,” said Natalia Lane as she left the closing arguments of the oral trial.
The sentence and reparations will be determined in the coming weeks. Natalia hopes that it “will be commensurate with the circumstances, commensurate with the pain of many trans women in Latin America and in Mexico. There is still a long way to go to receive the justice we deserve,” she said upon learning of the ruling.
“Alejandro is guilty”
Natalia Lane left the courtroom arm in arm with her father, her fist raised in the air, shouting, “Alejandro is guilty!” Outside, her friends and extended family awaited her with trans flags and a megaphone. “You are not alone, yes, we did it!” they responded. Natalia was overcome with emotion and burst into tears.
“Today we received a small measure of all the justice that is owed to us, of all the historical harm, of all the silencing of sex workers, transvestites, and trans people. Today we gave a small measure of justice back to all those sisters who are no longer with us. Today there was a guilty verdict against my aggressor,” she said outside the South Prison.
This ruling comes after four years of legal omissions and criminalization of Natalia by the aggressor's family. For her, this path to justice has also been revictimizing at various stages of the legal process leading up to the oral trial.
“ Today, the judge didn't hand me this ruling; I earned it myself, my father earned it, and all of you who have been there for me earned it. The State didn't give it to me; they haven't given me anything. We had to pressure the lawyers, the public prosecutors, we had to knock on every door to guarantee a process free of omissions and violence. That's why we must continue fighting these battles; we must continue denouncing, making visible, breaking down barriers—whatever we have to do,” she declared.
A mixed ruling
The closing arguments hearing concluded with a mixed ruling from the judge, as on the day Natalia was attacked, three hotel workers where the events took place were also attacked by Alejandro 'N' when they came to her aid when she cried for help.
Alejandro 'N' was arrested by the Mexico City Prosecutor's Office on January 21, 2022, accused of the crimes of femicide and homicide, both in the degree of attempted murder.
In the mixed ruling, the judge found the defendant guilty and reclassified the charge from attempted aggravated homicide to aggravated assault for the attack suffered by one of the hotel employees. In the case of the other two employees, the judge did not find sufficient evidence to charge them.
Background in Latin America
In 2013 in Argentina, the Oral Criminal Court (TOC) No. 1 of La Plata issued a landmark ruling sentencing Leonardo Danilo Ariza Mendoza to 10 years in prison for attempted murder aggravated by hatred based on gender identity. The case was brought by the victim, trans activist Claudia Vásquez Haro , a survivor of the attempted murder of a trans woman. The incident occurred on Saturday, May 13, 2017 , when Mendoza tried to kill Claudia Vásquez Haro, president of Otrans Argentina , in her own home in the La Loma neighborhood of La Plata, Buenos Aires province. "We wanted a ruling that considered this legal concept because we are killed because of our gender identity," she told Presentes at the time.
There were other cases later where attempted transfemicide and travesticide were prosecuted. Among them was the attempted travesticide of Camila Maza, a trans woman known by her stage name Camila Spears or “La Trava Madrina” (The Trans Godmother). After the attack, Camila was in a coma for 21 days and hospitalized for almost two months. Her attacker was convicted of attempted transfemicide in 2024. Luis Alberto Martínez was found criminally responsible for the crime of “aggravated serious bodily harm due to cohabitation, a pre-existing relationship, and gender-based violence,” ruled Judge Mónica Faber in Salta.
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