Following the landmark ruling that for the first time condemned hate crimes based on gender identity—transvesticide—a vigil was held at the Buenos Aires City Courts. The vigil honored Diana and other trans women and trans victims of violence who were denied justice.
The verdict in the transphobic murder of human rights activist Diana Sacayán was historic: for the first time in Latin America, the crime against a trans woman was convicted as a hate crime based on gender identity. The president of the Oral Criminal Court No. 4, Adolfo Calvete, read the verdict shortly after noon in the same courtroom where the trial took place.
The Oral Criminal and Correctional Court No. 4 of the City of Buenos Aires unanimously sentenced Gabriel David Marino to life imprisonment for the murder of transgender human rights activist Amancay Diana Sacayán. In its verdict, the court determined that it was a hate crime motivated by gender-based violence (aggravating circumstances 4 and 11 of the Penal Code). This is an unprecedented and historic ruling. This trial marked the first time the term "transvesticide" was used in court records.
On Monday, June 18, the Criminal Court No. 4 of the City of Buenos Aires will announce the verdict in the transphobic murder of Diana Sacayán, who was killed in October 2015. A vigil will be held starting at 7 p.m. in Plaza Lavalle to remember Diana and other victims of transphobic and transfemicide.
Dusan Fung is an actor, playwright, theater director, and professor. At the age of 26, along with four friends, he founded the independent, multidisciplinary arts company Imaginario Colectivo. From its inception, this company has focused on uncomfortable and urgent issues: social inequality and diversity.
Sometimes HIV is anything but a virus. Sometimes HIV is a situation that sparks dialogue, questions, and perspectives. And as always, those of us living with the virus are the last link in this chain of clichés, most of them poorly thought out.
In a historic day for the women's, lesbian, bisexual, transvestite, and transgender movement, after a session that lasted more than 23 hours, the Argentine Chamber of Deputies gave preliminary approval to the bill to legalize abortion. It passed with 129 votes in favor and 125 against.
“My name is Tom. I’m a trans guy. I had an abortion several years ago. It was at an illegal clinic in Rosario.” This is how the spot for the series “We Are Stories. Our lives, our health, our decisions matter” begins. It was produced by Mujeres Audiovisuales (Women in Audiovisual Media), Trabajadoras Independientes del Campo Audiovisual (Independent Workers in the Audiovisual Field), and Actrices Argentinas (Argentine Actresses) to support the bill of the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe, and Free Abortion and to demand legal abortion for pregnant people.
In this column, we discuss the defense attorney's closing argument in the trial for the transphobic murder of Diana Sacayán. We also cover the festival organized on Saturday, June 9th, to demand the acquittal of Higui de Jesús, one year after her release.
We, transvestites and trans people, know very well what it means to decide about our own bodies. We did so for many years in secret, and that cost us (and still costs us) nothing less than our lives. That's why trans women are fighting for legal abortion, and we are in the streets, and we will be at the vigil in front of Congress for the vote in the Chamber of Deputies on June 13th. And that's why we also hope to see everyone on June 28th at 6 PM in Plaza de Maya for the National March against transvesticide and transfemicide.
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