Sandra Ramírez was walking to catch the bus to work in Santiago when a group of people insulted and beat her for being a lesbian. The attackers were wearing Nazi symbols. Three months earlier, just a few kilometers away, another homophobic attack resulted in the death of Vicente Vera.
“If you see two lesbians having sex, kill them,” said the leader of the World Missionary Movement. The Peruvian Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating him for incitement to violence and discrimination against the LGBTI population. This is one of the many forms of violence that lesbian women face in the country. Solange Saldaña recounts her story in this video.
This week, the Supreme Court ruled that a transgender inmate at the Alto Hospicio prison (Iquique) may only be examined by female nursing staff. The ruling also mandates that prison officials receive training on gender identity and expression.
Sasha Sacayán, a leader of the Anti-Discrimination Liberation Movement (MAL), an organization for the rights of transvestite and trans people founded by her sister Diana, says: “We were able to observe the operation as a whole. There were no disturbances from those of us who were there. Nothing was broken. The media focused on cheap sensationalism when the ‘provocative fanatic’ Ignacio Agustín Montangut appeared. He was neither that fanatical nor that innocent. We managed to remove him from the scene so he wouldn’t become a victim.”
Thousands of women took to the streets in a historic day for recent mobilizations. Organizations also held a strike outside the prosecutor's office to demand justice for the murders of trans women. At the closing of the main event, two laws were demanded: anti-discrimination and gender identity.
What do we mean when we talk about lesbian visibility? Women from different generations share what visibility means to each of them today. What activities are planned in different cities across the country? Why are they marching with their own contingent on March 8th?
Trans and gender-diverse rights organizations are denouncing police abuses in La Plata. Legal complaints have been filed regarding two raids in February and for an investigation into the death of Pamela Macedo Pandu, who was detained in a prison in Florencio Varela.
Andrea Simone alleges that her score in the competition for a permanent non-teaching assistant position was lowered because she is a lesbian. The Moreno School Board denies everything. The complaint of discrimination based on sexual orientation has already been filed with INADI (National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism).
Tomorrow there will be a demonstration in front of the Prosecutor's Office in La Plata to demand that the death of Pamela Macedo Panduro, a member of Otrans, be clarified. She died on January 1st while detained in Penal Unit No. 32 in Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires Province.
In Paraguay, the "Rohendu" hotline (Guarani for "I hear you") offers support and guidance to the LGBTI community experiencing discrimination, as well as to their families and friends. "It's not normal to be mistreated," emphasize the videos promoting the hotline. It operates Monday through Friday and is free to access from any phone.
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