By Aurea Care Miranda
Dear Local reader: We are finishing the month of LGBTIQ+ pride and the reflections are hot and served on the table. A table where dissidents are only fed one month a year, and every year the same menu is served: the rainbow/pink washing.
This year, however, we have a different dessert, a very bitter one: mass exterminations with the latest technology weapons (served hot with a small spoon), in the palm of your hand and in real time. Any smartphone has access to uncensored humanitarian crimes, available on all social networks.
And yet, global companies that sponsor these armed conflicts dressed themselves in sequins and colors to boost their marketing strategies. They appeared inclusive and respectful of diversity, putting colorful logos on everything from socks to buildings, from a little flag on their website to sponsoring a float.
And what about the local context? It is sad to recognize that San Miguel de Allende is not a safe city for LGBT people, and no municipality in Guanajuato is.
Of course we know several visible and proud people, but look at the colonies, the neighborhoods of Saint Michael.
A couple of years ago downtown, near the library, two friends and I experienced an episode of physical aggression, which ended with a bloody transvestite headed to the Red Cross to have her wounds closed. male in substance abuse, decided that we do not deserve to live on the streets, and for that “first-time” transvestite, reporting meant coming out of the closet, and losing something more than blood: her family.
In Mexico, every year, hundreds of teenagers lose their homes (family, roof, food) when they express their gender identity or sexual orientation. I wish it were unreal but many of us have been there. situation of corridos
Today, we are looking to help a young trans girl find long-term housing and a job, she is running away from her community after being given a “corrective beating”.
Beyond the blows to the face, they are blows to the soul.
But violence is not always physical or verbal, every day I face looks that have the objective of I feel ashamed of who I am. The treatment changes and many times we are denied service. I have learned to navigate those looks, that energy of contempt that is not said, but is felt.
I remember how difficult it was for me to find a job, despite my skills, it seemed that being “effeminate” was a problem. non negotiable. I have seen several of these local businesses get colorful this month.
In the early days of this year, the president of Mexico addressed a highly respected trans woman as a Man in a Dress, From that moment on, hate crimes skyrocketed. To date, we have recorded 25 transfemicides (more than 30 on unofficial lists), and unfortunately, we do not have a count of the disappearances of trans and transvestites.
How complicated it becomes when we betray humanity and decide not to follow the rules, and at the same time, it is a joy and a celebration to be a transvestite, an authentic, true and honest trans woman with my identity.
It is an exercise in freedom: I am free to dress, speak, name myself, express myself and relate fully and lovingly with whomever I want.
Pride is implanted as an antidote to the shame we have felt for not fitting into the mold (heterosexual, cisgender, morally and socially accepted), “the pride” of being a black sheep. But it is really a flock of black sheep in a pen, to be sheared and their resources used for the benefit of the white sheep.
Being aware is important to stop celebrating a carnival of colors and return to the origin of pride: protest.
Many people are against the protest. I am so disappointed to hear misogynistic straight people and hateful trans gays say: “those are not ways”, “the ones dressed always making a drama” . It must be remembered that Marsha P. Johnson, a racialized trans woman, sex worker, HIV+, tired, angry and furious, threw the first brick at Stonewall, protesting police brutality against LGBT people.
Pride is not born as a party, it is a protest and we have a lot to protest.
We cannot celebrate with pride while several genocides are happening.
We cannot celebrate with pride while Peru continues to pathologize the trans condition.
We cannot celebrate with pride until we have a gender identity law throughout Mexico.
We cannot celebrate with pride while trans and transvestite people are disappearing or being murdered every week.
We cannot proudly celebrate 11 femicides a day.
We cannot celebrate with pride without a trans employment quota.
We cannot celebrate with pride when there is a shortage of HIV drugs and hormone replacement treatments.
What do you want to celebrate?… that you came out of the closet?
Better protest because the closet exists.
This month, Infonavit union employees have destroyed LGBT+ flags in a clear barbaric act of hatred on the orders of their leader Rafael Riva Palacio. These videos went around the internet, sparking homophobic and transphobic positions that celebrate the action.
In San Luis Potosí, a non-binary activist was attacked and abused by police for dancing in a public square.
In Querétaro, an employee of the state's culture department was fired for her sexual orientation, raising concerns in the arts sector.
Stories of discrimination are all over the internet. It is always a domino effect that starts with hate speech and ends with hate crimes. Mexico is a deeply sexist and misogynistic country.
The fight for our place in society is not over.
And as the artist and performer Leche de Virgen says:
I'M NOT PROUD, I'M ANGRY
Peace, justice and dignity for all dissidents.
Aurea Care Miranda
