LGBTQ+: A Latinx Persepective

by Daniela Cortés

Deni Quiles, activist and member of La Sombrilla Cuir (The Queer Umbrella) and Calu Lema, activist for LGBTQ+ rights and gender violence, give their insights as representatives of different communities.

Image: Unsplash

What is gender identity?

DQ: It´s key to understand sex is different than gender. Gender is how you feel and how you feel most comfortable with. Gender has to do with how you choose to interact with others (…) and it is not binary (man or woman).

CL: Gender identity is how a person defines himself; your personal / internal sense of gender. The problem is that we currently have a binary script due to colonisation that leaves people with only two options: to be a man or to be a woman.

What is the biggest challenge to talk about identity nowadays?

DQ: There is still a lot to do and explain, especially because there is still a pressure to live your gender and identify as the way you were born - anatomically speaking.

CL: The most difficult thing to explain is that each person has a different sense of identity and for the majority, that identity is related to their sex / genitals. This prevents us from collectively perceiving that this association does not work for everyone and that our identity - how it forms, evolves, changes, establishes itself - is complex and goes beyond our anatomy, which is also diverse and includes intersex people.

"The biggest problem is not the extremists, it is the progressives, centrists, and liberals who are not aware of how they perpetuate oppression"

Do you have to belong to a community to talk and stand on their behalf?

DQ: If you want to participate then you must know your place. If you want to be the protagonist, but you are not a member of the community, then you will be taking someone else´s opportunity and platform that is fighting and going through it.

CL: Anyone can be an ally to a cause as long as they do not co-opt space, misrepresent the message, or focus their activism on themselves. As they say out there, feminism does not correspond to make room for men. It is up to men to turn the spaces they inhabit into feminist spaces. It is not necessary to be from the LGBTQ + community to support the protests, projects, or initiatives that bring visibility and demand the rights to which the cisgender and / or heterosexual people have access. People can take advantage of their privilege to amplify voices, attract attention, and raise awareness among those around them. The biggest problem is not the extremists, it is the progressives, centrists, and liberals who are not aware of how they perpetuate oppression by not challenging the system that protects their identities.

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PRIDE celebrations in South America and Fun Facts !

Brazil – Sao Paulo competes every year with the New York City parade to see which one is the biggest. Officially, activities last five consecutive days.

Colombia – Bogotá was the pioneer city in South America to celebrate with a Gay Pride parade 24 years ago.

Uruguay – It was the second country to legalise gay marriage in the whole south continent. Montevideo celebrates Pride in September because June is wintertime.

Ecuador- This country is still struggling to accept the LGBTQ+ community. They are considered second-class citizens and are not allowed to adopt children.

Argentina- This year it celebrates 10 years of legalising gay marriage, including adoption rights. This country held Pride Day and a parade in November to commemorate the creation of the first gay group 'Our World' that started operations in 1967.