After being thrown into prison in the 1980s, where she was beaten and humiliated, Marcela Romero became an activist and a human rights defender – standing up for the rights of trans people in her native Argentina. In her country, around 90 per cent of people in the trans community live below the poverty line. Across Latin America, HIV prevalence among the trans community is high and the life expectancy of a trans woman is only 35 years old, which is half that of other Latin Americans.
Now aged 57, Marcela has been regional coordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean network of transgender people (RedLacTrans) since 2006. She succeeded in being legally recognised as a woman in 2009, after a decade long battle with Argentina’s courts.
Here, Marcela explains how she is fighting for inclusion, education, work, healthcare and housing for the trans community across Argentina and beyond – and for the right for trans people to be able to choose their own path in life without fear and discrimination. She is calling for comprehensive laws that will protect the rights of the trans community in Argentina and ensure equality – from childhood through to adulthood.
Marcela’s story
I come from a generation in the 1980s when repression and exclusion were very common in my country, Argentina. The military dictatorship was very strong – so almost all trans women of my generation were detained and imprisoned, including myself. In prison, we were mistreated, beaten, humiliated.
I always asked myself, “why am I being taken to jail? What did I do to be taken to jail?” The truth is that I never knew why I was taken prisoner. I never felt different. But I think our bodies are political. It happens in all the countries where there is dictatorship and repression towards the LGBT+ community.
I started my activism work when I left prison. I started to show myself as an empowered trans woman, who decides what she wants with her body and her life. For me, the ability to choose is the main thing – to live in a country where there is not only democracy but where there are also rights.
A death penalty for trans women
I always say that in Latin America there is also a death penalty for trans women. The life expectancy of a trans woman in Latin America is only 35 years, which is half that of other citizens. Many trans women in Argentina die in destitution. We die in hotel rooms and in hospital wards.
Trans women are dying in silence. When we die, no one removes our body. This year, I know of seven or eight trans women between 20 and 25 years old died in Argentina as the result of violence. There is a terrible hatred towards these women. The absence of the State and rights is what is killing us, little by little. Where there are no rights, one cannot plan a life goal.
HIV is part of this silent death that trans women have to face. HIV prevalence among trans women is 49 times higher than among the general population. I experienced HIV among people I have worked with. In the nineties, I did sex work. Every time I went to work, I would ask about a fellow sex worker and they would tell me “she left”. It was almost every day. I saw it and lived it – the death of my colleagues.
Trans legal rights are needed
Many people were not able to access HIV treatment in the nineties because of discrimination. We were not within the World Health Organization’s strategic plans because our gender identity was not respected. We were just men who had sex with other men or gay men.
In countries where there are laws, trans people can choose how to live. Uruguay is one of these countries. In Uruguay, there are more elderly trans women, because there have been progressive laws that protect trans people – from sex work to retirement.
The challenge we have in Argentina is introducing a comprehensive trans law – like the law that was passed in Uruguay and is being debated in Spain at the moment. I think we have to work not only to generate more rights but also to generate equality – from childhood and adolescence to adulthood.
