Argentina Court Convicts Former officers of Hate Crimes Against Trans People

"Judges overseeing a high-profile human rights trial in Argentina convicted 11 former officials of crimes against humanity on Tuesday, in the first case to focus on the former military dictatorship's overlooked practice of committing sexual violence against transgender women," the AP reported from Buenos Aires

"In the highly anticipated verdict, 10 defendants were sentenced to life in prison and one to 25 years in prison for their roles in a scheme of violent repression that included killing, torture, sexual violence and the abduction of children born in captivity, among other alleged crimes that took place across four clandestine detention centers in the province of Buenos Aires. The judges acquitted one former official, reports the AP.

"The trial at the court in La Plata, a southern suburb of the capital, spanned nearly four years and added new details and insight to previously chronicled atrocities, deepening the nation's understanding of its traumatic history. Transgender plaintiffs took the witness stand for the first time in a series of chilling hearings that put a spotlight both on the suffering of the transgender community and on the widespread tactic of sexual violence under the right-wing dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983

Tuesday's trial involved 600 victims and testimonies from hundreds of witnesses that dredged up accounts of sexual abuse specifically targeting transgender women, as well as cases of soldiers stealing babies from their detained mothers before handing them over for adoption to members of the dictatorship and their loyalists. A former police doctor who oversaw the births of women in captivity was among those who received a life sentence.

The current government denied the existence of systemic transphobia and hate. In a statement it said that the state was in a war against gorillas and people died on both sides, igniting massive protests.

Amancay Diana Sacayan

In memory of trans activist Amancay Diana Sacayan. Diana was one of the first trans-Argentinians to change her legal documents. She was murdered on October 11, 2015, just one month after the current laws protecting the transgender community that she campaigned for were enacted.

Indepth: Víctor Hugo Robles 2012 interview of Diana Sacayan.

Gabriel David Marino, was found guilty of gender hate and violence against the trans community and was given a life sentence by unanimous decision, reported Agencia Presentes. He was the first person to be convicted and sentenced under the Hate crime laws that Diana Sacayan had campaigned for.

Marino was denied parole in 2020 when he asked to be released during the pandemic.

(AP)

Trans Youth Summer Camp: a great place to be

Yesterday I saw a Facebook post, just a regular post from Trans youth equality.org asking for donations to send trans youth to their summer camp.

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A post shared by @transyouthequality

It was so disturbing what I saw. The post had hundreds of hateful transphobic comments and only a couple of shares. When I returned today all of the comments had been deleted and the commenting turned off.

Why this matters to me and should matter to you regardless if you are trans or an ally.

Some of my most cherished memories are from my summers at our beloved scout camp. We canoed, hiked, slept under the stars, learned how to live in peace with nature, and even camped when it was 20 degrees below zero! I eventually was voted to attend a weekend at the camp by my troup and earned the right to call myself a Sister in the Order of the Arrow and a life scout.

Ours wasn't a trans-only camp, like the Trans youth equality.org but in the 70s and by today's standards, it was inclusive, character-building, and challenging. Reading those hateful comments one thing became clear. None of those transphobic degenerates who commented had the benefit of character-building of any kind in their youth. And that is when it became personal.

It also became clear that this is a concerted effort to harm trans and gender-expansive youth. It was so bad that for the first time, the administrators of the Trans Youth Equality Facebook page turned off comments and posted this:

"URGENT: TYEF was recently attacked in terrible ways by Libs of TikTok and Elon Musk (thanks Elon for your transphobic comment about our work and the over 20 million hateful comments you KNOW you were going to send our way), You would be shocked if you were ever confronted by the uninformed haters in the anti trans youth community.. It's very dark. We have an extremely sophisticated security system now, new layers of support and frequent contact with law enforcement including local police, the FBI and DOJ. So please note, the children and youth we serve deserve support, deserve that decisions are made by their parents and doctors and we continue to serve and educate."

"Can we all recommit to supporting trans specific orgs on the ground making a difference. Can we ask you to please make a donation to TYEF today, any amount you can afford because the assault on our org has been rough and cost us unplanned expenses. We were doxxed. If this has ever happened to you, you know how complicated and frustrating it can be. Can we get support? This is the first truly large attack on us. We are standing strong but we need you to stand with us. Or ask about volunteer positions, ways to help, raise some funds....etc. Thanks for listening. We have been doing this work for almost 20 years, from a time there was little to no support anywhere in this country for trans youth. We have great stories, great people who have helped, amazing kids served. We thank each of you for helping us afford to keep going over the years. We will get thru this time.We love each of our allies. please donate.

TYEF is a 501c3 non profit. We are grateful to you. *please note that we have turned off comments on all of our posts though we love to hear your responses. What we do not need is this forum to be used for hate instead of a safe place to be and to share.