Post for Thursday – 1/29

It is impressive that the organization for the advancement of LGBTT rights in Argentina has reached the point of establishing inclusionary spaces such as the all trans high school Mocha or the establishment of Association of Argentine Transvestites, later split into the Organization of Transvestities and Transsexuals of Argentina and the Association to Fight for Transvestite and Transsexual Identity. The spaces, material solidarity, and community produced by both the school and these organizations is incredibly valuable, particularly when the hyper visibility of transwomen makes them frequent victims or violent attacks and murder, with a dismal life epectency projected at 35 in Argentina. My best friend has been transitioning as a transwomen over the last two years and it has taken until recently for her to begin to find the necessary resources she needs, one of which is simply a space that provides the sort of community described in both the school and the organizations (I sent her links to these readings haha). One thing that has surprised both her and I throughout her transition, that is also mentioned as a roadblock for trans organizations in Argentina, is the coldness she has experienced from some trans-exclusionary feminists and a lesbian that she works with, it was harder for her to grapple with than the sort of transphobia she’d expected from straight cismen from the beginning. I do believe that the further implementation of the gender neutral language that Natalia Mira received a lot of attention for using on television serves as a powerful vehicle to begin normalizing the varieties of gender indentities which have always existed and to begin to transition away from the dominance of the gender binary. I don’t think people should care about the opinions of the Royal Spanish Academy nor should they be invested in maintaining the purity of a language that was a colonial imposition at the expense of trans people. It is a shame that the revolutionary projects of the 20th century weren’t more competent vehicles in the advancement of rights for all gender and sexual identities, though not to excuse the shortcomings of these political projects, but the Cold War context probably produced a more singular focus on wars of national liberation against imperialism and the national bourgiousie and then the establishment of a non-capitalist model of development while likely facing immediate sanctions and destabilization efforts. Although I don’t see why these revolutionary states couldn’t just remove anti-LGBTT+ laws at the same time, the political revolutions which took place in the 20th century were not capable of reforming society from one day to the next, there still needed to be the “revolution after the revolution”. That is, all the necessary continual grassroots organizing amongst the masses in order to enact a cultural revolution and truly transform a society and not just it’s political and economic institutions. It does not surprise me that these political projects fell short of many expectations, the ideal conditions to develop them never existed and likely never will. In the context of Nicaragua’s tumultous 20th century, that something like El Sexto Sentido could be successfully produced is impressive but not surprising, especially considering it was filmed in Nicaragua, with Nicaraguan actors and protagonists, using local Nicaraguan vocabulary and aired in a market otherwise saturated with foreign TV programming. As the article noted, it was “pura Nicaragüense.” This appears to be an effective vehicle to, at a minimum, begin household conversations about gender and sexuality which can leader to larger societal discourses. The combination of things like the success of El Sexto Sentido, the growing acceptance of gender neutral language, and the growth of more effective trans organizations appear to paint a potent picture for change despite much progress to be made and the dismal state of transwomen in Latin America presently (a life expectancy of 35 in Argentina is hard to get out of my head). P.S., like is described was a belief amongst some Nicaraguans, when I was in high school playing football one of my teammates confidently asserted to everybody that sex between two men was only a homosexual act for the one being penetrated, while I understand the logic is derived from how gender roles are understood to be performed, I found it as laughable then as I do reading it now.