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Diana Sacayán

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Diana Sacayán
Diana Sacayán
Diana Sacayán in 2010
Born(1975-12-31)31 December 1975
Tucumán, Argentina
Died11 October 2015(2015-10-11) (aged 39)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Cause of deathHomicide[1]
NationalityArgentina
OccupationTravesti activist
Years active2001 – 2015
Organization(s)Anti-Discrimination Movement of Liberation (MAL), founder[2]
ILGA, leader[3]
INADI, member[4]: 270 
Known forDiana Sacayán Law [es]
Diana Sacayán – Lohana Berkins Law
Political partyCommunist (before 2011)
Independent (2011–2015)

Amancay Diana Sacayán (31 December 1975[5] – 11 October 2015)[2] was an Argentinian LGBT and human rights activist who fought for the legal rights of transvestites and transgender people in Argentina.

She founded the Anti-Discrimination Movement of Liberation (MAL)[2] and was part of the National Front for the Gender Identity Act in Argentina during public debate on Law 26,743 on Gender Identity.[5] In June 2012, she became the first trans person to run for Ombudsman, running for La Matanza Partido.[5] On 2 July 2012, she became the first Argentine trans person to receive a national identity card affirming her gender.[6] It was handed to her by then-President Cristina Kirchner.[7]

Sacayán was murdered on 11 October 2015.[8] On 18 June 2018, Oral Criminal Court 4 of Buenos Aires convicted one of her murderers, handing down a judgement that recognized, for the first time in the Argentine criminal justice system, the murder of a transvestite as a hate crime involving gender identity.[8] Provisions in Article 80, paragraph 4 of the Penal Code of Argentina were applied in reaching the decision.[2] However, that aspect of the grisly murder was nullified in a decision by the National Chamber of Cassation in Criminal and Correctional Matters on 2 October 2020, though the sentence of life imprisonment was upheld.[1]

Biography

Amancay Diana Sacayán was born in Tucumán on 31 December 1975. Her ancestors were Diaguita. At a young age, her family moved to Gregorio de Laferrère, Buenos Aires. She led a life of poverty with her 15 siblings.[5]

Sacayán came out as transgender at the age of seventeen.[9] She received silicone injections in both her breasts and buttocks from a fellow travesti, a procedure she did not recommend to others because of hygiene concerns.[10]: 7  Sacayán worked as a prostitute for twelve years[11] before moving fully into activism in 2001.[10]: 7 

She studied Popular Education at the Universidad de las Madres.[11]

Activism

Sacayán was arrested on several occasions for offense code violations after coming out as it was illegal in Buenos Aires at the time to be a transvestite.[8] On 19 December 2001, Sacayán was arrested for her role in protests.[10]: 4, 7  She was arrested again on February 3 2001, in Don Bosco, and charged with robbery.[12] She was kept with male prisoners and left without food or blankets for several days.[12] After her release, she stated she had been tortured and that the real reason for her arrest was a refusal to bribe the police.[13] The Undersecretary of Justice of the province of Buenos Aires admitted to keeping Sacayán in Don Bosco due to her being a travesti, and the head of that section of the jail filed a report on Sacayán's 'aggressiveness'.[12]

She met Lohana Berkins when she spent nine months in prison in Florencio Varela.[10]: 7  Berkins provided legal aid as well as discussing the Unified Left with Sacayán.[10]: 7  When discussing her time in police custody in a 2012 editorial, Sacayán plainly stated how an officer beat her repeatedly and demanded that she renounce herself.[14]

Sacayán created the Anti-Discrimination Movement of Liberation (MAL), a non-governmental organization, in 2001.[8] This organization works against all forms of discrimination. They also emphasize empowering LGBTI people in different sectors including creating awareness for their human rights.[citation needed]

As the president of MAL, she was responsible for the project of non-discriminatory policies in the health institutions of La Matanza Partido. This project was aimed to include transgender and transsexual people in the health system. She also worked for raising awareness among transgender and transsexual people for their rights. Her active contribution led to the recognition of regulation for self-perceived gender identities by the State.[citation needed] It turned the main precedents of the National Gender Identity Law.[15] Sacayán also served on the board of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.[16]

Sacayán ran for the position of school counselor with the Communist Party for the election held on 24 August 2003.[10]: 4 

When she was arrested alongside her sister Johana on 10 July 2004,[17] the feminist socialist group Bread and Roses [es] supported her actions.[18] Supporters from multiple groups – a total of at least 4,000 people – gathered in the Plaza de Mayo and demanded the release of several prisoners who had been held solely for political reasons.[19] Police released Sacayán from jail but kept her on house arrest.[17] Both Diana and Johana had filed eleven complaints against the Laferrere fourth precinct for unlawful arbitrary detentions; Diana had testified before the Secretariat for Human Rights in Buenos Aires three times and the Ministry of Justice once.[17]

The Ministry of Health of Buenos Aires released a statement, reproduced by the media, in which MAL is directly named as contributing to the passage of Resolution 2359, in accordance with law 13.175 (equal access to healthcare), on 5 July 2007 which required that all medical personnel in the province of Buenos Aires address patients by their preferred names.[20] The city of Santa Fe passed similar legislation, Resolution 1877/09, as did the city of Buenos Aires, Law 3.062.[21]

MAL and several other groups advocated for the eligibility of the trans community in Argentina to receive the constitutionally-guaranteed adequate housing in 2009.[22] Despite the right enshrined in Article 14a of the National Constitution, transgender, transsexual and transvestite persons were denied inclusion in the Federal Housing Plan under President Cristina Kirchner's administration.[22]

In 2011, she left the Communist Party.[citation needed]

Diana Sacayán with the then president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner receiving her National Identity Document, after the Gender Identity Law was approved in 2012 in Argentina.[23]

In 2012, she ran for the position of Ombudsman of La Matanza Partido, becoming the first transgender candidate for such a position.[11] She was able to be one of the three most-voted candidates in that election.[citation needed] On 2 July 2012, she received her national identity card as a woman personally from the former president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.[24]

Sacayán, along with Berkins, aided in the nationwide demonstration on 3 June 2015 decrying femicide in Argentina.[4]: 269  The movement spread to several other countries under the name Ni una menos.[4]: 269 

On 9 July 2015, while Sacayán and fellow trans activist Sonia Pamela Díaz waited to board the Metrobús, someone walking past spat insults at them and began to physically assault them.[25] Police responded by arresting Sacayán, Díaz, and another activist, Martín Lanfranco;[25] Sacayán stated that the officers used a taser on her.[26] Sacayán had been pushed into traffic in front of an oncoming taxi, but it was able to brake and avoid hitting her.[25] Police released the activists the following morning,[25] after detaining them between nine and ten hours, prompting Sacayán to file a complaint.[26]

Death

Sacayán was murdered in her apartment in Flores, Buenos Aires between the evening of 10 October and the morning of 11 October 2015 by two assailants. She was handcuffed, gagged, and brutally beaten. One of the assailants kicked her in the face so hard that part of the sole of their shoe was lodged in the skin under her chin. She was stabbed 13 times.[2]

Protestor in the March from the Plaza de Mayo to Congress, the first national march against transvesticide, 28 June 2016.[27]

Days afterward, a hundred people gathered in La Plata in a rally to protest Sacayán's murder.[28] Activists continued to protest the following year when the case remained unsolved; the first national march against tranvesticide, beginning at the Plaza de Mayo and ending at the Congress building, took place on 28 June 2016.[27]

One of the complaints about how the investigation into Sacayán's murder was being handled is that police treated it as a femicide only.[29] Amnesty International responded to the gruesome murder, stating that if Argentina didn't effectively investigate and prosecute the perpetrators, those who killed Sacayán – as well as the individuals responsible for the murders of Marcela Chocobar and Coty Olmos that occurred within the month prior to Sacayán's death – would understand the lack of action as tacit approval to murder trans people.[30]

The police arrested two suspects: Gabriel David Marino and Felix R.[3] Because there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Felix R., the plaintiffs in the case requested that Marino be put on trial alone to keep the case from being closed 'unsolved'.[31] On 14 February 2018, Oral Criminal Court 4 ruled that Marino would remain in custody until at least 27 June 2018 pending the outcome of the trial.[32]

The trial for Marino began on 12 March 2018.[32] For the first time in history, the Argentine Justice acknowledged that the murder was "a hate crime against the travesti identity", known as "travesticide"[33] or "transvesticide"[34] (Spanish: travesticidio; a portmanteau of "travesti" and "homicide").[8] Marino was sentenced to life imprisonment on 18 June 2018.[35] The ruling was widely celebrated by LGBT activists and has been considered "one more example of the [social] changes underway in Argentina."[8] The verdict was celebrated by INADI as progress towards an inclusive Argentina.[36]

On 7 February 2019, Minister Patricia Bullrich offered a reward of 500,000 Argentine pesos using resolution 67/2019 for information leading to the arrest of the second assailant.[7] The amount was increased to 2 million Argentine pesos on 12 January 2022, per Resolution 36/2022.[37]

On 2 October 2020, the National Chamber of Cassation in Criminal and Correctional Matters confirmed Marino's conviction; however, they removed the transvesticide aspect, stating only that it was aggravated violence based on Sacayán's gender.[23] In his decision, Judge Jorge Luis Rimondi commented that the cuts to Sacayán's breasts did not indicate an intent to convey a message regarding her gender identity.[1] He also cited a lack of any previous report from Sacayán that Marino had expressed transphobic views and that the murder did not occur on a significant date for the LGBT community as grounds to rescind the transvesticde aspect of the judgement.[1] The judges also disputed the autopsy report, saying that there were only 4 stab wounds; the medical examiner recorded a total of 27 wounds on Sacayán's body, 13 of which were caused by a 20-inch blade.[1]

Legacy

On 17 September 2015, the Buenos Aires legislature passed Law 14783 [es], or the Transvestite Transsexual Job Quota Law, which made it a requirement that 1% of the jobs in public administration be provided to qualified transvestites, transsexuals, and transgender people.[38] Sacayán had started lobbying for the legislation in 2010.[39] Regardless of its passage, however, the government of Buenos Aires did not enforce the law.[40]

On 11 June 2021, the Argentine Chamber of Deputies approved the Diana Sacayán – Lohana Berkins Law, enacting the 1% quota on a national level. It also included incentives for private firms to recruit transvestite, transsexual, and transgender employees. It passed with 207 votes in favor, 11 against and 7 abstentions.[41] On 24 June 2021, the Argentine Senate passed the act into law, with 55 Senators approving the measure, 1 voting against it, and 6 abstentions.[42]

On 2 July 2023, the Google Doodle depicted Sacayán.[43] On 11 October 2023, Casa Rosada, the official workplace of the President of Argentina, hung an enlarged photograph of Sacayán and one of Claudia Pía Baudracco in the women's and dissidents' room.[44] A documentary titled "Fue travesticidio" has garnered several prizes, including the Work in Progress prize for the 36th Festival de la Mujer y El Cine in 2024.[45]

Writings

Sacayán frequently wrote for El Teje magazine and was the editor of the "I Am" supplement of Página 12.[18]

  • La gesta del nombre propio (2006), ISBN 9789871231119
  • Cumbia, copeteo y lágrimas (2008), ISBN 9789871231799
  • Blog de Movimiento Antidiscriminatorio de Liberación (M. A. L.)[46]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Confirman la prisión perpetua para el asesino de Diana Sacayán, pero sin el agravante por odio de género" [Life imprisonment confirmed for the murderer of Diana Sacayán, but without the aggravating circumstance of gender hatred]. Clarín (in Spanish). 6 October 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e Ludueña, María Eugenia; Fornaro, Ana (25 May 2018). "#DianaSacayán "La muerte violenta de una travesti es un travesticidio", dijo fiscalía" [#DianaSacayán "The violent death of a transvestite is a transvesticide," said the prosecutor's office]. Agencia Presentes (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Juzgarán a un acusado por el travesticidio de Diana Sacayán" [They will judge an accused for the transvesticicide of Diana Sacayán]. Cosecha Roja (in Spanish). 9 November 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Sosa, Lorena (18 September 2020). "Now You See Me? The Visibility of Trans and Travesti Experiences in Criminal Procedures". Politics and Governance. 8 (3): 266–277. doi:10.17645/PAG.V8I3.2804. ISSN 2183-2463. S2CID 224980526.
  5. ^ a b c d "Quién era Diana Sacayán, la activista trans asesinada" [Who was Diana Sacayán, the murdered trans activist]. Clarín (in Spanish). 18 June 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  6. ^ "La Presidenta entregará el nuevo DNI a la travesti matancera y candidata a ombudsman local Diana Sacayán" [The President will deliver the new DNI to the transvestite from Matanzas and candidate for local ombudsman Diana Sacayán]. Periodico SIC (in Spanish). 1 July 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Ofrecen $500 mil de recompensa para encontrar al coautor del crimen de la activista trans Diana Sacayán" [They offer a 500,000 peso reward to find the co-conspirator in the murder of trans activist Diana Sacayán]. Infobae (in Spanish). 17 February 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Centenera, Mar (19 June 2018). "Condena inédita en Argentina por el travesticidio de la activista Diana Sacayán" [Unprecedented conviction in Argentina for the transvesticicide of activist Diana Sacayán]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Diana corazón: a tres años del travesticidio" [Diana love: three years after transvesticicide]. Cosecha Roja (in Spanish). 10 November 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Moreno, María (27 July 2003). "La zona roja" [The Red Zone]. La Izquierda Diario (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  11. ^ a b c Magnani, Rocio (25 July 2012). "Una candidata no convencional" [An unconventional candidate]. Pagina 12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  12. ^ a b c Rodley, Sir Nigel S. (14 March 2002). Question of the Human Rights of All Persons Subjected to Any Form of Detention Or Imprisonment, in Particular, Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman Or Degrading Treatment Or Punishment (Report) (in Spanish). Geneva: United Nations. p. 13. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  13. ^ Vaird, Vanessa (July 2004). Sex, Love, & Homophobia: Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lives. Amnesty International. pp. 106–107. ISBN 1873328575.
  14. ^ Sacayán, Diana (9 November 2012). "Ya no somos las travas resentidas que tirábamos piedras". Pagina 12 (in Spanish) (I Am ed.). Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  15. ^ "Ley Nacional de Identidad de Género". servicios.infoleg.gob.ar. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  16. ^ Glum, Julia (15 October 2015). "Who Is Diana Sacayán? Transgender Activist In Argentina Found Dead After Possible Hate Crime". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  17. ^ a b c "Organizaciones GLTTB y de Derechos Humanos Lograron que Diana Sacayán Salga de la Cárcel, pero sigue con Arresto Domiciliario y Luchan por su Desprocesamiento" [GLTTB and Human Rights Organizations Got Diana Sacayán Out of Prison, but she's Still Under House Arrest and Fighting to be Deprocessed]. Agencia de Noticias RedAcción (in Spanish). 29 December 2004. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  18. ^ a b Loccolo, Tom More (14 October 2015). "Encontraron muerta a Diana Sacayan, luchadora contra la transfobia" [Diana Sacayan, a fighter against transphobia, found dead]. La Izquierda Diario (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  19. ^ "Las organizaciones que acampan en Plaza de Mayo realizarán una conferencia de prensa" [The organizations camping in Plaza de Mayo will hold a press conference]. Agencia de Noticias RedAcción (in Spanish). 23 December 2004. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  20. ^ "Personas travestis serán llamadas por el nombre de elección" [Transvestites will be called by the name of their choice]. Ministry of Health of Buenos Aires (Press release) (in Spanish). 30 May 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2024 – via Agencia de Noticias RedAcción.
  21. ^ López, Noella; Amorín, Eva (2012). Serie Participación Comunitaria: Derechos sexuales y reproductivos | Hacemos campaña por nuestros derechos [Community Engagement Series: Sexual and reproductive rights. | We campaign for our rights.] (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). Ministerio de Salud de la Nación. p. 54. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  22. ^ a b Sacayán, Diana; Arias, Dario; Luna, Noelia (12 June 2009). "17/6 10 hs Travestis se manifiestan por vivienda en San Justo" [6/17 10 a.m. Transvestites demonstrate for housing in San Justo]. Agencia de Noticias RedAcción (Press release) (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  23. ^ a b "Diana Sacayán, símbolo de la lucha contra la transfobia" [Diana Sacayán, symbol of the fight against transphobia]. Argentina Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación (Press release). 30 December 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  24. ^ "Argentina's third violent transgender death in a month sparks call for justice". TheGuardian.com. 14 October 2015. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  25. ^ a b c d "Solidaridad de dirigentes del PTS con Diana Sacayán y Martín Lanfranco ante la represión policial" [Solidarity of PTS leaders with Diana Sacayán and Martín Lanfranco in the face of police repression]. La Izquierda Diario (in Spanish). 27 August 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  26. ^ a b "Visión 7 - Activistas trans denuncian a la Metropolitana". Televisión Pública (in Spanish). 2 September 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2024 – via YouTube.
  27. ^ a b "Primera Marcha Nacional contra los Travesticidios" [First National March against Transvesticides]. Agencia de Noticias RedAcción (in Spanish). 29 June 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  28. ^ Derni, Mariana; Litterni, Natalia (14 October 2015). "Ni Una Menos. Concentración en La Plata por el asesinato de Diana Sacayán". La Izquierda Diario (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  29. ^ Bonilla, Natalia (5 July 2016). "El doble rechazo de las mujeres trans en Argentina" [The double rejection of trans women in Argentina]. El Pais (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  30. ^ "Argentina transgender killings spark outcry". BBC News. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  31. ^ "El crimen de Diana Sacayán puede quedar impune" [Diana Sacayán's murder may go unpunished]. Cosecha Roja (in Spanish). 19 November 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  32. ^ a b "Postergan el juicio por el travesticidio de Diana Sacayán: empieza el 12 de marzo" [The trial for the transvesticicide of Diana Sacayán is postponed: it begins on March 12]. Agencia Presentes (in Spanish). 14 February 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  33. ^ Radi, Blas; Sardá-Chandiramani, Alejandra (2016). "Travesticide / transfemicide: Coordinates to think crimes against travestis and trans women in Argentina" (PDF). Bulletin of the Gender Observatory of the Justice of the City of Buenos Aires. Acta Académica. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  34. ^ "Killer handed life sentence for brutal murder in historic transvesticide trial". Buenos Aires Herald. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  35. ^ "Perpetua por el travesticidio de Diana Sacayán" [Life for the transvesticicide of Diana Sacayán]. Cosecha Roja (in Spanish). 18 June 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  36. ^ "Condena histórica por el asesinato de Diana Sacayán" [Historic conviction for the murder of Diana Sacayán]. Argentina Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (Press release) (in Spanish). 18 June 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  37. ^ "Diana Sacayán: llevaron a dos millones de pesos la recompensa para dar con el coautor del travesticidio" [Diana Sacayán: the reward was raised to two million pesos to find the co-conspirator of the transvesticicide]. Página 12 (in Spanish). 12 January 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  38. ^ Lahrichi, Kamilla (19 September 2015). "Argentine province adopts law requiring transgender hires". USA Today. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  39. ^ "Cupo laboral travesti-trans: la ley Diana Sacayán en el Congreso" [Transvestite-trans job quota: the Diana Sacayán law in Congress]. LatFem (in Spanish). 16 July 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  40. ^ Bistagnino, Paula; Caminos, Luciana (10 May 2019). "Mapa del cupo laboral travesti-trans en Argentina" [Map of the transvestite-trans job quota in Argentina]. Agencia Presentes (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  41. ^ Brunetto, Santiago (11 June 2021). "Diputados dio media sanción al proyecto de cupo e inclusión laboral travesti trans" [Deputies gave half sanction to the transvestite transsexual quota and labor inclusion project]. Página 12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  42. ^ Gitraich, Ariel (24 June 2021). "El cupo laboral travesti trans ya es ley en Argentina" [The transvestite trans job quota is now law in Argentina]. Agencia Presentes (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  43. ^
  44. ^ Ponsone, Julián (20 October 2023). "Las travas a la Rosada". Página 12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  45. ^ Monfort, Flor (8 May 2024). "La película "Fue travesticidio" volvió a ser premiada y necesita más apoyo para terminar su realización" [The film "It Was Travesticide" was awarded again and needs more support to finish its production]. Página 12 (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  46. ^ "M.A.L. Movimiento antidiscriminatorio de liberacion | Grupo MAL". grupomal.blogspot.com.ar. Retrieved 26 November 2017.


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