Category Archives: Santiago, Chile

Juan, Creative Director, Santiago, Chile

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong


Juan, in his own words: “I think being gay to me has been something normal in my life. As I work with Images and Social Media strategy, I think been gay helped me to be more sensitive for my work, have a different feeling about aesthetic and graphic arts.

One of my challenges is to build a latin american social media company with presence in most of the countries of the region. I am so passionate about human behavior and consumers and I think that in latin america there is a lack of this kind of business, so I work everyday trying to understand brands and connect them with their consumers.

Well as I am not a resident in Santiago, I don’t have much to say (with regards to the gay community in Santiago), but the gay people that I know here, they are very kind and very opened to new ideas, new people and new things. Also the gay community in Santiago is very creative and like to mix with other people, they are just not closed to gay people only.

Well, as I was born and raised in Bogota, Colombia is a very closed minded society. At the first time I told my mom, she just started crying and asked herself some questions about my education at school and home. A month later my mom was still crying but she was more opened to understand my life. I introduced her all my friends with the purpose that they were the same as me. In Colombia certain kind of people think that we as gay people use hills and lipstick. After that everything goes normal, I really have an open relation with my mom, she knows my boyfriend, I talk to her about me and its all okay.

My advice is to be yourself. Being you, is the only way you can achieve objectives, be happy and be a better person!”

Jaime, Councilman/Author/Activist, Santiago, Chile

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong


photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

Jaime, in his own words: “Ser gay es, a la vez, una forma de vivir mis afectos y una causa política.
Vivo mis afectos con quien quiero vivirlos y en esto me declaro un afortunado. Soy del pequeño porcentaje de chilenos que puede tomar la mano a su pareja en la calle, o que puede compartir una reunión con familiares o amigos sin tener que ocultar la propia esencia. Lamentablemente la vivencia de un homosexual en Chile no sólo tiene que ver con orientación, sino que también con el segmento socioeconómico al que pertenece. Ser gay y pobre en Latinoamérica es doblar la discriminación de la que eres sujeto, lo que te deja en una posición de vulnerabilidad absoluta por razones que no necesito explicar.

En tanto causa política, el activismo LGBTI ha sido mi gran motor de vida en los últimos años. Esto que me pasa a mí, creo, le está pasando a muchos, ya que las voces que defienden esta causa se han multiplicado, así como las tribunas dispuestas para ello. Yo hablo desde la política, pero otros –cada vez más- lo hacen desde la academia, las artes, la ciencia, la educación, por nombrar sólo algunos. Hoy se está haciendo activismo en el día a día: el joven que lucha por convencer a su abuela de que lo nuestro son derechos es, en algún sentido, también un activista. Suelo hablar de microactivismo y pienso que, multiplicado por miles, será el que permitirá cambiar definitivamente la cultura.

No creo que haya una comunidad LGBT. Prefiero hablar de población, pues la “comunidad” supone intereses o necesidades comunes que, en el caso LGBTI, están algo desdibujadas. En Chile, por ejemplo, el modelo perverso de estratificación social existe, también, para nuestra población, lo que distancia a los gais ricos de los más pobres. Así como hay quienes detestan la idea de matrimonio igualitario y sólo quieren uniones civiles, también hay homosexuales lesbo o transfóbicos; existen quienes gustan del gueto y otros que no, etc . Por lo mismo, identificar una comunidad se transforma en una difícil operación del intelecto. En este sentido, la diversidad opera hasta en sus acepciones más negativas cuando se trata de Latinoamérica.

He salido del clóset muchas veces. Primero lo hice con mis hermanos, quienes me lo preguntaron a los 18 años; luego con mis padres, a los 20; con mis amigos, a los 21; y con la sociedad completa, a mis 33, cuando publiqué un intercambio de emails sobre matrimonio igualitario con mi sobrino en la revista más leída de Chile, The Clinic. Creo que lo que hice a mis veinte fue el entrenamiento para lo que habría de venir. En esa década aprendí a monitorear quiénes serían comprensivos con mi realidad y a construir un discurso de autoafirmación y de autovalidación. Lo que sembré hace 15 años hoy lo estoy cosechando como activista.

Mi recomendación es: si puede salir del clóset, hágalo. Si siente que puede manejar la situación, no lo dude; ganará usted y ganaran quienes lo quieren o respetan. Pero si cree que la situación no es propicia para hacerlo, espere un buen momento y no permita críticas en este sentido. Como decimos en Chile: “cada cual sabe dónde le aprieta el zapato”

In English:

“Being gay is, at the same time, a way to live my feelings, and a political cause.

I live my feelings with whomever I want, and so, I declare myself a very lucky man. I belong to the small percentage of Chileans that can grab their partner’s hand on the street, or can share a family or friend reunion without hiding my own essence. Unfortunately, the way a homosexual man lives and is treated in Chile doesn’t only concern orientation, but the socioeconomic environment he belongs to; being gay and poor in Latin America enhances discrimination, which leaves a gay man in an absolutely vulnerable position, for reasons I do not have to explain.

As a political cause, LGBTQ activism has been, in recent years, the great engine of my life. What’s happening to me, I believe, is happening to many more, because the voices supporting this cause have multiplied, just as the public spaces to do so. I speak from policy, but others -to an increasing extent- speak from academia, the arts, and science. Activism lives every day through our actions. The young man who argues with his grandmother about our rights, is also an activist. I usually talk about micro-activism, and I think, multiplied by thousands, it’ll be the one that will allow our culture to definitely change.

I don’t think there is an LGBTQ community in Santiago. I’d rather say population, because “community” supposes interest and joined necessities, which in the LGBTQ case, are not very clear. In Chile, for example, the perverse model of social stratification exists for the LGBTQ population, which broadens the gap between rich and poor gay men. In the same way, there are people in our community who detest the idea of marriage equality, and only want civil unions; there are also homosexuals who discriminate against lesbians or transgender people; there are some who love the ghetto, and others who don’t. Therefore, identifying a community becomes a difficult intellectual task. In this regard, diversity in Latin America operates even in its more negative senses.

I’ve came out of the closet many times. First with my brothers, who asked me at 18; then with my parents at 20; with my friends at 21; and with the rest of society at 33, when I published an exchange of e-mails with my nephew about marriage equality,on the most read magazine in Chile, The Clinic. I think what I did at 20’s was my training for the things to come. In that decade I learned to identify who would be comprehensive with my reality, and to create a speech of self-affirmation and self-validation. What I sowed 15 years ago, I am now harvesting as an activist.

My advice to young people is: If you can go out of the closet, do it. If you feel you can handle the situation, don’t doubt yourself; you and the people who love and respect you, will win at the end. But if you think the situation is far from ideal, wait for some time, and don’t allow criticism about it. Like we say in Chile: “Everyone knows where the shoe tightens.”

Claudia, Transgender Activist/Author, Santiago, Chile

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong


photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong


photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truong

photo by Kevin Truon

photo by Kevin Truon

Claudia, in her own words: “Ser mujer trans significa reconocerme como persona, con derechos humanos, con autodeterminación para guiar y elegir lo que yo deseo hacer, vivir, sentir. en mi vida. Es una oportunidad de vivir la diversidad y educar, señalando que ser persona trans no es ser una persona enferma y es un camino legítimo en el que a pesar de muchas dificultades, rechazos, discriminaciones, falta de leyes que nos protegan y políticas públicas, se puede disfrutar de lo simple de la vida, siempre mirándo con un sentido de resilencia y de fortaleza el camino, a pesar de discriminaciones, falta de empleo, humillaciones y cuestionamientos por elegir un género y vivirlo. Es difícil ver una forma positiva en la transexualidad cuando la sociedad en forma completa te invisibiliza y te rechaza por ser diferente, te patologiza y te encasilla en prejuicios. Pero he aprendido a no ver lo negativo que las personas ven y siempre ver que de toda dificultad, menosprecio e intolerancia, puede nacer una oportunidad y una esperanza.

El gran error a mi juicio acerca de las personas trans, es que las personas y las ciencias médicas y de la psicología y una sociedad completa ve generalmente en el ser trans, una enfermedad psiquiátrica, porque el binarismo, la heteronormatividad, el patriarcado y la medicina nos ha hecho ver siempre como enfermos, peligrosos, desestabilizadores de las normas del género, de la sexualidad. Incluso en algunas universidades se enseña que somos enfermos mentales. Y eso no es así. Es un gran error por ello luchamos día a día aquí. Incluso la organización mundial de la salud está trabajándo para despatologizar la transexualidad. Nosotros la sociedad civil del mundo estamos exigiendo que la transexualidad deje de ser considerada una enfermedad y un trastorno mental.

Primero darme cuenta o tomar razón en mi infancia a la edad de 4 años, de que mi sentir interno mi vida, mis vivencias, mi visión de las cosas y de mi entorno y mi conexión con mis sentimientos eran claramente femeninas a pesar de haber nacido con sexo genital masculino. Ello provocaba una transgresión a mi entorno, a mis padres, a la iglesia, a la escuela. Yo en la infancia me transformaba así, en una transgresión a lo establecido, a lo normativo. Luego en mi adolescencia luchar contra los cambios físicos que se producían por la naturaleza, por los cambios hormonales masculinos y luchar contra ello marcó mi vida, pero lo logré. Tener la oportunidad de poder acceder a estudiar y gracias a mi esfuerzo poder estudiar la carrera de obstetricia y transformarme en profesional de la salud, fuerón logros importántes como mujer trans. Una golpiza por parte de hombres neonazis, casi me hace perder la vida, casi me asesinaron y me dispuso esta situación la oportunidad de recuperarme y luchar por mis derechos. Por ello me transformé en activista y luchar por mi dignidad y mi identidad de género en Chile. Luego trabajar en el sistema de salud fue muy motivador, pero lo malo era que siempre vivía la discriminación por ser una mujer trans. No ha sido nada fácil superar todo aquello, pero he sobrevivido. Hace 3 años me despidieron de un empleo en un hospital y por ser una mujer trans y nadie me daba trabajo, solamente podía sobrevivir en lo que pudiese aprender. Estuve muy enferma, mi ánimo muy deprimido, muchas personas malas querían que hiciera cosas ilegales para sobrevivir. Y mi novio me ayudó a encontrar un trabajo en fast food donde pude escondida poder trabajar ya que no tenía mi cédula de identificación con mi nombre claudia y mi sexo femenino. Mediante una demanda civil, pude lograr sin exigencias de cirugías y exámenes vejatorios poder obtener mi identificación y todo ha valido la pena, me fortaleci, me transformé en una mujer luchadora e inspiradora, dando el mensaje de que en medio de la adversidad, se puede renacer como el ave fenix.

Me hice una persona pública, debido a mi historia, ya que en revistas y reportajes en televisión y radios contaban mi historia de vida y la presentaban en Chile, como algo único, impresionante, una historia de fortaleza y valor, una historia de ir contra la corriente siendo persona trans y de luchar por ser feliz sin perder la esperanza. Luego me transformé en una líder que defiende los derechos de todas las personas trans de chile y de la comunidad gay en su conjunto. Comencé a asistir a conferencias de la sociedad civil y a educar a parlamentarios y eso hago hoy. Y cuento mi vida a través de facebook en un portal que se llama el diario vivir de una mujer transexual chilena.Estoy escribiendo un libro sobre mi vida, un libro motivador a luchar y defender tus ideales, tus sueños y tu identidad.

(The gay community in Santiago) En diversa, es multicultural, es organizada, es alegre, es solidaria, nos divertimos mucho a pesar de la intolerancia y discriminaciones, por falta de leyes que nos protegan y a pesar de que se nos patologiza, a pesar de que nuestras familias no nos comprenden debido a influencias conservadoras y prejuicios que hacen daño, estamos luchándo. Aquí tenemos muchos problemas y creo que el más grave es que niños trans son invisibilizados, sufren bullyng y adolescentes gays, lesbianas, trans sufren humillaciones y no tenemos leyes que protegan a la infancia de nuestra comunidad. Pero estamos luchándo por derechos civiles, por leyes, por cambios y políticas públicas que nos permitan desarrollarnos.Somos un grupo humano muy empoderado. Nuestras marchas son pacíficas y le demostramos al mundo que en Chile somos un movimiento social que se une a la esperanza y los hechos, a fin de cambiar a una sociedad intolerante, para construir un mejor pais, libre de prejuicios, de intolerancias y humillaciones simplemente por amar, por querer casarnos, por exigir nuestros derechos humanos, por exigir una ley de identidad de género, un acuerdo de vida en pareja, poder adoptar niños y dar amor y ser felices y contribuir a la sociedad con amor.Todos trabajamos con amor por estos objetivos.

Que se mire al espejo que se pregunte si es feliz, que se vea a si mismo como una persona que puede luchar por sus sueños, que puede marchar, que puede buscar ayuda si no puede hacerlo por si misma, que puede en su comunidad ser lo que desee ser y elegir como vivir su vida. Que a pesar de muchas dificultades sea una persona que siempre vea el vaso medio lleno y que sea capaz de ser una persona que luche por sus derechos, que se una a la sociedad civil, que trabajemos juntos para lograr leyes, politicas públicas y que con su historia de vida le diga a una país como Chile que tenemos los mismos derechos que cualquier persona, que somos ciudadanos, que podemos elegir, que podemos empoderarnos, que podemos ser líderes, que podemos contribuir a hacer cambios, para construir una sociedad pluralista, donde se pueda ser libre de pensar y de decidir sobre tu propio cuerpo de amar sin restricciones ni prejuicios. Para así contribuir a ser mejores personas y erradicar las injusticias y decir que el hecho de que ser parte de la comunidad de Gays, lesbianas, trans, bisexuales, intersexuales de Chile es un orgullo y una oportunidad de educar a un país que necesita de la diversidad para avanzar y construir un país cada día mejor.”

In English:

“Being a trans woman means recognizing me as a person, recognizing my human rights, and having the self-determination to guide and choose what I want to do, live, and feel in my life. It is an opportunity to experience the diversity and education, noting that being a trans person is not to be sick person, it is a legitimate way to live in spite of many difficulties, rejection, discrimination, lack of laws that protect. We can enjoy the simplicity of life, always beheld with a sense of resilience and strength in a way, despite discrimination, unemployment, humiliation and questions of choosing a genre and life. It is difficult to see a positive effect on transsexuality when society makes you completely invisible and will reject you for being different, you and I are pigeonholed by pathologies and prejudice. But I’ve learned not to focus on what people see negatively and always to see that with every hardship, scorn and intolerance, can be born a chance and a hope.

The big mistake in my opinion people make about trans people is people and medical sciences and psychology and an entire society generally that sees being trans as a psychiatric illness, because the binary, heteronormative, patriarchy and medicine has always shown us as sick, dangerous, destabilizing of gender norms, sexuality. Even some universities are taught that we are mentally ill. And that is not so. It is a great challenge to fight for it every day here. Even the World Health Organization is working to de-pathologize transsexuality. We the civil society in the world are demanding that transsexualism no longer be considered a disease and a mental disorder.

I first realized in my childhood at the age of 4 years, my inner feeling that my life, my experiences, my view of things and my surroundings and my connection with my feelings were clearly female despite being born with male genitals. This caused a transgression of my environment, my parents, church, and school. I transformed my childhood and, in a violation of the established, to the normative. Then in my teens I had to fight the physical changes occurring in nature, for male hormonal changes and the fight marked my life, but I managed. Having the opportunity to access education and my efforts to pursue a career in obstetrics and transformative healthcare, were important achievements as trans women. A neo-Nazi beat by men, almost making ​​me lose my life. He almost killed me and I decided this situation was an opportunity to recover and fight for my rights. So I became an activist to fight for my dignity and gender identity in Chile. Working in the health system was very motivating, but the trouble was that I always lived discrimination for being a trans woman. It has not been easy to overcome everything, but I’ve survived. 3 years ago I was laid off from a job in a hospital and being a trans woman, nobody gave me a job. I could only survive in what I could learn. I was very sick, very depressed with my spirits, many bad people wanted me to do illegal things to survive. And my boyfriend helped me find a job in fast food where I hid to work because I had no ID card with my name as Claudia. Through a lawsuit, I could achieve without demands of surgeries and humiliating tests to get my ID and everything was worth it, I had strength, I became a fighter and inspiring woman, giving the message that in the midst of adversity, you can be reborn like the phoenix bird.

I became a public person, because of my history and magazines and television reports and radios had my life story and presented it to Chile, as a unique, amazing story of strength and courage, a history of going against the current being trans and striving to be a happy person without losing hope. Then I transformed into a leader who defends the rights of all persons in Chile, the trans and gay community as a whole. I started attending conferences and educating civil society and Parliamentarians to do that today. And I recount my life through Facebook in a portal called “the daily lives of a Chilean transsexual woman.” I am writing a book about my life, a motivator to fight and defend your ideals, your dreams and your identity.

(The gay community in Santiago) is diverse, multicultural, organized, cheerful, it has solidarity, we have a great time despite the intolerance and discrimination, lack of laws that protect us and although we were pathologized, even though our families do not understand us because of conservative influences and prejudices that harm, we are fighting. Here we have many problems and I think the worst part is that trans children are invisible, suffer bullying and gay teens, lesbians, trans suffer humiliations and we need laws that protect the children of our community. But we are fighting for civil rights, for law, for changes and public policies that empowered us. Our marches are peaceful and we show the world we are a social movement that binds to the hope and facts, to switch to an intolerant society, to build a better country, free of prejudice, intolerance and humiliation just in Chile to love, to want to marry, demand our human rights by demanding a law on gender identity, an agreement to form a couple, to adopt children and give love and be happy and contribute to society through work with love. These are the objectives.

(Advice I’d give to my younger self) Let the mirror be wondering if he is happy, that sees himself as a person who can pursue their dreams, they can go, you can get help if you can not do it by itself, which can be in your community. Look and be how you want to be and choose how to live your life. In spite of many difficulties be a person who always sees the glass as half full and be a person who will fight for your rights, join the civil society to work together to make laws, public policies so that your life story will tell of a country like Chile with equal rights for everyone. We are citizens, we can choose, we can empower ourselves, we can be leaders, we can help to make changes, to build a pluralistic society, where we can be free to think and decide on our own body to love without restrictions or prejudices. To contribute to better people and eradicate injustice and say that being part of the community of Gay, lesbian, trans, bisexual, intersex, Chile is an honor and an opportunity to educate a country that needs the diversity to advance and build a better country every day.”