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Outside the binary - 16th December 2022
Shane Cienfuegos is the first person in Chile to have a gender-neutral ID card. Cienfuegos’s victory came after a 9 year legal battle fighting the government through the courts. Now, instead of an 'F' for female or 'M' for male under gender, Cienfuegos’s ID has an 'X'.
However, Chile still only recognises male or female gender identities. Others face the same legal fight if they want their gender identity on their ID.
Cienfuegos will continue fighting for equal rights.
Shane Cienfuegos: "Non-binarism, trans-feminism is a way of understanding society so that it is much freer, so we can advance to a state of law, to a state of well-being where regardless of how we see ourselves, or how we feel, we can be part of something as beautiful as society."
Cienfuegos, who survived bullying throughout childhood, has suffered several violent attacks. People want to silence them for speaking for non-binary rights.
They’ve published a book which details their experience.
Shane Cienfuegos: "I have survived, I have made myself tough, to survive a cruel, dehumanising system that only wants to leave us on the streets, and it is good that now we are in all spaces (all sectors of society)."
Chilean society’s changed significantly over the last decade. The country had been a dictatorship until 1990 and was strongly influenced by the Catholic Church. But today, same sex couples can legally marry and are free to adopt children.
In 2012, the country passed new anti-discrimination laws. However, in 2021, there were 1,114 reported incidents of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination. Data also reveal that many trans people die young, with murder the most common cause of death – but many also end their own lives.
Marcela Cortes feels that trans people need more support.
Marcela Cortes: "Trans people in this country are not seen. There are few trans people that reach this age, most of them die very young. My friends, my colleagues, have died young. We go through a daily struggle, bad health, there is still discrimination, homophobia, that hasn't ended in this country. We are not seen by the government."
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