View of trans reality in Chile

In the year 2005, Transsexuals for the Dignity of Diversity Organization (Organización de Transexuales por la Dignidad de la Diversidad, OTD) was formed with legal status. Since then OTD has opened a path to make visible the transsexual men topic, which had not been part of any other LGBTTI organization. The visibilization was complete, they consider their rights, discriminations and demands.

OTD in the two years of operation has achieved many things such as: a base for the discussion of transsexual topics within the Government, Society, and Judicial Power, and in many issues such as health, as well as creating a network in hospitals. Thanks to this support, transsexual men have the opportunity to decide and be evaluated psychologically and psychiatrically, some of them also have had sexual reassignment surgery, mastectomies and hysterectomies with specialists in hospitals that were paid for by the State. Today there are more hospitals in other regions that belong to this network.

OTD is the first organization for transsexual men and a reference for transsexuals in Chile. Today there is also another group for transsexual men, without legal affiliation that uses health networks formed by OTD and helps transsexual men.

The path is already there. There is some respect for transsexual men, a path of success in which it is possible to see some men as they were born, because now they know they are not alone, instead they have a path of dignity and equality.

In our work we are not free of envy, bad critics and personal attacks in order to destroy the image of OTD and also mine, but we know the cost of being made visible in society and having an honest job and these situations does not make us weak, on the contrary they make us fight stronger.

In relation to other LGBTTI groups, everywhere, the use of “T” just to justify a job, in order to increase their statistics, ask for more money, but NOT to work with the trans population, on the contrary their objectives do not focus on us.

Transsexual men have some advantages in belonging to a ‘machista’ society because it produces a masculinity. Being a woman was not to criticize and discriminate because we are more accepted as “marimachos” or “mujeres amachadas”, and that allows us to study and finish school, even finish postgraduate studies. There is some discrimination but it is not as aggressive and also not as violent that our lives are in danger.

Reality of transsexual women is much more difficult, they are treated as “maricones”. In school they are discriminated against, receive childhood disqualification, physical aggression, and mock, until finally they quit their studies which limit their options of development to qualify for jobs. Then, they became a prostitute as the only way to make a living, being exposed to the cruelty of the streets and suffering vulnerability of HIV, ETS, alcoholism and drug addiction.

Groups of transsexual women need to confront the machista society, full of discrimination by neo-Nazi’s groups that follow and kill them, as well as suffering discrimination from the state, police forces (Carabineros, Detectives), municipalities, health areas, and so on. Some transsexual women die while waiting for health care. This occurs because doctors refuse to take care of them because they are just “maricones vestidos de mujer”, without knowing that are also HUMAN BEINGS.

There are two realities very different and absolutely opposite, for transsexual men and transsexual women. In the eyes of Chilean society, there is a strong belief that transsexual women are “putas, y maricones vestidos de mujer”. Transsexual men, after four years of work are viewed as successful in terms that now they are considered as a person with the same rights. They are seen as men and not as “mujeres amachadas, o mujeres vestidas como hombres”. In the legal justice system we have two results of recognition for gender identity, with change of name and sex, without phalloplasty or a penis. This goal has been established so that transsexuals should be recognized in our society as having rights as human beings, but unfortunately that is now only a reality for transsexual men.

The Chilean Government has no policy of equality, respect and dignity for the transsexual population. We are working on a law project entitled Proyecto de Ley de Identidad de Género (Project of Gender Identity Law) with the government, and we have had workshops about the transsexual topic. The path we have to walk is still long because we want transsexuality to be included in the Health Policy of the Government.

Objectives of OTD for the year 2008 will be political ones, with emphasis on human and citizen rights and demands for legal benefits from the government. Legal and Health issues will be the most important for us.