Reflection about trans culture as space of political leadership, claim and social transformation in Latin American and Caribbean

I construsted myself in many differents manners, changeable manners between gender, sex, sexual orientation, body, wearn, race, social class, vital cycle, ideology and spirituality. These constructions always has been irreverent against “normality”, and it will be so. In the problems of discrimination that suffer trans people are involved not only heterosexual people, also homosexuals that are transfobics. That is why transvestites, transexuals, transformists and transgender people live in the most dark and terrible margination. These ideas are only the begining what I need to say before explain the relationship between tran culture and spaces of political leadership, vindications and social transformation in Latin American and Colombia.

Before start my dissertation I will tell you how was born my desire of talk about this topic. It happen in a conversation between some friends of fight LGBT, Joshua and Rodrigo. At the end of 2008, they ask me, because they don’t know about trans life, if I consider trans transformation as culture. They ask me so because in a process of citizenship consult about local cultural system, they listened a gay person, “representative” of this population, said that transformist were antiaesthetic, clowns, that what we do couldn’t name as culture, he also beleived that wasn’t necessary a local cultural council in LGBT population.

It seems to me very paradoxical that somebody representative of LGBT population, in a space of concertation and respect of human rights, talk against trans people, discrminating them and took out of culture. This is a meaningful example, that those who said are representative of the others, at the end act against others. Gay people fight to be respect their sexual orientation but marginalized those who want to be respect for his gender identity.

Transgender culture and art, specially transformist art, is a millenary art that transcendent centuries, frontiers, race, social class, sexual orientation and artistics actions. In the old times, theater and lyric songs, because some stereotypes, stigmas and ethical norms, women were forbidden to act, feminine characters were represented by men, independently of his sexual orientation, they dressed as women to represent women in stage. In other cultural manifestation, as literature, women were forced to adopt masculine names, masculine pseudonymous to publish their writings. In many cultures had been men transvestites, dressed and made up as women because of religious rituals.

In Latin American, transformism art and culture has existed for many centuries ago. Colombia is an epicenter of transformist divas for twenty year ago. I have the opportunity of go abroad (La Habana, country where I was born, Tabatinga, Buenos Aires, Lima, Quito, Caracas, Guadalajara) as ambassador Colombocubana and I share stage with other latin transformist. I really appreciate value of transformism. Diva’s presentation is not only impecable (dress, jewelry and make up), they approach to the real-fiction (“real maravilloso”). Transformist divas are trying to go beyond reverence and homage, they are trying to go farther than famous divas (Rocío Jurado, Rocío Durcal, Paloma, Isabel Pantoja, Madonna, La Lupe, Magie Carles, etc). They want to offer to spectator a great show of art and culture that was born in their hearts, share with them their habilities and emotions.

In Colombia was born many transformist legendaries divas as Linari Smith, Madame Berusca, Linda Lucía Callejas, la Chachis Show, La Lupita, Karen Michel, Adriana Fallaci, Mariana Falcón, Alexa. In Colombia also was born many contemporary divas as Roxana Miranda, Grace Kelly, Raisa Minelli, Cristal, Lina Marcela Callejas, Jennifer Quiriloba, Esmeralda. All of them had demostrated that trans culture is more than dress as women, is also performance, dance, emotions and expressions.

Transgender leadership in Latin American and specially in Colombia, had generate culture and art. It is very important to mention our participation in social movements and in the March of Citizenship, also called March of Gay Pride, from the beginning of times. To use art to communicate for the promotion of human rights, prevention, social transformation and respect of tran people is our strategy of advocacy.

To give an answer not to my friends, Joshua and Rodrigo, if not to that gay “representative” of our community, I have to assume he was ignorantness and prejudice about trans people. For him and for all those who think the same about trans people, that we are just clowns, I will explain what is the meaning of culture and art, so they could approach to my point of view, and then get their own conclusions.

¿What is define as culture? Different historical, anthropological and sociological references said that culture is the group of life forms and expressions in a society: custom, habits, practices, codes, norms, rules about how to be, how to dress, in what believed, and any system of believes, information, habilities that had a human being. UNESCO write:

Culture give men capacity of reflection about himself and this make us humans, racionals, critics and ethically committed. Through reason we know differences between values and make decisions. Through his conciousness we can express, question about our own actions, look for new meanings and create constructions that go beyond us [1].

That is why trans culture is culture.

¿What is art? Art is a form of express information, is a manner of abstraction, conceptualization and communication of emotions, images, sounds, corporal expressions. Expression of information through art is not limited. Art could express emotions but also perceptions that couldn’t be communicate in another form. Art is related with beauty. There are many arts like architecture, sculpture, paint, photography, cinematography, grafic arts, music, dance, theater and literature. Knowing definition of art we could say that trangender make art, transformism is art and art help to construct trans identities.

[1] UNESCO. Declaración Universal sobre la Diversidad Cultural.