"In the coming years, there will be a greater participation of trans people in the political and social sectors”

Individual and Collective

My name is Juana Ramos Cantó. I´m actvist of trans movement since 1992. Most of the time I worked at "Transexualia", as part or my activism labor. "Transexualia" ia a pioneer group in the fight for the rights of trans people in Spain, it was founded in 1987. Since 2006 until now I was also part of other more ideological and political groups as "Sidewalk”, a group of very young LGBT people but that is in contact with other social movements with the idea of mainstream LGBT fighting and reconcile with others, with the idea of operate on a non-corporate way. This means, it´s so important to uphold our rights to equality as women and men as defending the right to freedom from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in this sense, work and collaborate with the feminist movement, as has been seen in Feminists Meeting made in Granada (www.feministas.org/jornadas.html) from December 5th to 8th 2009. The movement for the rights of migrants also seems very important because it is one of the groups that currently has many problems, because that many of the migrants are also gays, lesbians, transsexuals and bisexuals. With policies being implemented in the European Union to control migration, migrants' rights are being increasingly violated.

From left, unmarked

I don´t member of any party, though my ideology leans left. In Spain, many of those who do not do political parties are campaigning in politics through social movements. I don´t like the word anti, although it is possible that the fight I'm doing it is considered anti in some respects. In my opinion make a revolution involves a lot of blood, pain and suffering. But yes I would like to change society and social structure but without violence, through peaceful actions in the streets which make visible our demands. One focus of concern to us and defend from the collective "Sidewalk" is evolution that is taking the movement in LGBT Pride events on June 28, to which we have called the commodification of gay pride. Here and in many parts of the world, the gay movement has made a pact with business groups for more quickly the right to a social space in exchange for money. It is true that the construction of rights has gone quite fast in recent years but, in return, is being allowed entering floats manifestations of multinationals such as Google and at other times, a company that is marked "infinitely gay," but whose business practices are not in any sense ethics. To give you an idea of the brand company "infinitely gay" years ago and registered trademarks Pride and Europride . When we tried to do here the expression of Europride 2007, the company said, "You have no right to take Europride posters with the name because it is a name that we have patented. Such practices seem contrary to the interests of the movement, as they are moving out of any economic benefit. An example of a peaceful action was that we did in Europride 2007 in Madrid. Around a hundred of activist stopped the "infinitely gay" car for ten minutes and showed a panel with the inscription "Our rights are not a business".

In establishing this link with business is going completely against the collective "sidewalk" and we are not interested in have this relation. We oppose the commodification of pride we are proud to claim more political and less brands companies, do not want brands in the demonstrations. As in the demonstration on 1 May by the International Workers' Day, nor Coca Cola brands neither the English Court or any other company. We at the Pride rally marks or not we believe it is a claim that is out of place, on the contrary, I think it is perfectly logical and coherent. However, it happens that our movement has made this pact with business -or capitalism, if we mean a more symbolic- to, in turn, become potential consumers in a market "rose".

Progressive Education

My education and training has been a mix something spectacular and curious at the same time. First, my parents fought in the communist party, were not religious and worked for the struggle against Franco, on the other, my grandmother was an activist and a believer Franco. This education has helped me to not be dogmatic and relativize some ideologies.

This contrast, apart from causing me much confusion, has helped me to have a non-fundamentalist stance of groups and individuals. After ten or eleven I started to stop believing and realizing that the existence of God was not possible. From my point of view, what I could see with my eyes and did not think I have grown as has been consolidating this agnostic view in my life.

My shift started at my 24th birthday, when I decided to start with hormonación. I had a very difficult adolescence. Used drugs, which at that time was quite unusual in Spain, and had strong depressive stages where I hated myself knowing I had a very strong relationship with my sexuality, but was not able to face it. From 20 years old, just starting to take my condition from the intellectual point of view and deep on it.

I finished the race in agricultural engineering technology, though I have the title because to have it you have to have the project. I've been very consistent. I studied a little here, a little further. I studied a year of psychology at the UNECE. I also have a year of Social Work. I am a little bit of everything and a lot of nothing, as those people of the Renaissance humanists.

My profesional life had also been very variable. I had worked cleanning offices, as an employee in a store plant, as a gardener, and also as a consultor in a engineer enterprise, and now I applying for a work in the public administration. I think I had been dedicated to trans activism as it was my job for living (voluntary and with lot of proud).

Progress in legislation, social advances

I think the policies on LGBT rights that is being implemented by the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has been the most evolved. For example, the law allowing civil marriage between same-sex has been a law very brave, because it has provoked a confrontation with a very large part of the political spectrum in this country that are a little less than half. We have to keep in mind that in Spain the right is very strong and has drawn people to the streets to demonstrate against the Civil Marriage Act Zapatero. However, the government has followed in his line of practice policies for the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender.

For the groups has been impressive to win approval of these laws, because we have many years of work and confrontation against a wall and that didn´t listening to us. When ruling Socialist Party, led by Felipe González, we used to talk with different levels of government, but it was virtually impossible to move into the realm of our rights. The same situation was repeated when was Popular Party in the power. By 2004, when the Socialist Party returned to power, we had to push a little, but we finally got our goals.

Civil marriage was first approved in 2005. However, the law of identity that is in reality Law 3/2007 in which regulates about registration on the sex, the law that allow transsexuals to change of name and change the sex delayed a little more and it was only in 2007 that saw the final show. With regard to transsexuals has finally approved the law but needed a push from the association movement. Anyway, as new generation of trans activists had already said, the Law of Identity is base on a conception of transsexuality that imply pathologization and that is why they ask for a certificate of having gender dysphoria in order to have access to hte law. This certificate is not inocent, it contribute to perpetuate an stigma and also discrimination. From our movement we ask for a conception of transsexuality free of pathologization. This vindication is part of the campaign Stop Pathologization Trans 2012 that is coordinated by International Network of Trans No Pathologization.

From my point of view these two laws are the formal approval of government administration to the condition gay, lesbian and transsexual. Is a symbolic way to communicate to society that gays, lesbians and transgender persons subject of rights, like the rest of the citizens. Today there is greater social acceptance, it is not so unusual to be gay or lesbian or transsexual. What happens is that we live in a society deeply Catholic and very traditional, so we still have a lot of reluctance to move into the realm of the rights of LGBT people.

In this country, the basic Christian movement has been instrumental in the transition years. This has been a major driver of change towards democratic transition and I can say that there is a substantial difference between the hierarchy-starring the Episcopal Conference and the Christian movement based.

Political contributions of trans people

We had several important figures in this country, transsexuals who have excelled in the struggle for these rights and who have done important work. People like Carla Antonelli, who from within the Socialist Party has pushed for the rights to be put into practice, and behind her a lot of other trans activists in shodows. However, given that transgender people even today we remain of the groups most stigmatized by society, very often we do not have the political preparation for participation in these changes. However, as we progress in achieving rights activists are emerging trans, much better prepared, so it is predictable that in coming years, new generations have a much more active and transcendent than we had in generations past.

Conflicts

We have walked together with gays and lesbians, although initially there were many prejudices. Gays and lesbians did´nt understand very well the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity, and so I had to explain little by little, but once we did it in different forums of the LGBT movement came to be clear about the difference. At first there was much confusion, it was thought that transgender people were sexual in a greater degree, that we changed our bodies to make life "easier."

When the Socialist Party won the elections of 2004 we met with various ministries to request that election promises are met regarding the rights to the name change, identity, access legal and health rights. That the Socialist Party made us move to separate the two rights on one side would have to leave a law of identity and secondly health rights, as for us would have been much better covered. Then the law of identity seemed much easier to get, in this sense, we were given many promises, but to expand the time we had to do a demonstration unit, which we call trans May 2006, similar to May 68. It was a revolution for the trans movement for transgender people work together in all parts of the state and ruling party had the gay press movement, especially at first, but then joined the mobilization.

At first we had to separate the gay movement to directly claim this law, it was necessary because then the gay movement had a very strong link with the government, so that as already approved the law of marriage and it was not so urgent to aprove the law of transgender, so transsexuals planted us to say that our law was as important as theirs and that had to perform well. That's what we get with the mobilization of May 2006.

We have campaigned to claim people trans health rigths and we also have tensions with the gay and lesbians movement; but today we can say that we’re ok, here is good relations

LGTBI Movement

I would not talk of one but of many LGBTI movement, because now we are seeing a categorization into two classes: a ruling and an independent. Ruling in the gay movement there are different groups or federations which do not mix very well together: the FELGTB, Federation of transgendered people gay and bisexual, the Triangle Foundation and Colleagues Federation. These three federations with an extensive infrastructure and resources coexist but do not get along because they aspire to have the maximum range of representation of LGBT movement. Also in the independence movement there is much diversity: there are groups that are more related to the feminist movement and others in the OKUPA movement. This last movement is characterized by occupying buildings that are empty to give it a political use, fight against property speculation that is causing the increase in house prices and the right to use public spaces and neighbors without the intervention of the institutions.

At this point in the Spanish State there are several networks encompassing independent groups such as the network against homophobia that comes from Cataluña and have made several joint campaigns such as: the struggle against the commodification of gay pride, the struggle for health rights for transsexuals, trans despatologización network in which we have also been many independent LGBT groups, along with feminist groups.

Feminist Alleis

In the women's movement in the 80s created the Lesbian Feminist Collective of Madrid, a group whose objective was to mainstream the struggles of feminism and lesbianism. It was from this group that arose in the 1993 State conference feminists hold a panel on transsexualism with the participation of transgender speakers, which marked the opening of the feminist movement to transsexual women as Kim Perez, who talked in that panel. In this regard, since 1993, in Madrid, transgender people come to participate in the organization of activities on March 8, International Women's Day as a more collective, and in that sense I can say that the feminist movement has been very sensitive to the rights of trans people.

The days in Granada have been another big step. There have passed our joint work in different contexts, feminism and sexual diversity because they have much to do and are closely related. The right to own bodies and sexuality are free early feminist movement and in this sense we share. In the days of 2000 there were two tables with the participation of transgender Kim Perez and Laura Giovallo. They contributed discourse theory and the feminist movement. The 2009 we have witnessed the sharing of practical reality transfeminista joint work, as we have decided to call it. It is likely that this term we fall short in a short time and we have to change because there are many other groups who are not included, sometimes the terms in the time named, also excluded.

Interview Belissa Andía Pérez
Granada, December 2009