Merida, Yucatan — A rally to support what they call “the most vulnerable and marginalized of minorities” is planned Sunday in the main square.
The Yucatan Transgender Association, or Yucatrans, will be joined by a variety of civic groups 6 p.m. Sunday, March 31, on the Plaza Grande. The rally coincides with the International Transgender Day of Visibility.
Transgender individuals suffer from labor and educational discrimination and their demands for equal rights are usually minimized, said one of the Yucatrans organizers, Muñeca Aguilar Martínez.
The activist said that society and political leaders in Yucatan should recognize that the needs of the trans community are different from those of the gay community.
While gay and lesbian groups are fighting for the legalization of equal marriage, transgender people urgently need to approve the gender change law in the state to be able to get work or have access to schools.
Transgender people in Mexico City have been allowed to change their gender and name on their birth certificates since 2004. A bill to update Yucatan’s laws was introduced last spring, but went nowhere.
Speakers at the Yucatrans rally will address issues such as equality, dignity and discrimination. It will demand “a solution of equity in which the physical is not important, but the contribution we make as human beings” and access to social development projects, as well as respect for their human rights. “We are not crazy people or criminals,” said Aguilar Martínez.
The event will also carry out various activities to raise awareness about discrimination and diversity. In one of them, called “My clothes, from expression to oppression” in English, people are invited to write testimonies of discrimination for the clothes they wear.
Participants will also carry out a performance honoring the trans community’s pink-and-blue international flag as well as offer a musical presentation.
Source: La Jornada Maya
