Ilse, a member of the Assembly of Sexual and Gender Dissidents of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, called on the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual and other communities not to let go unnoticed any type of discrimination or act of violence and to look for ways to put an end to impunity.
The Assembly held a protest in recent days in the colonial city in order to highlight the hate speeches that cause the situation of violence, discrimination and precariousness that lesbian women experience.
Specifically, the collectives La Enredadera cultural space and the Assembly of Dissidents were organized based on the triple lesbicide that occurred in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
According to media in the South American country, on May 6th, a man threw a bottle full of flammable liquid into room 14 at a family hotel and set it on fire, according to the testimonies of witnesses. Inside there were four women, of whom only one has survived.
Those affected were Pamela Cobbas, 52 years old; she died hours after the attack. Her partner, Mercedes Roxana Figueroa, of the same age, died two days later, after suffering for 48 hours with burns on 90% of her body.
Andrea Amarante died a week later after the medical staff had done everything possible; she was 42 years old. The only one still alive is Amarante’s partner, Sofía Castro Riglos, 49 years old.
Faced with this event, dozens of women in San Cristóbal de Las Casas organized to participate in the national action and demand an end to violence, as well as homophobic discourse.
‘’Our request would be to call to stop hate speech and to demand justice for acts derived from lesbophobia, such as gang rapes, assaults, lesbicides and other violence that are made invisible and ignored by the organs of justice. This not only at the local level, but at the general level in the country’’, they expressed.
Finally, the Assembly called on the community to organize to make all forms of hate visible, to unite and generate care strategies for lesbian women, in this case, from the city of San Cristóbal.
Original article by Andrés Domníguez at Chiapas Parlelo, June 11th, 2024.
Translated by Schools for Chiapas.