Transgender people march on Visibility Day, demanding rights and remembering that the fight continues

The Transgender Day of Visibility march takes place on Sunday in Lisbon, demanding rights, remembering the violence that trans people are still victims of, and as a moment of celebration to advocate that “the fight continues.”

The march is being organized by Transmutar, a network of trans, non-binary and intersex activists, and in a conversation with the agency Lusa Caeiro, one of the members of the organization explained that this is an initiative that is part of the month of trans visibility, which takes place in March.

“We want to highlight our existence, that we also have rights and responsibilities, and also protest against a lot of the violence that still exists against this particular community,” Cairo said.

He stressed that there are fears that there may be a setback in terms of the rights achieved, taking into account the current political scenario of the country after the legislative elections that brought victory to the Democratic Alliance but made the Chega Party a third political force. force.

“But in reality, our demand is also a celebration of our own body, and it is a stamp of foot that we continue to exist and are not going anywhere,” Caeiro said.

Facing fears that violence against the trans community will increase, a group of activists say the “fight continues.”

“There is always a question of prejudice against such people who do not bring harm to society, on the contrary, they are quite functional, but there really is resistance,” he noted.

On the other hand, he highlighted health, education, as well as social life as areas in which processes need to be improved and discrimination tackled, be it access to transition processes or the inclusion in schools of children or young people who go through these processes.

As for the number of people who might ultimately join Sunday’s demonstration, Caeiro said the movement has received “good feedback” on social media” and that the organization “has done an exceptional job” of getting the largest number of people to attend, stressing that this event is open to everyone.

According to Transmutar, the march begins with a rally in front of the Assembly of the Republic at 15:30, from where it heads towards the Lisbon City Council, in Praça do Municipio, where the second rally of the march will take place and remember the “refusal [presidente da Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, Carlos] Coins when raising the flag [da comunidade trans] last year”.

Then, at 17:00, the demonstration will head to Dom Pedro IV Square, better known as Rossio, where speeches, an open mic and performances will take place.

March 31 marks International Transgender Day of Visibility, founded by North American trans activist Rachel Crandall in 2009 to protest the lack of recognition of transgender people within the LGBTI community itself and the fact that the only recognized anniversary of the transgender community is the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, which commemorates those killed transgender people.

Since last year, this date has also become national after it was approved by the Assembly of the Republic with votes in favor of the PS, Liberal Initiative, PCP, BE and individual deputies from the PAN and Livre.