Luana
is a 15-year-old teenager who is in her fourth year at a public school in the Province.
Up to that point, her life—and her family's—could resemble that of anyone her age.
However, there is sufficient data that makes her an essential part of history (and not just Argentina): at age 6 she became the
first trans girl in the world to access her self-perceived identity by obtaining her ID without prosecute the process
.
The arrival of that document was the result of the uninterrupted struggle that the young woman carried out with her mother, Gabriela Mansilla, on the battlefront.
So much so that the woman founded and directs the Free Childhood Civil Association, a non-profit organization in pursuit of the rights of transvestite-trans children and adolescents in Argentina.
Within the framework of
Women's Day
,
Clarín
spoke with her.
Trans, transvestite and non-binary children on the agenda
The life of Gabriela and Luana coincides with the popular phrase that states that "the personal is political."
That DNI was a family milestone, but also a door that was opened to favor the equality of a group until then outside the public debate: trans, transvestite and non-binary children and adolescents.
For this mother, taking stock of the road traveled is difficult: "Every day is always so demanding that I don't have time to sit down and evaluate what we have done."
However, he summarized, “the most important thing is that many lives were saved;
that this struggle has been sustained over time;
that they have not stopped talking about transvestite and trans childhoods and adolescences from Luana's DNI;
that we have managed to put them on the political agenda;
that there are more than 1,500 DNIs like this in the country and that there is a film about transgender childhood –
Yo nena, yo princesa
, the first in world cinema to star a transgender girl.”
The achievement of this family, they acknowledge, transcended the limits of their home: "It is extremely positive to know that this missing link in the history of the transvestite trans community, which was childhood, became visible with a story that greatly moved a
large part of society
and that made many sectors think to be able to take measures, as well as made many families think to be able to accompany their children”.
collective maternity
Gabriela Mansilla is not only the mother of Luana, but also Elías, her twin brother.
But her experience with children and adolescents is much broader.
For her, "maternity to the rest of the children is a kind of collective care."
“In Infancias Libres there is a collective motherhood because we understand that we have to take care of children among all the people.
I believe that no one is saved alone, this fight involves not only families but also the State, the educational system, the health system, the judicial system, an entire society that also has the responsibility of accompanying these children, of educating to their sons and daughters who are not trans so that they can coexist, respect, bond and interact with our children,” she explained.
Gabriela Mansilla with her children, Elías and Luana at the presentation of the film "Yo nena, yo princess".
Photo: Mutuverria PR.
With the arrival of Luana, Gabriela learned that this group carries painful marks,
“a history of much discrimination, death and violence
”.
As a consequence, she affirmed, the obligation that "these childhoods are not within the 35-year life expectancy of the transvestite community in Argentina and in Latin America belongs to everyone."
“
My maternity experience is revolutionary. Maternity during a trans childhood forces you to rethink yourself
, to modify your practices and feelings, to think and live differently, to understand freedom in another way.
Maternity a trans childhood has to do with understanding freedom from another place, it changes you, revolutionizes you, moves your structures, makes you question even your own identity, which is the most revolutionary and radical thing that can happen: you become another person ", he pointed.
Gabriela and her daughter not only processed an ID: before and after that they had to face an entire system, from kindergarten to pediatric consultations that seemed to know little or nothing about trans childhoods.
“This trans childhood pushed me to what I was not used to, to what I did not know, to go out, to defend it and to understand that it was a fight and a cause that had to be carried out with a lot of love and a lot of responsibility,” Mansilla said.
Pending accounts
Elías, Luana and Gabriela years ago: Photo: Lucía Merle.
Referring to pending accounts, Mansilla mentioned that "the debt that Argentina still has with trans, transvestite and non-binary children is education
.
"
“You cannot talk about the care or rights of children and adolescents without taking transvestite trans children into account.
Beyond the fact that the
Gender Identity Law
has existed for more than ten years, there is a debt with education and with the training of professionals with this perspective”.
The same happens with the
Comprehensive Sexual Education Law
, according to what he said, which should be updated so that it contemplates all possible corporalities and identities.
From claim to pride
"The first thing I would do on Women's Day is ask myself what it is to be a woman," Gabriela slipped in the context of another 8M.
With this commemoration as a trigger, she chose to “vindicate the struggle of transvestite and trans femininities such as
Lohana Berkins, Diana Sacayán, Marlene Wayar and Florencia Guimaraes García
.
Femininities that come to break with that idea of being a woman and that make you think, move away from the model of what is expected, from the norm”.
It is also a good time to mention each of the reasons why Luana, that girl who at just two years old told her "I'm a girl, I'm a princess" today gives her so much satisfaction.
“My daughter makes me proud every day.
For example, seeing her enter secondary school to occupy that place that is so difficult for her, because no one is going to give her a space designed specifically for transvestite adolescents, to accommodate them and that is designed for them, ”she recounted.
Gabriela Mansilla in 2013, receiving the document from her daughter Luana.
But, as in the song, Gabriela has plenty of reasons to admire "Lulú": "To see that my daughter wants to study, that she thinks about pursuing a career at the university, to see her struggle every day.
Transvestite childhoods and adolescents militate with their own body, occupying that space that was not intended for them;
Luana earns it every day.
That makes me extremely proud."
The description could suffer cuts or resort to some attempt at brevity, but who would be able to reduce the result of such an arduous struggle just by removing a handful of words?
Thus, this mother continued listing: "I am proud when I see her smile, when I see her relate to her brother, when I see her go out into the street - with all that this costs her and with all that society has not prepared for her. -, when I see how he is and the desire he has to move forward, with that sweetness and enormous capacity to love ”.
Luana is almost 16 years old, she inspired a book, a movie, and sparked a revolution that was born in her home but reached the entire country.
Her mother will not spare praise: “I keep seeing her brave, whole, with her adult transvestite companions, with these references that we have in the country, I see her being part of her community.
I see her cuddle with
Susy Shock
and that also makes me very proud.
I see her representing and being a reference for all childhoods in the country.
My daughter makes me proud every day with the simplest and most complex aspects of a trans adolescence.”
look too
Gabriela Mansilla: "His ID says it's Luana, but the school cards say it's a boy"
Pamela, Mariana and love: from rivals on the court, to marriage with two daughters
They demand extension of the ESI Law with a trans transvestite perspective
