Le Trans is the first transgender magazine printed in Chile, an achievement of years of community work for the rights of Trans people. We came to the point in which, as a political Transgender movement, we are able to articulate a platform for the recognition of our identities, and to reclaim Trans existence. We have learned that “what is not said, does not exist” and if we don’t say that we are Trans, we do not exist, and neither does our history.
Those who already know us, know that we prefer to use “le” instead of he(el), she(la/ella), they(ellos/ellas) or any other pronoun, article, or gendered noun, words that are defined as masculine or feminine(in Spanish). Our language’s gender division, which mirrors the binary division of sex and gender, will always exclude and marginalize us to some degree. Against this exclusion, we say “Le Trans” as a survival strategy, a resistance to the omission of a culture that was not designed for “us”(nosotres), but can begin to be thought by “us”(nosotres).
Le Trans also stands for the recognition of the progress that we, as OTD Chile, have been making this last year and how our Trans activists and allies have managed to create this national association, despite all the problems and obstacles we have faced in the past.
Our dream is that Le Trans transcends borders, informs, breaks down stereotypes, and makes this world a place where Trans people don’t have to hide, hate, or deny ourselves ever again.
Michel Riquelme
OTD Chile President
