Pride and Dignified Resistance: a campaign based on radical tenderness
August 16, 2022
Being visible, celebrating and loving openly, and being proud of who you are or whom you love in a conservative country like Guatemala, is complicated.
This year Hivos launched the #OrgulloyDignaResistencia campaign as a way of reminding society of the right every person has to be, to love and to exist despite adversity and hatred.
We’re telling stories about the dignified resistance of LGBTIQ+ people up against social and political forces that try to negate their existence. We teamed up with the digital media Quorum to interview diverse people who told us their experiences with family, friends and intimate circles, and how they claimed their rights with joy and “radical tenderness.”
Madame Bite: resisting and creating with drum and bass
When you put pink and light blue on a black background they get brighter. This is also the way Madame Bite, a trans woman, helps make the world a bit nicer through music.” I know I wasn’t born in a woman’s body, but eventually I felt I really was a woman and I didn’t want it to be just sometimes,” she recalls.
Theo Xitumul: “Naming myself was so liberating that I stopped being angry.
“My pronouns are masculine, and this is who I am.” That’s how Theo came out to his mother as a trans man. “We can’t expect our environment to stand still. We transition both internally and socially. This is also a process for parents, for siblings, and if they have children, for them too,” Theo explains.
Valeria Cabrera: resisting with radical tenderness
Valeria is a graphic designer and creator of audiovisual content who identifies as a queer and bisexual woman. The road to self-discovery wasn’t easy because she grew up – in her words – in a “hyper-religious” environment. This led to what was perhaps the most traumatic experience of her life.
Pride and Dignified Resistance
This campaign is part of the Diverse and Inclusive Guatemala program implemented by Hivos and the following organizations: ODASA, SOMOS, Visibles, GAX, Vidas Paralelas, IncideJoven, the Sexual and Reproductive Health Observatory, and FLACSO Guatemala. Funded by the Swedish Embassy in Guatemala, it ensures that the sexual/reproductive, legal and labor rights of the LGBTIQ+ community and young people are upheld. It specifically helps them claim their human rights, exercising them independently and in conditions of inclusion and equality. For more information about the program, please contact Saira Ortega at sortega@hivos.org.
