BY JILL REPLOGLE (Miami Herald - 20 Jun 06)
Wigs, fake breasts and very high heels were on display recently at the first political forum held by the Queens of the Night Collective, a group of transgender prostitutes who work in Guatemala City.
The mood was serious. Around the room, posters commemorated the dozens of cross-dressers who have died in Guatemala in recent years -- almost all brutally murdered or killed off by AIDS. One was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting just this past weekend.
A sex worker turned political activist who goes by the name of Fernanda Milán opened the forum by denouncing the lack of jobs, health, education and security for the gay and transgender population in this small Central American country.
''The security forces that should be our protectors are our main aggressors,'' Milán said.
In the safety of the forum, the dozens of cross-dressing participants were free to put on lipstick and use the women's bathroom. But out on the street it's not so easy, or safe, to dress as a different gender.
At least 17 murders of transgenders have been reported in the Guatemalan media in the past five years, according to a study by OASIS. a Guatemalan gay-rights organization. And activists say there are probably many more that go unreported. Prostitution can be a particularly deadly profession for cross-dressers in Guatemala. Last year alone, seven cross-dressing prostitutes were murdered.
HIGH MURDER RATE
OASIS estimates that around 1,200 cross-dressers work as prostitutes in Guatemala, mostly in the capital. That makes the murder rate among this sub-population some 17 times higher than the already alarming national average -- 35 murders per 100,000 citizens.
In the most recently publicized case, a cross-dresser who went by the name of Paulina was shot and killed last December while working a street corner in Guatemala City. The government's human rights ombudsman said that four police officers may have been behind the murder. The case is still under investigation.
A cross-dressing sex worker from Honduras who goes by the name of Alexa Robinson showed up at the the recent forum with eight steel rods holding a femur together. The bone was shattered by a gunshot from a client.
Most of the cross-dressers interviewed for this story asked that their real names not be published out of fear for their safety.
Guillermo Alonzo, the public investigator in charge of the Paulina murder case, said that some of the killings probably are hate crimes.
However, the mix of drug trafficking, theft and other side businesses of prostitution add to the dangers of the trade, he said.
''It's a world that also includes a lot of dirty businesses,'' Alonzo said.
But transgenders in Guatemala say their choices of work and dress have been made extremely limited by a machista society that discriminates against anyone who doesn't fit the norm.
''In developed countries sex work is an option, while in Guatemala it's the only option'' for transgenders said the activist Milán.
By organizing cross-dressing sex workers, the Queens of the Night Collective hopes to chip away at the discrimination and violence, and get their members off the dangerous streets. Leaders of the group, which has 80 to 100 members, also hope to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS among the gay community.
Jorge López, executive director of OASIS, said the path to achieving all of these goals has to start at home. ''We don't need condoms, we need mothers who don't throw their gay children out of the house,'' said López.
A 24-year-old cross-dressing prostitute who goes by the name of Monica Fisher was kicked out of the house at age 19 after coming out as gay and expressing a preference for dressing like a woman. Fisher has been working on the street ever since.
The combination of violence and a high prevalence of HIV among gay men in Guatemala -- 18 percent, according to a recent OASIS study -- is wiping out the gay community, according to López.
''Every year we count how many people our community has lost,'' López said.
"It's a plot to make us disappear.''
López complained that efforts to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in Guatemala are focused on women in their reproductive years while the gay community, which has a much higher HIV infection rate, has been virtually abandoned.
IN NEED OF FUNDS
The Queens' goal is to create business and educational opportunities for members as alternatives to working on the streets, explained Johanna Ramírez, the group's current president. Ramírez, a 33-year-old from El Salvador, said the group has plans for opening up a small clothing factory but still needs to come up with the funds.
''I'd like to be a fashion designer,'' Ramírez said, dressed for the working night in a short, ruffled miniskirt and halter top.
Fisher, who works a corner near Ramírez, sees prostitution as a temporary job. Fisher has a high school-level degree in business administration and hopes to use it someday. ''I don't think I'll be working in the street in the future,'' Fisher said. ``One day we'll have other job options.''
The mood was serious. Around the room, posters commemorated the dozens of cross-dressers who have died in Guatemala in recent years -- almost all brutally murdered or killed off by AIDS. One was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting just this past weekend.
A sex worker turned political activist who goes by the name of Fernanda Milán opened the forum by denouncing the lack of jobs, health, education and security for the gay and transgender population in this small Central American country.
''The security forces that should be our protectors are our main aggressors,'' Milán said.
In the safety of the forum, the dozens of cross-dressing participants were free to put on lipstick and use the women's bathroom. But out on the street it's not so easy, or safe, to dress as a different gender.
At least 17 murders of transgenders have been reported in the Guatemalan media in the past five years, according to a study by OASIS. a Guatemalan gay-rights organization. And activists say there are probably many more that go unreported. Prostitution can be a particularly deadly profession for cross-dressers in Guatemala. Last year alone, seven cross-dressing prostitutes were murdered.
HIGH MURDER RATE
OASIS estimates that around 1,200 cross-dressers work as prostitutes in Guatemala, mostly in the capital. That makes the murder rate among this sub-population some 17 times higher than the already alarming national average -- 35 murders per 100,000 citizens.
In the most recently publicized case, a cross-dresser who went by the name of Paulina was shot and killed last December while working a street corner in Guatemala City. The government's human rights ombudsman said that four police officers may have been behind the murder. The case is still under investigation.
A cross-dressing sex worker from Honduras who goes by the name of Alexa Robinson showed up at the the recent forum with eight steel rods holding a femur together. The bone was shattered by a gunshot from a client.
Most of the cross-dressers interviewed for this story asked that their real names not be published out of fear for their safety.
Guillermo Alonzo, the public investigator in charge of the Paulina murder case, said that some of the killings probably are hate crimes.
However, the mix of drug trafficking, theft and other side businesses of prostitution add to the dangers of the trade, he said.
''It's a world that also includes a lot of dirty businesses,'' Alonzo said.
But transgenders in Guatemala say their choices of work and dress have been made extremely limited by a machista society that discriminates against anyone who doesn't fit the norm.
''In developed countries sex work is an option, while in Guatemala it's the only option'' for transgenders said the activist Milán.
By organizing cross-dressing sex workers, the Queens of the Night Collective hopes to chip away at the discrimination and violence, and get their members off the dangerous streets. Leaders of the group, which has 80 to 100 members, also hope to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS among the gay community.
Jorge López, executive director of OASIS, said the path to achieving all of these goals has to start at home. ''We don't need condoms, we need mothers who don't throw their gay children out of the house,'' said López.
A 24-year-old cross-dressing prostitute who goes by the name of Monica Fisher was kicked out of the house at age 19 after coming out as gay and expressing a preference for dressing like a woman. Fisher has been working on the street ever since.
The combination of violence and a high prevalence of HIV among gay men in Guatemala -- 18 percent, according to a recent OASIS study -- is wiping out the gay community, according to López.
''Every year we count how many people our community has lost,'' López said.
"It's a plot to make us disappear.''
López complained that efforts to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in Guatemala are focused on women in their reproductive years while the gay community, which has a much higher HIV infection rate, has been virtually abandoned.
IN NEED OF FUNDS
The Queens' goal is to create business and educational opportunities for members as alternatives to working on the streets, explained Johanna Ramírez, the group's current president. Ramírez, a 33-year-old from El Salvador, said the group has plans for opening up a small clothing factory but still needs to come up with the funds.
''I'd like to be a fashion designer,'' Ramírez said, dressed for the working night in a short, ruffled miniskirt and halter top.
Fisher, who works a corner near Ramírez, sees prostitution as a temporary job. Fisher has a high school-level degree in business administration and hopes to use it someday. ''I don't think I'll be working in the street in the future,'' Fisher said. ``One day we'll have other job options.''
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