Michelle Suárez was 25 years old when she received her law degree and made history by becoming the first trans professional in Uruguay. He was 30 years old when he wrote the equal marriage law, one of the most outstanding milestones for the Frente Amplio supporters in the administration of José Mujica. It was, moreover, the first trans senator, when he took over the bench from Marcos Carámbula in 2017. But It climbed as fast as it later fell, after the Justice accused her of forging signatures.
Thus, those who at that time were flagged with the same causes as Suárez and set her as an example, now they preferred to just appear or make their condolences public when, also quickly (he was 39 years old), Suarez died due to cardiac arrest.
In December 2017, Suárez resigned from Parliamentat the request of the Communist Party, after being accused of forging signatures on court documents. At that time, he sent a letter to the Communist Party in which he begged “apologies” to his “dear colleagues, for any trouble experienced” on his behalf, and assured that “any mistake made was in the exercise of a private function, and never in the exercise of public function.
Six months later, the Justice prosecuted her with prison for four crimes of forgery of signatures, one crime of fraud and another for forgery of private documents. Since then, Suárez lowered the public blind and considerably reduced his appearances in the media. Little by little, he too was losing contact with the leaders. Until he fell into depression.
“We know and are aware that the partner was left very alone (…) I lost the link. The last time (I spoke with her) was when we were in the middle of the debate about whether what was attributed to her was true or no and the need to have to directly and personally ask her to give up the bench. That’s my last memory.”he recognized The Observer the general secretary of the PCU, Juan Castillo.
Although she valued her contributions during the discussions prior to the approval of the Comprehensive Law for Trans People (she was also the co-author of the same-sex marriage law), the leader was somewhat more cautious when referring to an eventual recognition by the force: pointed out that the former legislator generated divided opinions among the members of the sector and also ruled out the possibility of issuing a statement in his memory. “It may be that the party makes a somewhat deeper assessment on Monday”estimated.
Castillo insisted that, despite his separation, Suárez’s death “shocks”, like “any death of any partner.”
“She is a colleague who did not know how to support and support as they had to do to sustain herself. But that does not take away the other: the assessment of the contributions he has made in his militant life. I think we have assumed it and, although not everyone thinks the same or respects the same values, no one is going to take that situation away from him. I deeply regret the end of his life so young and also I am not going to stop valuing the contribution to the work that she has done so that today there is a law to which she put a lot of thought and work“, summarized.
The silence and caution of the Communist Party was also present in the Colectivo Trans del Uruguay (CTU). To Thomas Bertón, one of its members, it seemed appropriate not to go into evaluations, except for those who, he believes, left it aside in its most tense political moment.
“We believe that she was left alone when she made a mistake as a person, but we are not going to go into details either. Yes, it would be good if those people today take responsibility and put their voice and their part, “ pointed.
The break for Suárez came with the court ruling. It was the before and after of a woman who had emerged from below as quickly as she fell.
In one of his last interviews before disappearing from public life, on the program Everything happens (Ocean FM), Suárez said that he was experiencing “a duel” that he only compared to the death of his mother. “The only time I felt that any emotion could hit me the way it has been in recent months was when my mother passed away. It was the only time I felt so much pain or anguish,” he said at the time.
Her mother died in 2009, four days before she took the exam that would make her the first trans person to graduate as a lawyer.
Now with his death the position of the group, As Bertón explained, will be “respecting the departure of a partner”, without entering into public statements: “We are not going to say anything else or open any kind of debate,” he said, adding: “Today we stand from silence and respect.”
Suárez exchanged messages from time to time with some members of the Ovejas Negras collective, a group that defines itself as a defender of sexual diversity and a promoter of the rights of LGBTI people. The Observer communicated with other members of the group, who preferred not to participate in the note.
A member who preferred not to be identified told The Observer that “you cannot deny” the work he did for the community, despite the fact that there is still no general or clear position on it.
In silence, and behind the back of the leaders of the Broad Front, relatives and close friends said goodbye to her in an intimate funeral that put an end to a life of 39 years. Suárez, who lived on the Gold Coast (Canelones), died on Friday around 7:00 p.m. after being hospitalized for several days in the Catholic Circlein Montevideo.
