Luana, the teenager who at the age of 6 became the first trans girl in the world to access her self-perceived identity by obtaining her DNI without prosecuting the process, and her twin brother Elías, celebrated their 15th birthday on Friday night in Amérika, the emblematic album for the LGBTIQ+ community, at a party that meant “a revolutionary act”, where the transvestite collective was able to commemorate that “finally a transvestite girl can celebrate in a timely manner” that age.
“I think it is a collective and extremely beautiful moment for many of us, in community. But knowing that finally a transvestite girl can celebrate her 15 years in time and in form,” transvestite activist Marlene Wayar, a of Luana’s “tías travas”, together with the artist Susy Shock.
In the huge hall of Amérika, located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Almagro, with a stage that received drag queens and music shows, those who participated in the birthday of “Lulu”, as family and friends affectionately call her, remarked that the party was a “revolutionary” and “political” event for the trans transvestite collective.
“It’s a way to celebrate this girl who has reached this age fighting, resisting, being who she is,” said the activist and mother of the teenager, Gabriela Mansilla, founder of the civil association Infancias Libres.
“I dream that the world respects us, that transvestites are not an insult, that trans children have powers like flying and being invisible. I want those powers to defend myself from those who attack me because I want a better world where I don’t have to grow up because that makes me worries. I want to remain small”Luana
In 2013, one year after the approval of the Gender Identity Law, Luana became, at the age of 6, the first trans girl in the world to receive a National Identity Document according to their gender identity, without the need to prosecute the process.
For Mansilla, this celebration is “a revolutionary act” because “generally they are excluded, they are mistreated, they are discriminated against, they are thrown out on the street. And here is a trans adolescent who has been embraced since she was a child.”
Luana danced at times but was mainly surrounded by her friends and at the beginning of the celebration she left a message that was read from the stage.
“I dream that the world respects us, that transvestites are not an insult, that trans children have powers like flying and being invisible. I want those powers to defend myself from those who attack me because I want a better world where I don’t have to grow up because that makes me It worries me. I want to continue being small, “he said in a text that is published in the book “A world where everyone fits”, by Gabriela Mansilla and published this year by Chirimbote.
After a reception in the VIP bowling alley, the guests crossed to the ballroom and the stage was filled with music, shows and the presence of Lulú.
From the platform, the artist Susy Shock introduced the two people who on their birthday called more than 300 attendees. “Although most of her knows about the tenacious history of ‘Lulú’, it is impossible to think of her without Elías. He was the first who understood and embraced what Luana needed and wanted for herself,” she said.
And, he highlighted that “That boy did something before anyone else that is finally not so difficult, nor does it need so much science, which is to put the heart to recognize us”.
About Luana, the artist highlighted her bond with those who opened equal paths and are no longer there: “That magenta thread that unites her with so many who changed this country, who are not here today and deserve to be at this party, because they are the ones who fought from their bodies and their passions so that those who come walk on better ground with less violence and more opportunities”.
“Although most people know about the tenacious story of ‘Lulú’, it is impossible to think of her without Elías. He was the first to understand and embrace what Luana needed and wanted for herself”Susie Shock
Each participant, in dialogue with Télam, valued that the celebration was conceived collectively and that love reigned at all times.
Amerika put the place; one family made 450 empanadas and other delicacies; the content producer Mu Trinchera was in charge of the photos and the video; the Equality Foundation, catering; Patricia Terán and Ana Torrejón took charge of the organization’s clothing and the association Infancias Libres: all teamwork.
Luana and Elías chose what they wanted to wear on their night: she, a short pink dress, a black leather jacket, sneakers and a matching tiara. He wears a striped shirt with dress pants and a black jacket.
“For me it is a pleasure to have made the dress because this is historic,” he said. Patricia Teranthe director of Luana’s wardrobe together with Ana Torrejondirector of the fashion magazine L’Officiel Argentina.
Terán offered Luana the dress as a gift and her daughter, together with her granddaughters, organized a collection to buy her slippers.
Osvaldo de Riso: “Amerika was the total opening, we opened a path”
Regarding the space where the celebration took place, the activist and president of the Equality Foundation, Pedro Paradiso Sottile, stressed that “it is not by chance that Lulú is celebrating her 15th birthday here today”, since the disco “was always accompanying the entire LGBTIQ+ movement”.
First “Experiment”, then “Búnker” and finally “Amérika” were the names of the bowling alley that since 1983 opened its doors to sexual diversity and to society as a whole.
“I think that Amérika was the total opening. Over time, later, one realizes that we opened a path. We opened the doors to trans girls when they had no place anywhere. From there we opened and opened”, told Télam Osvaldo de Riso, owner of the disco, and from a balcony of the establishment, while watching the guests dance, said that he was “very proud” that the 15-year party is being held there.
Sofía Dieguez: “This is a battle won, it is the triumph of being able to be”
For trans transvestites who attended, this celebration is also a way to celebrate the collective.
“The 15 have a political claim because many of us could not have them. I come from Salta and I always dreamed my 15 years with illusions, fantasies, desires, which did not come true because I lived a moment of my life in which some parameters were marked from a totally different society,” brown activist Daniela Ruiz shared with Télam.
And he defined the birthday party as “a gesture of love.”
“I am 35 years old. In my generation it was not thought of (doing a 15), imagine the ones that are bigger. This is a battle won, it is the triumph of being able to be. Being able to collaborate in Luana having this party is a great act of love”, considered the trans singer Sofía Dieguez, who did a cumbia show and also made the souvenirs, some pins in the shape of a butterfly.
The idea of celebrating the birthday came from Gabriela Mansilla during the March against Transvesticides, Tranfemicides and Transhomicides on June 28, 2021.
For the activist Say Sacayán, the event was “extraordinary” because “transvestites’ birthdays are not always celebrated”, but, in general, the transvestite trans collective meets on “ugly occasions, which have to do with pain , death, the request for Justice”.
“That there is a transvestite girl who celebrates her 15 years means that we are beginning to do a little Justice too”Say Sacayan
“We came from spending the afternoon at the Casa de Mendoza for the crime of the companion Melody Barrera and because the trial of Cynthia Moreira was also beginning. That there is a transvestite girl who celebrates her 15 years means that we are beginning to do a little Justice too “He told Télam.
“We are a generation that never thought that we would live what we dreamed of and that happened. Today we have trans childhoods and youths that present us with new challenges. Nothing of what we went through has to happen. They have to have the right to joy: it’s a revenge”Susy Shock concluded.
