Diana Sacayán (December 31, 1975 – October 11, 2015) was an Argentinian

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

activist who fought for the legal rights of

transgender people This list consists of many notable people who are transgender. The individual listings note the subject's nationality and main occupation. In some non-Western, ancient or medieval societies, transgender people may be seen as a different gend ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Biography

Amancay Diana Sacayán was born in Tucumán on December 31, 1975. Her ancestors were

Diaguita The Diaguita people are a group of South American indigenous people native to the Chilean Norte Chico and the Argentine Northwest. Western or Chilean Diaguitas lived mainly in the Transverse Valleys which incised in a semi-arid environment. Ea ...

. At young age, her family moved to

Gregorio de Laferrère, Buenos Aires Gregorio de Laferrère is a city ( es, ciudad) in the La Matanza Partido of Buenos Aires Province. History and overview The site of cattle ranches and part of the county seat of San Justo from 1858, the city was established as a real estate dev ...

. She led a life of poverty with her 15 siblings.

Activism

Diana Sacayán came out as transgender at the age of seventeen. Her human rights were violated several times since then. She was arrested different times and at jail she leaned towards the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

. However, on 2011, she left the Communist Party and created the Anti-Discrimination Movement of Liberation (MAL), a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

. This organization was working against all forms of discrimination. They also emphasized on empowering

LGBTI Intersex people are born with sex characteristics (such as genitals, gonads, and chromosome patterns) that "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". They are substantially more likely to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, ...

people in different sector including creating awareness for their human rights. As the president of MAL, she was responsible for the project of non-discriminatory policies in the health institutions of

La Matanza Partido La Matanza ('The Slaughter' in Spanish) is a ''Partidos of Buenos Aires, partido'' (county or department) located in the urban agglomeration of Greater Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. This provincial subdivision had 1,775,272 inh ...

. This project was aimed to include transgender and

transsexual Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignment ...

people in health system. She also worked for raising awareness between transgender and transsexual people for their rights. Her active contribution led the recognition of regulation for self-perceived gender identities by the State. It turned the main precedents of the National Gender Identity Law. Sacayán served on the board of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association and led the Antidiscrimination Liberation Movement in Argentina. In 2012, she ran for the position of

Ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

, becoming the first transgender candidate for such a position. She was able to be one of three most-voted candidates in that election. On the same year, she received her national identity card as a woman personally from the Former president of

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President ...

Death

Diana was brutally murdered in October 2015. Her murder incident generated a commotion and a high social impact, especially in the human rights movements and the LGBTQ+ community. The person who killed her, Gabriel David Marino, was subsequently sentenced to life in prison in 2018. For the first time in history, the Argentine Justice acknowledged that the murder was "a

hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...

against the travesti identity", known as "travesticide" or "transvesticide" (Spanish: ''travesticidio''; a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words The ruling was widely celebrated by LGBT activists and has been considered "one more example of the ocialchanges underway in Argentina."

Writings

*La gesta del nombre propio (2006), *Cumbia, copeteo y lágrimas (2008), *Blog de Movimiento Antidiscriminatorio de Liberación (M. A. L.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sacayán, Diana Argentine people of Diaguita descent Argentine LGBT rights activists Argentine LGBT people Argentine activists Argentine women activists Violence against trans women Transgender women 1975 births 2015 deaths 2015 murders in Argentina People murdered in Argentina October 2015 crimes in South America Victims of anti-LGBT hate crimes Women civil rights activists 21st-century LGBT people