Tamara Adrián (born 20 February 1954, in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

) is a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n politician, who was elected to the

National Assembly of Venezuela The National Assembly () is the federal legislature of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which was first elected in 2000 under the 1999 constitution. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who are elected by a ...

in the

2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Venezuela on 6 December 2015 to elect the 164 deputies and three indigenous representatives of the National Assembly. They were the fourth parliamentary elections to take place after the 1999 constitution ...

."Tamara Adrián se convierte en la primera diputada transgénero en la historia de Venezuela"
. ''Noticia Al Día'', December 7, 2015. She is noted as the first openly

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

person elected to office in Venezuela, and only the second openly transgender member of a national legislature in the Western Hemisphere."Venezuela Elects First Transgender Congresswoman in the Americas"
. ''

Out Out or OUT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films *Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 *Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander *O ...

'', December 7, 2015. Some early media coverage credited her as the first openly transgender member of a legislature in the Americas, but this was later corrected due to the election of Michelle Suárez Bértora to the

Senate of Uruguay The Chamber of Senators of Uruguay (''Cámara de Senadores de Uruguay''), or Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly of Uruguay (''Asamblea General de Uruguay''). It has 30 members, elected for a five-year term by proportional repre ...

in 2014. In 2023 Tamara became the first openly transgender candidate in a presidential election. She is a member of the

Popular Will Popular Will (, abbr. VP) is a political party in Venezuela founded by former Mayor of Chacao, Leopoldo López, who is its national co-ordinator. The party previously held 14 out of 167 seats in the Venezuelan National Assembly, the country ...

party, one of the forces in opposition to the

PSUV The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (, PSUV, ) is a socialist political party which has been the ruling party of Venezuela since 2007. It was formed from a merger of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivarian Revolu ...

-led government of

Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and former union leader serving as the 53rd president of Venezuela since 2013. Previously, he was the 24th Vice President of Venezuela, vice president from 2012 to 20 ...

. Within this party, she organized a social movement called Pro-Inclusion, aiming at promoting equal rights. She took her

oath of office An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Suc ...

at the

on January 14, 2015. During her term in office, Adrián intends to promote proper access to

public records Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential and generally pertain to the conduct of government. Depending on jurisdiction, examples of public records includes information pertaining to births, deat ...

on identity,

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

Biography

Tamara graduated from

Andrés Bello Catholic University Andrés Bello Catholic University () is a private university in Venezuela. One of the largest universities in Venezuela, UCAB has campuses in several cities, such as Caracas (main campus), Los Teques, Guayana Region, Guayana, and Coro region, Cor ...

in 1976. She then went on to obtain her doctorate in law with high honors from University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas in 1982. She also earned a diploma in comparative law from the Paris Institute of Comparative Law in 1982. In 2016, Adrián completed Harvard University's

John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a

David Bohnett David C. Bohnett (born April 2, 1956) is an American philanthropist and technology entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of the David Bohnett Foundation, a non-profit, grant-making organization devoted to improving society through social ...

LGBTQ Victory Institute Leadership Fellow. Prior to her election to the Venezuelan legislature, Adrián worked as a lawyer and

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

activist,"Venezuela's first transgender candidate Tamara Adrián to run for Congress"
. ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

'', August 8, 2015. including serving on the board of the

International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA, Spanish: ''Asociación internacional de lesbianas, gays, bisexuales, trans e intersexuales'') is a LGBTQ+ rights organization. It participates in a multitude of a ...

and the organizing committee of the

International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia The International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) is observed on 17 May and aims to coordinate international events that raise awareness of LGBTQ rights violations and stimulate interest in LGBTQ rights work worldwid ...

. She was forced to register her candidacy under her deadname, as Venezuelan law does not currently permit a person that was

assigned male at birth Sex assignment (also known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex, typically made at birth based on an examination of the baby's external genitalia by a healthcare provider such as a midwife, nurse, or physician. In the v ...

to legally change their name to a female name. In 2002, she underwent

gender reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associated ...

in Thailand. In 2004, she submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice to have her identity legally recognized; as of 2016, it still had not been granted. Tamara Adrián believes that the stigma and discrimination surrounding the transgender community stimulates poverty,

marginalization Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. In the EU context, the Euro ...

, and violence against them. To her, these problems are unacceptable under international laws of human rights. She was motivated to take a role in her government in response to political activists being arrested in Venezuela. In 2014, there were nationwide protests regarding the democratic and economic conditions of the time. In response to these protests, President

ordered for the arrest of political protesters. According to Foro Penal, over 13,000 people have been arrested since 2014 because of protests relating to the Venezuelan government.

In popular culture

Before being elected as National Assembly deputy, Tamara was featured in the 2011 documentary film '' Yo, indocumentada'' along with two other Venezuelan transgender women that strive to change their legal name in the country. The 2016 film ''Tamara'' was partly inspired in her life. Tamara made a cameo in the film with the role of a university rector.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adrian, Tamara Women members of the National Assembly (Venezuela) Members of the National Assembly (Venezuela) Transgender women politicians Popular Will politicians Venezuelan LGBTQ rights activists Venezuelan LGBTQ politicians Venezuelan transgender people Living people 1954 births Politicians from Caracas Venezuelan women lawyers Andrés Bello Catholic University alumni Venezuelan women activists LGBTQ legislators 21st-century Venezuelan women politicians 21st-century Venezuelan politicians

Biography

In popular culture

See also

References