Mérida, Yucatán.- During Pride Month, the stories of people who fight for their rights from the LGBTQ community permeate throughout the country. It also visualizes the acts of discrimination they suffer in this process.
In Yucatan, the story of Claudia Débora, a transgender woman, speaks of her days of success and the acts of discrimination she has lived throughout her life.
Claudia Débora Segura Trueba was the first and only transgender woman in Yucatan who has attempted to be the councilor of the Mérida City Council. However, he had to register with his male identity since the entity''s laws don''t allow gender change.
Read: Extended working hours in times of covid-19 fear or power
Although she longs to change her official documents, she clings to the dream of doing it in the land where she was born. Sse trusts that the Yucatecan deputies will legislate to give rights to the LGBTQ community.
"To go to Mexico (Mexico City) and pay, I prefer to do it in my homeland. Life gives you surprises, and we hope that one day it will be achieved, the last thing that must die is hope, let's wait to see what happens."
She began her political career thanks to her friend Ofelia Morales. She even became president of the mixed commission of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD). "I have always supported the lesbian-gay community. In the commission, we prepare more people to support others," Claudia explained in an interview. In the 2018 elections, the opportunity arose to be part of the aspiring member of the council of the Yucatecan capital. Even though she didn''t obtain the desired results on the first occasion, she admitted she would try again. "I am not fighting with the political parties if they gave me the opportunity, I would do it again, in the end, everything will be for the community, not for me because when I die, I''m not taking anything with me." Their biggest fight is to gain greater recognition for the LGBTQ + community.
"It already took a long time for people to start respecting us," she said.
Claudia''s work is not only political; she also established the group "Mujeres Trans Empoderadas" (Trans empowered women) along with her friends, with the sole objective of helping those who need it most. During the pandemic, she has not stood idly by and has gathered food to distribute pantries among those who need it most. At 61 years old, she admits she did not have an easy path. The unwarranted arrests and the persecutions of the police in the center of the city of Mérida are now part of his past.
A life of discrimination
The rejection of her own family and the beatings her brothers gave her to "cure her" marked her life:
"To begin with, face the family. I was born in a very macho household, I grew up with siblings, and my dad was very macho. My brothers want to correct me based on screaming, hitting, and offenses," she says.
Read: Six "romantic" behaviors that are toxic
There are several transitions she has lived through; when she was younger, she fell in love and married a woman. "I fell in love with my wife, not like many who say they are covering up. There were love and affection, so much that to this day, we continue to get along," she confessed. As a result of that marriage that lasted four years, he had a daughter and granddaughters with whom he currently lives. Claudia is just an example of other trans women who have tried to hold a place in the public administration in the southeast of the country. For instance, in Campeche, Samara Aguilar Calderón, a transgender candidate registered in the 2018 elections, she was a pre-candidate for the 12th district - Sabancuy - by the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD).
If you want to read it in spanish click here
Traducción Valentina K.Yanes