Luana was the first Argentine trans girl to obtain her ID card after the enactment of the Gender Identity Law, on May 9, 2012. It is a pioneering legislation and almost unique in the world because it contemplates the right to change registration for minors.
But it wasn't easy: it took her mother, Gabriela Mansilla, almost a year to get it. Since then, learning as she goes, Gabriela became a reference in the struggle for the rights of trans children in Argentina. She founded the organization Childhoods Free of Violence and Discrimination to help other families and wrote "Yo nena, yo princesa", where she told the story from the moment when Luana said her first words, at 18 months, until she got her ID. Now she publishes "Mariposas Libres" – also published by the National University of General Sarmiento – in which she tells how she follows the life of her daughter and, through her, of all trans children in Argentina.
Gabriela recounts Luana’s life from her birth in 2007 with a male name and treatment, her rebellion and demand to be treated as a girl from the age of two, the complex and traumatic family and social response to the fact, and the struggle to be recognized in her gender identity.
Gabriela’s efforts culminated in the President of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, revoking the judicial decision to deny Luana a female identity document in 2013, and issuing a new document recognizing her self-perceived identity, in compliance with the Gender Identity Law enacted a year earlier. The book was adapted into a movie of the same name in 2021, which was internationally exhibited by the cable channel Star+.
Available via agenciapresentes.org
Photo via Instagram
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