LGBT in Argentina refers to the diversity of practices, militancies and cultural assessments on

sexual diversity Sexual diversity or gender and sexual diversity (GSD), refers to all the diversities of sex characteristics, sexual orientations and gender identities, without the need to specify each of the identities, behaviors, or characteristics that form ...

that were historically deployed in the territory that is currently the

Argentine Republic Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. It is particularly difficult to find information on the incidence of

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

in societies from

Hispanic America Hispanic America ( or ), historically known as Spanish America () or Castile (historical region), Castilian America (), is the Spanish-speaking countries and territories of the Americas. In all of these countries, Spanish language, Spanish is th ...

as a result of the anti-homosexual

taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

derived from

Christian morality Christian ethics, also known as moral theology, is a multi-faceted ethical system. It is a Virtue ethics, virtue ethic, which focuses on building moral character, and a Deontological ethics, deontological ethic which emphasizes duty according ...

, so most of the historical sources of its existence are found in acts of repression and punishment.Sebreli, 1997, p. 275 One of the main conflicts encountered by LGBT history researchers is the use of modern concepts that were non-existent to people from the past, such as "homosexual", "

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 ...

" and " travesti", falling into an

anachronism An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...

Non-heterosexuality Non-heterosexual is a word for a sexual orientation or sexual identity that is not heterosexual. The term helps define the "concept of what is the norm and how a particular group is different from that norm". ''Non-heterosexual'' is used in fem ...

was historically characterized as a public enemy: when

power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

was exercised by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, it was regarded as a sin; during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when it was in the hands of positivist thought, it was viewed as a disease; and later, with the advent of

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere. According to the

Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center (also simply known as Pew) is a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. It ...

, 76% of Argentine people believe homosexuality should be accepted in society as of 2020, the highest-ranking Latin American country in the list. In 2021, a survey conducted by

Ipsos Ipsos Group S.A. (; derived from the Latin expression, ) is a multinational market research and consulting firm with headquarters in Paris, France. The company was founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot, Chairman of the company, and has been publ ...

found that 69% of the Argentine population support LGBT visibility and equality, the highest number on the list after Spain's 73%. The country—especially Buenos Aires—is regarded as a top destination for

LGBT tourism LGBTQ tourism (or gay tourism) is a form of tourism marketed to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. It may also include a focus on other members of the (broader) community. The tourism, and its related establishments, ...

, and in 2020, the ''

Spartacus International Gay Guide The ''Spartacus International Gay Guide'' is an international gay travel application and formerly an annually-published guide. It was founded by John D. Stamford in 1970 as a printed guide, before being bought by Bruno Gmünder in 1987 following ...

'' listed it as the fifth most

gay-friendly Gay-friendly or LGBTQ-friendly places, policies, people, or institutions are those that are open and welcoming to gay or LGBTQ people. They typically aim to create an environment that is supportive, respectful, and non-judgmental towards the L ...

travel destination, the highest-ranking country in Latin America and second in the Americas after Canada.

History

The

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

of the

pre-Columbian era In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

had practices and assessments on sexuality that differed from those of the Spanish ''

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

'', who used their sinful "

sodomy Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...

" to justify their barbarism and extermination.Bazán, 2010

004 004, 0O4, O04, OO4 may refer to: * 004, fictional British 00 Agent * 0O4, Corning Municipal Airport (California) * O04, the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation * Abdul Haq Wasiq, Guantanamo detainee 004 * Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engine * La ...

pp. 59–61 In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the first activist groups of the country appeared, most notably the leftist

Frente de Liberación Homosexual Frente! (or Frente) is an Australian folk- pop and indie pop group which originally formed in 1989. The original line-up consisted of Simon Austin on guitar and backing vocals, Angie Hart on lead vocals, Tim O'Connor on bass guitar (later repla ...

(FLH), whose immediate forebear was

Nuestro Mundo Nuestro Mundo (literally "Our World," also Grupo Nuestro Mundo meaning "Our World Group") was the first gay rights organization in Latin America. It was founded by Héctor Anabitarte in Buenos Aires, Argentina in late 1967. In 1971, it joined wit ...

, the first gay rights organization in Latin America.Bazán, 2010

pp. 340–342 The arrival of the last civic-military dictatorship in 1976—with its subsequent intensification of

state terrorism State terrorism is terrorism conducted by a state against its own citizens or another state's citizens. It contrasts with '' state-sponsored terrorism'', in which a violent non-state actor conducts an act of terror under sponsorship of a state. ...

—dissolved these activist efforts,Sebreli, 1997, p. 325 and the local movement often denounces that there were at least four hundred LGBT people among the ''

desaparecidos An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a State (polity), state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the i ...

''. The end of military rule in 1983 was followed by a flourishing of lesbian and gay life in the country which, combined with the continued repression, resulted in a resurgence of activism, within which the role of Carlos Jáuregui and the Comunidad Homosexual Argentina (CHA) stood out. During the 1990s, the local LGBT activism continued to expand, and the first pride marches of the country took place. During the decade, the travesti and

transgender rights movement The transgender rights movement is a movement to promote the legal status of transgender people and to eliminate discrimination and violence against transgender people regarding housing, employment, public accommodations, education, and health c ...

emerged, spearheaded by figures such as

Mariela Muñoz Mariela Muñoz (24 December 19435 May 2017) was an Argentine transgender rights activist and politician. She raised twenty-three children over the course of her life. In 1997, she became the first trans woman to be officially recognized by the ...

Karina Urbina Karina Dora Urbina is an Argentine transgender rights activist. Urbina, who was one of the first activists to speak out publicly in Argentina in support of transgender rights, is also considered the first openly transgender activist in Argentine ...

Lohana Berkins Lohana Berkins (15 June 1965 – 5 February 2016) was an Argentine travesti activist. Biography Berkins was born on 15 June 1965 in Pocitos, Salta. Her father, a soldier, kicked her out at the age of 13. As Berkins got older, she fought agai ...

María Belén Correa María Belén Correa (born 25 June 1973) is a prominent Argentine Trans rights movement, trans rights activist. In 1993, together with Claudia Pía Baudracco and other activists, she co-founded the Asociación de Travestis Argentinas (ATA; Englis ...

and

Claudia Pía Baudracco Claudia Pía Baudracco (22 October 1970 – 18 March 2012) was an Argentine activist for the rights of women, sexual minorities, and LGBT people. Biography Baudracco was born on 22 October 1970 in La Carlota, Córdoba Province. She spent her ...

. Through the 1980s and until the mid-1990s, the nascent LGBT movement was primarily concerned with issues such as homophobia, police violence, and the

HIV/AIDS pandemic The global pandemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2023, HIV/AIDS ...

. One of its first great achievements was the repeal of police edicts (Spanish: "''edictos policiales''") in 1996, used by the

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

to arrest LGBT people. In 2000, a

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

bill was introduced in the Buenos Aires legislature, and two years later the city was first in the region to have a law granting legal recognition to same-sex couples. In the early 2010s, Argentina established itself as a pioneering country in terms of

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

, with the passing of the Equal Marriage Law (Spanish: ''Ley de Matrimonio Igualitario'') in 2010—becoming the tenth country to do so—and the Gender Identity Law (Spanish: ''Ley de Identidad de Género'') in 2012—which allows people to officially change their gender identities without facing barriers such as hormone therapy, surgery, psychiatric diagnosis or judge approval. Since 2019, the country has an official ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity. In 2021, the ''Cupo Laboral Trans'' law was passed—which established a 1% quota for trans workers in civil service jobs— and the country became the first in Latin America to recognise non-binary gender identities in its national identification cards and passports.

Health

Housing

Access to housing is one of the problems that most affects the travesti and trans women community. In Buenos Aires, 65.1% of travestis and trans women live in rental rooms in hotels, private houses, pensions or apartments, whether authorized by the competent body or "taken" by those who manage them irregularly. According to a study carried out by

INDEC The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (, mostly known for its acronym INDEC) is an Argentine decentralized public body that operates within the Ministry of Economy, which leads all official statistical activities carried out in the co ...

and INADI in 2012, 46% of the travesti and trans women population in Argentina lived in deficit housing, while another study carried out by ATTTA and Fundacion Huesped in 2014 indicated that one third of them lived in poor households, particularly in the Northwest region of the country.

Violence

According to the FALGBT and the Buenos Aires

ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

''Defensoría del Pueblo'', 152

hate crimes Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their Physical appearance#Physiological ...

against LGBT people occurred in Argentina in 2020, with 84% of the cases corresponding to travestis and trans women, followed by cisgender gay men with 12%, lesbians with 4% and trans men with 2%. Of all the hate crimes registered, 57% of the cases (86) were injuries to the

right to life The right to life is the belief that a human (or other animal) has the right to live and, in particular, should not be killed by another entity. The concept of a right to life arises in debates on issues including: capital punishment, with some ...

, while the remaining 43% of the cases (66) were injuries to the right to physical integrity, that is, physical violence that did not result in death. Regarding the geographical distribution of these hate crimes, the highest percentage occurred in the Buenos Aires Province with 34.21%; followed by the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires with 14.47%; then Córdoba Province with 8.55%; and later Santa Fe Province with 6.58%. In fifth place, 5.92% of the total cases took place in Salta Province; followed by the provinces of Catamarca, Jujuy, Tucumán and Santiago del Estero with 3.95% each; then with 1.97% each, the provinces of Misiones and Mendoza. They are followed by the provinces of Chaco, La Rioja, Entre Ríos, San Juan and Santa Cruz with 1.32%. Finally, with 0.66% representing one case per province: San Luis, Corrientes, Neuquén and Chubut. In 1.32% of the cases, there is no record of the geographic location where the events occurred. According to a 2017 research published by the Ministry of Defense of Buenos Aires titled ''La revolución de las mariposas'', 74.6% of trans women and travestis in the city said they had suffered some type of violence, a high number, although lower than that registered in 2005, which was 91.9%. The same study indicated that they die on average at the age of 32, well below the average life expectancy of the country.

reflected in 2015: "Reaching old age is for a travesti like belonging to an exclusive club, because the mishaps that accompany marginal life—which lead to a death that is always considered premature in terms of population statistics—are the perennial consequences of a

persecuted Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms ...

identity." In recent times, the concept of "travesticide" (Spanish: ''travesticidio'')—along with "transfemicide" or "trans

femicide Femicide or feminicide is the intentional murder of women or girls because of their gender.Shalva Weil, "Femicide Across Europe: Research and prevention of femicide across Europe". Research Gate, October 2018. In domestic fields, 50% percent o ...

"— has been extended to refer to the

hate crime Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived ...

understood as the murder of a travesti due to her gender condition. In 2015, the murder case of activist

Diana Sacayán Amancay Diana Sacayán (31 December 1975 – 11 October 2015) was an Argentinian LGBT and human rights activist who fought for the legal rights of travesti and transgender people in Argentina. She founded the Anti-Discrimination Movement of ...

became the first precedent in Argentina and in Latin America to be criminally judged as a "travesticide". According to Blas Radi and Alejandra Sardá-Chandiramani:

''Travesticide''/''transfemicide'' is the end of a continuum of violence that begins with the expulsion of home, exclusion from education, the health system and labor market, early initiation into prostitution/sex work, the permanent risk of contracting
sexually transmitted diseases A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, oral ...
, criminalization, social stigmatization, pathologization,
persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...
and
police violence Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
. This pattern of violence constitutes the space of experience for trans women and ''travesties'', which is mirrored in their waning horizon of expectations. In it, death is nothing extraordinary; on the contrary, in the words of
Octavio Paz Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...
"life and death are inseparable, and each time the first loses significance, the second becomes insignificant".

Work

According to ''La revolución de las mariposas'', 88% of travestis and trans women from Buenos Aires never had a formal job, while 51.5% never had a job of any kind. 70.4% of those surveyed said they earned their living from prostitution, and of this group, 75.7% had been doing so from an age less than or equal to 18 years. 87.2% of these travesti and trans women surveyed who currently work as prostitutes wish to leave the activity if they were to be offered a job. The expulsion of travestis from the

educational system The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...

is a necessary element to understand the use of prostitution as an almost exclusive means of support, since the "hostile circumstances that mark the schooling experience of the majority of travesti girls and adolescents severely condition the possibilities of these subjects in terms of social inclusion and access to quality employment in adulthood."

Observances

In 2012, the legislature of the city of Buenos Aires established August 20 as the Day of Activism for Sexual Diversity in Argentina, in memory of activist Carlos Jauregui and his contributions to the LGBT community. Since 2013, the Argentine

Lesbian Visibility Day Lesbian Visibility Week (related to Lesbian Visibility Day) is an annual observance in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries dedicated to increasing the awareness of lesbian women and their issues. It was originally celebrate ...

is celebrated on March 5, in memory of the murder Natalia "Pepa" Gaitán, killed by a shotgun in the chest by her girlfriend's stepfather that day in 2010. In the city of Buenos Aires, the Day for the Promotion of the Rights of Trans People is commemorated every year on March 18 since 2014, a date instituted to commemorate the death of activist Claudia Pía Baudracco. The initiative was replicated by the legislatures of the city of

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

and of

Santa Fe Province The Invincible Province of Santa Fe (, , lit. "Holy Faith") is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco Province, Chaco (divided by the 2 ...

in 2016, and of

Río Negro Province Río Negro (, ''Black River'') is a province of Argentina, located in northern Patagonia. Neighboring provinces are from the south clockwise Chubut, Neuquén, Mendoza, La Pampa and Buenos Aires. To the east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Its cap ...

in 2020.

Arts and culture

Argot

Argentine

gay men Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual men, bisexual and homoromantic men may dually identify as ''gay'' and a number of gay men also identify as ''queer''. Historic terminology for gay men has included ''Sexual inversion (sexology), in ...

have developed the so-called "language of the ''locas''" (Spanish: "''habla de las locas''"), term with which openly effeminate homosexuals were called in the gay scene. A popular term in local gay culture is ''chongo''—the opposite of ''loca''—which refers to masculine, straight passing men. The popularity of the word ''chongo'' has extended from the gay community and is currently also used by heterosexual women to refer to men with whom they are sexually attracted. The Argentine LGBT community uses the

pejorative term A pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility ...

''paqui'' or ''paki'' to refer to heterosexual people. There are different versions regarding the origin of the term, including it being a reference to Plaza de Pakistán—a popular cruising spot for

men who have sex with men Men who have sex with men (MSM) are men who engage in sexual activity with other men, regardless of their sexual orientation or sexual identity. The term was created by epidemiologists in the 1990s, to better study and communicate the spre ...

in Buenos Aires. The word ''paqui'' apparently comes from ''paquidermo'', which means "" in Spanish. The lesbian community claims to have invented the term in the 1960s, because they saw heterosexuality as "clumsy and boring in bed." Over the years, the term began to be written with the letter ''k'' for its association with Plaza de Pakistán, something that has been denounced and resented by lesbian activists. After travestis and gay men began to be imprisoned during the 1946–1955 government of President

Juan Domingo Perón ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philip ...

, they developed their own

argot A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argo ...

known as ''carrilche'', which was nourished by prison

jargon Jargon, or technical language, is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside ...

. According to anthropologist María Soledad Cutuli, today this jargon is known as the ''teje'' and: "consists of taking up elements of prison jargon or " olice

lunfardo Lunfardo (; from the Italian ) is an argot originated and developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the lower classes in the Río de la Plata region (encompassing the port cities of Buenos Aires in Argentina and Montevideo in Uruguay) ...

", deforming some syllables of certain words, and also using invented terms such as ''cirilqui'' to refer to the police, or even the

polysemic Polysemy ( or ; ) is the capacity for a Sign (semiotics), sign (e.g. a symbol, morpheme, word, or phrase) to have multiple related meanings. For example, a word can have several word senses. Polysemy is distinct from ''monosemy'', where a word h ...

''teje'' (roughly " weave"), which can mean, depending on the context, 'lie, story, argument, affair.' To say that someone is a ''tejedora'' () implies a subtle way of qualifying her as a liar; to ask 'what are they ''tejiendo''?' () refers to assuming that a meeting or conversation may have ulterior motives". Activist

Marlene Wayar Marlene Wayar (born 14 October 1968) is an Argentine social psychologist, travesti-transgender activist, and author of the book ''Travesti: una teoría lo suficientemente buena'' (''Cross-dressing ravesti A Good Enough Theory''). Biography Marl ...

described the word ''teje'' as "the complicit word between us ravestis which we don't want the other to find out about: bring me the ''teje'', because of the cocaine; or look at the ''teje'', it is when he clienthas a wallet with money. And that is the name of the magazine.

Drag queens

In the 1990s,

drag queens A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and have ...

became a fixture in the gay nightlife of Buenos Aires, featured in nightclubs such as El Dorado—the first one to hire drag queens—, Bunker and Morocco. One of the most well-known drag queens of the underground nightlife scene of the 1990s was Charly Darling, who worked as a hostess in clubs such as Morocco, Club 69, Palacio Alsina, Club Namunkurá, Kim & Novak, Shamrock and Cocoliche; as well as a model for photographers and as a muse for artists such as Darin Wixon, Gustavo Di Mario and Marcelo Bosco. La Barby is a renowned drag queen and comedian influenced by

Divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

and

Lady Bunny Lady Bunny, previously known as Bunny Hickory Dickory Dock (born Jon Ingle, August 13, 1962), is an American drag queen, nightclub DJ, actor, comedian, and event organizer. She is the founder of the annual Wigstock event, as well as an occasion ...

, who first rose to prominence in the Buenos Aires gay nightlife in the 1990s. She began her drag career in popular nightclubs from the decade such as Bunker and IV Milenio, and later developed a successful television career. La Queen is a drag performer from the lower-class neighborhood of

Fuerte Apache Barrio Ejército de los Andes, better known as ''Fuerte Apache'', is a neighbourhood of Ciudadela near the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is known for its high crime rates and prevalent drug use. Development The neighborhood arose during t ...

in Ciudadela, who first rose to prominence as a singer in the

trap music Trap music, also known simply as trap, is a subgenre of hip-hop music which originated in the Southern United States, with lyrical references to trap starting in 1991 but the modern sound of trap appearing in 1999. The genre gets its name from t ...

scene but has recently moved towards a pop style. In March 2021, ''Juego de Reinas'', the first drag

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

in Argentine television, aired in

Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Salta Province, the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the List of cities in Argentina, 7th most-populous ...

's Canal 10

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

channel.

Cinema

In 1963, French transsexual entertainer

Coccinelle Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy (23 August 1931 – 9 October 2006), better known by her stage name Coccinelle (''"ladybird"'' in French), was a French cabaret entertainer, singer, actress, and transgender activist. A transgender woman, she was ...

caused a media sensation when performing in Buenos Aires and had a minor role in

Enrique Carreras Enrique Carreras (6 January 1925 – 29 August 1995) was a Peruvian-born Argentina, Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer. He was one of the most prolific film directors in the history of the cinema of Argentina and a prominent ...

' film ''Los viciosos''. The

sexploitation film A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit se ...

s made by director

Armando Bó Armando Bó (3 May 19148 October 1981) was an Argentine film actor, director, producer, screenwriter and score composer. He began his career as an actor and producer during the Golden Age of Argentine cinema of the 1930s and 1940s. In 1956, B� ...

and actress

Isabel Sarli Hilda Isabel Gorrindo Sarli (; 9 July 192925 June 2019), nicknamed Coca, was an Argentine actress. She was known for starring in several sexploitation films by Armando Bó, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. She began her career as a model, beco ...

in the 1960s and 1970s are celebrated by the gay community for their

camp Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...

quality. Their 1969 film '' Fuego'' features one of the first representations of lesbianism in Argentine cinema. In addition to being a

pop icon A pop icon is a celebrity, character, or object whose exposure in popular culture is regarded as constituting a defining characteristic of a given society or era. The usage of the term is largely subjective since there are no definitively object ...

and

sex symbol A sex symbol or icon is a person or character widely considered sexually attractive and often synonymous with sexuality. Pam Cook, "The trouble with sex: Diana Dors and the Blonde bombshell phenomenon", In: Bruce Babinigton (ed.), ''British St ...

, Sarli is recognized as a

gay icon A gay icon is a public figure who is regarded as a cultural icon by members of the LGBTQ community. Such figures usually have a devoted LGBTQ fanbase and act as allies to the LGBTQ community, often through their work, or they have been "openly app ...

. American director

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

has declared himself a big fan of Sarli's films—including ''Fuego'' and '' Carne''—and has cited them as an influence in his work.

Literature

Esteban Echeverría José Esteban Antonio Echeverría (2 September 1805 – 19 January 1851) was an Argentine poet, fiction writer, cultural promoter, and liberal activist who played a significant role in the development of Argentine literature, not only thro ...

's famous short story '' El matadero''—considered a foundational work in Argentine literature—portrays the ''

federales ''Federales'' is a slang term in English language, English and Spanish languages referring to security forces, particularly those of the federal government of Mexico. The term gained widespread usage by English speakers due to being popularized ...

'' as bloodthirsty sodomites.Melo, 2011, "Literatura, sexo y nación: la imagen invertida" An important starting point for the history of

gay literature Gay literature is a collective term for literature produced by or for the gay community which involves characters, plot lines, and/or themes portraying male homosexual behavior. Overview and history Because the social acceptance of homosexuali ...

in Argentina was Carlos Correas'

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

"La narración de la historia"—published in magazine ''Revista Centro'' in 1959—in which homosexuality does not appear as a pathology but as a normal trait of the main character.Melo, 2011, "Prólogo" The text caused a great scandal, leading to the closure of the magazine and a judicial process for immorality and pornography. Manuel Puig is a foundational figure in Argentine gay literature and homoeroticism of the second half of the 20th century, especially through his novels '' La traición de Rita Hayworth'', ''The Buenos Aires Affair'' and '' El beso de la mujer araña''.Melo, 2011, "Peronismo y homosexualidad en Manuel Puig" ''La traición de Rita Hayworth'' is analyzed as both a chronicle of the 1930s and 1940s culture—the decades in which the fiction takes place—as well as a document of the 1960s, the time when it was published. The paradigmatic figure of

Eva Perón María Eva Duarte de Perón (; ; 7 May 1919 – 26 July 1952), better known as Eva Perón or by the nickname Evita (), was an Argentine politician, activist, actress, and philanthropist who served as First Lady of Argentina from June 1946 until ...

has been a source of fascination for Argentine gay writers.Melo, 2011, "Homosexualidad y Eva Perón" The work of

punk poet Punk literature (also called punk lit and, rarely, punklit) is literature related to the punk subculture. The attitude and ideologies of punk rock gave rise to distinctive characteristics in the writing it manifested. It has influenced the trans ...

Ioshua—who started his writing career in the 2000s and passed away in 2015—is celebrated for its explicit portrayal of lower-class gay life in the suburbs of Buenos Aires.

Tango

Many authors argue that the

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

was originally danced between men, with a few even suggesting that it was generally a homosexual dance between gay men. This hypothesis is not shared by other authors, for whom the original tango was a heterosexual dance, between a

client Client(s) or The Client may refer to: * Client (business) * Client (computing), hardware or software that accesses a remote service on another computer * Customer or client, a recipient of goods or services in return for monetary or other valuable ...

and a prostitute. The tango emerged at the end of the 19th century in the low-class neighborhoods of southern Buenos Aires, led by the emblematic figure of the ''compadritos'', a subculture of young men that were accused of being

faggots ''Faggot'', often shortened to ''fag'', is a slur in the English language that was used to refer to gay men but its meaning has expanded to other members of the queer community. In American youth culture around the turn of the 21st century, ...

(Spanish: "''maricas''") for their mannered personas and careful personal grooming.Bazán, 2008, p. 168-173 During the so-called "golden age of tango" between the 1940s and 1960s, a more massive and less sexualized form of the dance was popularized, with well-defined gender roles and

sexist Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

content in its lyrics. The early 21st century saw the emergence of the so-called "

queer tango Queer Tango (or Tango Queer) is to dance Argentine tango without regard to the traditional heteronormative roles of the dancers, and often to exchange the leader and follower roles. Therefore, it is related to open role or same-sex tango. The quee ...

" (Spanish: "''tango queer''"), which signaled a series of cultural changes, related to the greater visibility of sexual minorities, the growing popularity of gay tourism and the recent emergence of young people in the Buenos Aires tango circuit. In queer tango, dancers choose between the traditionally defined feminine or male role, regardless of their actual gender identity.

Theatre

The first scenic representations of non-heterosexuality in Argentina were tied to the medical and legal paradigm of the early 20th century, in a moralizing and victimizing manner. José González Castillo's famous 1914 play ''

Los invertidos (''The Inverts''; invert was an early term for homosexuality) is a play by Argentine author that premiered on September 23, 1914. Context At the end of the 19th century in Argentina, the anarchists, much like the socialists, had launched ef ...

'' (Spanish for "the inverts") is a prime example. The 1970s are considered an era of "artistic travesti 'uncover'" (Spanish: "''destape''"), which began with the arrival of a Brazilian travesti who performed in a well-known theater in Buenos Aires.Fernández, 2004, p. 35 Her show paved the way to later performances by local travestis. The stage became the only place where travestis could publicly dress as women, as it was forbidden to do so on the streets. Around 1964, travesti artists—at that time named ''lenci'', in reference to a type of cloth, because they "were like little rag dolls"—met at an apartment on

Avenida Callao Callao Avenue () is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Overview Mayor Torcuato de Alvear, inspired by the urban redevelopment works in Paris at the direction of Baron Haussmann, drew up master plans for major boul ...

, where they rehearsed musical acts and prepared to go out to theatre shows. Travestis emulated a contoured figure—which emphasized breasts and buttocks—through paddings called ''truquis'', ''piu-piú'' or ''colchón'' (), first using cotton fabrics and later

foam rubber Foam rubber (also known as cellular rubber, sponge rubber, or expanded rubber) is rubber that has been made with a foaming agent so that its structure is an air-filled matrix. Commercial foam rubber is generally made of synthetic rubber, natural ...

. While padding had been in use since at least the 1950s, the arrival of

lycra Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity (physics), elasticity. It is a polyether-polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont. Name The name ''spandex'', which ...

in the 1960s allowed them to "build more realistic physical contours." María Belén Correa argues that the emergence of travesti stage performers such Vanessa Show, Evelyn, Brigitte Gambini and Ana Lupe Chaparro in the 1960s and 1970s constituted "another way of activism". According to Evelyn—one of the first people to popularize ''

transformismo ''Trasformismo'' was the method of making a flexible centrist coalition of government which isolated the extremes of the political left and the political right in Italian politics after the Italian unification and before the rise of Benito Musso ...

'' in the theater scene—the "first travestis to appear in Buenos Aires" were a group called Les Girls in 1972, followed by Vanessa Show and Ana Lupez. She also mentioned the travestis of the "following era", which included Graciela Scott, Claudia Prado and herself, who debuted in 1977. In the years immediately before and after the end of the dictatorship rule in 1983, a scene known as the "

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * Buenos Aires Underground, a rapid transit system * London Underground, a rapid transit system * ...

" or "

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...

" emerged in Buenos Aires, which housed alternative artistic proposals to the

institutional An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

or hegemonic ones. In the theatrical field, pubs, discos and bars formed the ''off-Corrientes'' circuit, where some of the

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

of the 1960s and the Di Tella Institute were revived. One of the most prominent spaces of the underground scene was the Parakultural cultural center, which ran between 1986 and 1989. Through this cultural movement, a greater visibility of homosexual entertainers was seen, including the trio made up of Batato Barea, Humberto Tortonese and

Alejandro Urdapilleta Alejandro Urdapilleta (10 March 1954 – 1 December 2013) was an Uruguayan actor. He appeared in more than twenty films from 1989 to 2013. Selected filmography References External links * 1954 births 2013 deaths Uruguayan LGBTQ act ...

, who carried out several of their performances at the Parakultural. Barea's group works were part of the so-called ''nuevo teatro argentino'' (English: "new Argentine theatre") movement, characterized by the use of

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

and a lack of specific authority roles. Barea is regarded as "one of the first figures who contributed to make homoesexuality visible from the aesthetic point of view in a time of repression." He defined himself as a "literary transvestite clown." In 1995, Cris Miró debuted as a vedette at the

Teatro Maipo Teatro Maipo is a historic theatre in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was founded in 1908 by entrepreneur Charles Seguin, and was first called the Scala Theater. It later changed its name to the Esmerelda Theatre and eventually to the Maipo th ...

and caused

media sensation Media circus is a colloquial metaphor or idiom describing a news event for which the level of media coverage—measured by such factors as the number of reporters at the scene and the amount of material broadcast or published—is perceived to b ...

for the

gender bender A gender bender is a person who dresses up and presents themselves in a way that defies societal expectations of their gender, especially as the opposite sex. Bending expected gender roles may also be called a genderfuck. The concept of gender ...

aspects of her image. She is now regarded as a symbol of the

postmodern era Postmodernity (post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is the economic or cultural state or condition of society which is said to exist ''after'' modernity. Some schools of thought hold that modernity ended in the late 20th century – in th ...

and of the Argentine 1990s. As the first Argentine travesti to become a national celebrity, her presence meant a change in the Argentine showbusiness of the era and popularized transgender and

cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...

acts in Buenos Aires' revue theatrical scene. She paved the way for other Argentine travestis and trans women to gain popularity as vedettes, most notably Flor de la V. In 2019,

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

María Castillo de Lima became the first transsexual

opera singer Opera is a form of Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a lib ...

to perform at the prestigious

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón () is a historic opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acoustics expert Leo Beranek among leadin ...

Periodicals

Between 1973 and 1976, the

(FLH; English: "Homosexual Liberation Front") published the magazine ''Somos'' (), which was edited and distributed

clandestinely Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controver ...

and featured texts that were either not individually signed or signed with a pseudonym, due to the repression and violence towards homosexuals. In December 1983, the women's magazine ''Alfonsina''—led by María Moreno—appeared, which featured texts written by prominent figures of the Argentine feminist and lesbian movements. Between 1984 and 1985, the Grupo de Acción Gay (GAG; English: "Gay Action Group") published the magazine ''Sodoma'', which only had two issues. The publication was mainly in charge of Jorge Gumier Maier and Carlos Luis, with the close collaboration of Elena Napolitano and Néstor Perlongher from Sâo Paulo, Brazil, among other authors. An important contribution to lesbian activism were the ''Cuadernos de Existencia Lesbiana'' (English: "Notebooks of Lesbian Existence"), a project carried out by Ilse Fuskova and Adriana Carrasco between 1987 and 1996 that is considered the first lesbian publication in Argentina, The ''Cuadernos'' collected testimonies, photographs, translations and original writings of

lesbian literature Lesbian literature is a subgenre of literature addressing lesbian themes. It includes poetry, plays, fiction addressing lesbian characters, and non-fiction about lesbian-interest topics. A similar term is Sapphic love, sapphic literature, encom ...

and news about local and international lesbian life and activism. Influenced by

Adrienne Rich Adrienne Cecile Rich ( ; May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "the ...

, Fuskova and Carrasco conceived the publication as a way to fight against the invisibility and silencing that lesbians suffered in society and within feminism. According to investigator Paula Torricella, "until 1986 the reflection on lesbianism had been very little even within feminist groups, and public demands were not even consolidated until a few years later. There were no networks willing to import foreign material that talked about the subject ndlocal production was very scarce without a social movement that nurtured and demanded reflection." The activist organization Comunidad Homosexual Argentina (CHA; English: "Argentine Homosexual Community") published various magazines and newsletters between 1984 and 1992. The first one was the bulletin ''Boletín de la CHA''—published during Carlos Jáuregui's presidency of the group between 1984 and 1986—which was followed by ''Vamos a Andar''. The CHA simultaneously released other publications, including the weekly ''Boletín informativo'' (), ''Artículo 19'' and ''Vamos a Andar MUJER''. ''NX'' was the most emblematic

gay magazine The following is a list of periodicals (printed magazines, journals and newspapers) aimed at the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) demographic by country. Australia The most comprehensive holdings of LGBT periodicals is fo ...

of the 1990s, released continuously and monthly between October 1993 and December 2001. It was the first attempt at lasting gay journalism in Argentina and a model for others in Latin America that imitated its style. The magazine included the publication ''NX Positivo'', with updated information on HIV, means of prevention, and places of consultation and care. In the early 1990s,

transsexual A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (incl ...

activist Karina Urbina founded the organization TRANSDEVI, which published the bulletin ''La Voz Transexual'' (English: "The Transsexual Voice") that, in addition to focusing on transsexuality, included articles on abortion, HIV and the Catholic Church. Between 1992 and 1996, the magazine ''Ka-buum'' was published in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, U.S. by Sam Larson and distributed by mail to the Latino homosexual community residing in the United States and to activist groups in Latin America—especially Argentina, Chile and Uruguay—and Spain. The magazine featured texts by a variety of international activists, including several from Argentina. Between 1998 and 1999, the

-based lesbian group Las Iguanas ()—a reference to North American

parthenogenetic Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek + ) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which the embryo develops directly from an egg without need for fertilization. In animals, parthenogenesis means the development of an embryo from an unfertiliz ...

lizards—published a bulletin of the same name, which they described as: "a meeting space where we can gather to share life stories in relation to our sexual identity." In November 2007, the first issue of ''El Teje'', the first periodical written by travestis in Latin America, was published in a joint initiative between activists—led by

— and the Ricardo Rojas Cultural Center in Buenos Aires.

Photography

Lesbian activist llse Fusková ventured into photography in the early 1980s under the influence and friendship of photographers

Grete Stern Grete Stern (9 May 1904 – 24 December 1999) was a German-Argentine photographer. Between April 1930 and March 1933, she studied at the Bauhaus. With her husband Horacio Coppola, she helped modernize the visual arts in Argentina, and presented ...

and Horacio Coppola. Her 1988 photographic series ''S/T''—made alongside Adriana Carrasco, Vanessa Ragone and Marisa Ramos—deal with lesbian desire and shows a couple of women painting their bodies with menstrual blood. Fusková and her group intended to break the use of lesbians as sexual objects for male masturbation.

Popular music

Gay

Virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...

lead singer

Federico Moura Federico José Moura (23 October 1951 – 21 December 1988) was an Argentine singer, songwriter, record producer, fashion designer and lead vocalist of the new wave rock band Virus, formed with his brothers Julio and Marcelo in 1981. Moura ...

is one of the first Argentine

gay icons A gay icon is a public figure who is regarded as a cultural icon by members of the LGBTQ community. Such figures usually have a devoted LGBTQ fanbase and act as allies to the LGBTQ community, often through their work, or they have been "openly app ...

of foundational importance, and an emblematic singer in Latin American homosexual culture. Many of Virus' songs subtly made reference to 1980s

culture, such as

cruising for sex Cruising for sex or cruising is walking or driving about a locality, called a cruising ground, in search of a sex partner, usually of the anonymous, casual, one-time variety. Published: 11-14-2007 Published: 9-21-2005 Article from NYT about a ...

male prostitution Male prostitution is a form of sex work consisting of the act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. M ...

and underground parties; and Moura displayed a flamboyant, sexualized stage persona that caused a homophobic reaction by much of the

Argentine rock Argentine rock (known locally as ''rock nacional'' , "national rock" in the sense of "local", "not international") is rock music composed or performed by Argentina, Argentine bands or artists mostly in Spanish. Argentine rock was the earliest inc ...

culture at the time. The most emblematic event took place during the 1981 Prima Rock festival, when they were received with indifference by an audience that threw tomatoes, oranges and other objects at them. Moura passed away in 1988 and became the first AIDS-related public death in Argentina.

Lesbian

Marilina Ross Marilina Ross (born María Celina Parrondo; February 16, 1943, in Liniers, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine singer and actress. She went into exile in Spain during the years of the military dictatorship (1976–1983), because this would not allow ...

' composition "

Puerto Pollensa Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Oriental Mi ...

"—first recorded and popularized by

Sandra Mihanovich Sandra Mihanovich (born April 24, 1957) is an Argentina, Argentine singer, musician, and composer of Rock (music), rock, blues, and Tango music, tango rhythms. Biography She was born in the Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Recoleta neighbourhood of Bueno ...

in 1981—is considered the first Argentine popular song to thematize love between women, although not in an explicit way. It became an enduring

gay anthem Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) music is music that focuses on the experiences of gender and sexual minorities as a product of the broad gay liberation movement. LGBTQ music spans the entire spectrum of popular music. ...

,Bazán, 2010, p. 479 especially among the

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

community, released at a time when the secrecy of non-heterosexual relationships was a source of shared codes and interpretations of cultural products. According to lesbian journalist Marta Dillon: "thirty years later lesbians of all ages continue singing the entire lyrics by heart". "Puerto Pollensa" had an important role in the process of visibility of homosexuality that took place in Argentina after the return to democratic rule in 1983. Ross later recorded her own version of the song and included it in her 1982 album ''Soles''. In contemporary shows and journalistic articles, the songwriter made it clear that "Puerto Pollensa" described a personal experience, although she always refused to reveal the name or gender of her lover. Although she did not publicly deny or affirm her sexual orientation, Mihanovich became a sex symbol for some lesbians and an icon of a burgeoning "gay culture". In 1984, she released "Soy lo que soy", a Spanish-language version of " I Am What I Am", which she discovered in a gay nightclub in Rio de Janeiro when a drag queen performed to

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "I Have a Right, Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am (Broadway mus ...

's version. Mihanovich's version is regarded as another enduring gay anthem for the local LGBT community, and is played at the end of each Buenos Aires' Pride March. In her 1984 live album ''Sandra en Shams'', female members of the audience can be heard praising the singer's body and, in its autobiographical closing track "La historia de nunca acabar", she sings: "It is not difficult for me to start with men. But I could never...", with the public laughingly shouting "finish" and ending the song. In the late 1980s, Mihanovich formed the pop duo Sandra y Celeste alongside singer-songwriter

Celeste Carballo Celeste Primavera Carballo (born September 21, 1956, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentine singer-songwriter in rock, blues, hard rock, punk and tango. Life She became known in the early 1980s for her distinctive voice range from B2 to F#6 ...

, with whom she also developed a romantic relationship. The 1990 release of their second studio album '' Mujer contra mujer'' is regarded as a landmark for the local lesbian culture, with its

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

—a cover version of

Mecano Mecano was a Spanish pop band formed in 1981 and active until 1992. Mecano became one of the most successful Spanish pop bands of all time. The band is still the best-selling Spanish band, with over 20 million records worldwide. They were cons ...

—openly dealing with a lesbian relationship. The album is noted for its controversial artwork—depicting both singers naked and embraced— which was wallpapered throughout the city of Buenos Aires as part of its advertising campaign and made great impact. The album's release and promotion discussed and made lesbianism visible in the Argentine society of the time. Their intimate performance of "Mujer contra mujer" in ''

Susana Giménez María Susana Giménez Aubert (born 29 January 1944), known as Susana Giménez (), is an Argentine TV host, actress, model and businesswoman. In 2012, she was considered the biggest celebrity in Argentine television by the media firm that pub ...

'' is also remembered as an iconic moment for lesbian visibility in the country. Carballo famously

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

in 1991 when promoting ''Mujer contra mujer'' at Juan Alberto Badía's TV show ''Imagen de radio'', telling the host: "Sandra and I love each other". She also stated: "There are many people like me, (...) and they are among us. And there are many who keep their mouths shut and who do not speak and who hide. And there are many girls who paint their nails and it bothers them at night. (...) I understand that people get scared and feel rejection, but it does not seem normal and natural that I always have to speak with second words and never use the correct one because then... I continue to attack this prude and ''macho'' society that Argentina really is." On March 7, 2021—the Day of Lesbian Visibility in Argentina—the

Kirchner Cultural Centre The Libertad Palace, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Cultural Center () is a cultural centre located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the largest of Latin America, and the third or fourth largest in the world. ''

Cumbia santafesina Cumbia santafesina is a musical style that arose in Santa Fe, Argentina. It is distinguished by taking the guitar and the accordion as the main instruments. Another distinctive feature of cumbia santafesina compared to other subgenres of the res ...

'' singer Dalila is the only cumbia singer with an explicitly lesbian song, titled "Amor entre mujeres". Nevertheless, she disliked the song becoming an anthem for lesbian cumbia fans and refused to sing it at a lesbian party on one occasion, claiming she did not want to "get attached to it." Modern lesbian musicians include Lucy Patané, Lu Martínez, Flopa, Ibiza Pareo, Juli Laso, Leda Torres, Viviana Scaliza, Larro Carballido, Paula Trama, Inés Copertino, Luciana Jury, Marcia Müller, Juana Chang, Flor Linyera, Juliana Isas, Cata Raybaud, Vale Cini and Cam Bezkin.

Politics

The first openly LGBT+ member of the

National Congress of Argentina The National Congress of Argentina () is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Argentina. Its composition is bicameralism, bicameral, constituted by a 72-seat Argentine Senate, Senate and a 257-seat Argentine Chamber of Deputie ...

was national deputy Marcela Virginia Rodríguez, a lesbian and feminist activist, elected in 2001. Leonardo Grosso and

Osvaldo López Osvaldo "Cocho" López (born December 3, 1947, in Buenos Aires), is a retired Argentina, Argentine racing driver. He began his career in 1967 and retired in the early 2000s. He won the TC2000 championship in 1979 and he was runner-up in the South ...

were the first openly gay men in Congress; both took office in 2011, in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate, respectively. In 2015, Cristina Campos became the first transgender person to be a candidate for provincial senator. In early 2020, trans woman Alba Rueda was appointed undersecretary of Diversity Policies of the Nation (Spanish: "Políticas de Diversidad de la Nación") within the new

Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity The Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity (; MMGyD) was a ministry of the Argentine Government tasked with overseeing the country's public policies on issues affecting women and gender and sexual minorities. The ministry was created in 2019 ...

, created as part of President

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer, and academic who served as President of Argentina from 2019 to 2023. He was also the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers from 2003 to 2008. His tenure as Cabin ...

's cabinet.

Sports

In 2020, trans woman Mara Gómez debuted as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

in Argentine

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, becoming the first transgender athlete to participate in a professional league.

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

*
Archivo de la Memoria Trans
(in Spanish), trans digital archive
Argentina
at the

International LGBTQ+ Travel Association International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(IGLTA)
Asociación Familias Diversas de Argentina
(in Spanish), same-sex parenting organization
ATTTA
(in Spanish), travesti and trans rights organization
Bachillerato Popular Travesti-Trans Mocha Celis
(in Spanish), high school for travesti and trans people
Casa Brandon
LGBT cultural organization
Comunidad Homosexual Argentina
on

(in Spanish), LGBT rights organization
Defensoría del Pueblo CABA
(in Spanish), ombudsman of Buenos Aires
FALGBT
(in Spanish), LGBT rights organization
La Fulana
(in Spanish), lesbian and bisexual women organization
Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity
(in Spanish) of Argentina
Nexo
(in Spanish), LGBT rights and HIV prevention organization
Potencia Tortillera
lesbian digital archive
SIGLA
gay and lesbian organization
''Soy''
(in Spanish), LGBT supplement to newspaper '' Página/12''
Xumek
(in Spanish), LGBT and human rights organization {{South America topic, LGBT culture in