Trans grandmothers of the LGBTTTIQ+ movement

In the 70’s gender identity was not on any agenda in Mexico, for Trans Women reaching the age of 50 was a matter of survival. They lived what the headlines of Alarma! Magazine called “Mujercitos”, a publication that exhibited and humiliated those who identified with the feminine. Living a media lynching through the red note resulted in the murder, disappearance and suicide of many of them. A 1970 publication of the magazine Alarma! where photographic evidence of different raids by the Department of Police Investigation and Transit (DIPT) to places frequented by trans women was published. The content was full of transphobic headlines and hate speech against the transgender community.

An older trans woman shares the part of her body she likes the most. She is currently a sex worker.

Vero and Ruby have each other, both were forgotten by their families and both have lived through life situations in which they have supported each other as survivors of the same trans persecution.

Ruby proudly carries a Trans flag, she says that all her costumes were equal to those of a vedette, although she managed to look like one and live in the same circles, she did not have the same opportunities to have a dignified old age.

Denisse is a poet, she rescues animals. She worked for more than 10 years for a company that fired her when she decided to confess her gender identity, she was not given any severance pay, nor any other incentive even though she did not break any company rule.

Vero was considered one of the most beautiful trans women at the time, her close clients ranged from artists and politicians of the time.

Ruby is originally from northern Mexico, she ran away from home when she confessed her identity to her family, when she was rejected she looked for a better life in Mexico City, during her stay she got a job as a sex worker, many times she wanted to change jobs but her gender identity did not allow her to get any other job. In the photograph she shows a photo that a German magazine took of her on the subject of the shelters for sex workers as they age.

Over the years Vero has left the streets because the modeling oils she injected at that time have taken her to the hospital several times. Currently, she has wanted to be a senior citizen who receives retirement support, but because she does not have papers, she has been denied on several occasions. She lives through the support of her friends, whom she considers family. In the photo she is accompanied by her great loves.

Ruby, putting on her make-up, tells us that she always liked to dress up: dresses, shoes, hair; she matched everything like a vedette, even though she managed to look like one and live in the same circles, she did not have the same opportunities to have a dignified old age.

In the 70’s gender identity was not on any agenda in Mexico, for Trans Women reaching the age of 50 was a matter of survival. They lived what the headlines of Alarma! Magazine called “Little Women”, a publication that exhibited and humiliated those who identified with the feminine. Living a media lynching through the red note resulted in the murder, disappearance and suicide of many of them.

From those years we remember the Mexico of the cabaret queens, of the stars of musical theater and cinema, they were close to this Mexico, however, because of their gender identity they were denied and violated, they were constantly persecuted by the Department of Police Investigation and Transit (DIPT).

They are considered the grandmothers of the LGBTTTIQ+ movement, they see themselves as historical, through different organizations in favor of the rights of the trans elderly, they seek reparation for the physical, emotional, psychological and economic damage they faced at the hands of the PRI governments.

Currently they do not appear in the PRIDE marches despite being the pioneers who in 1979 led the first march for the rights of the lesbian and gay community.