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| Gahela Cari hopes to become the first indigenous transgender person elected to the Peruvian Congress (AFP Photo/Ernesto BENAVIDES) |
Lima (AFP) - The first indigenous transgender candidate to run for parliament in Peru says it's time to end the culture of machismo in the South American country.
"I
suffered, in my own flesh, the consequences of inequality, discrimination,
violence and corruption," Gahela Cari, 27, said in an interview with AFP
before Sunday's nationwide parliamentary ballot.
"We
have to stop educating future macho men," she said during a break from
campaigning.
Her candidacy
comes as awareness of transgender people and their rights is growing in many
countries.
"I'm
an animal-rights advocate, an ecologist and a student leader," Cari told
AFP. "I come from that part of the left that has always fought."
Cari, who
has promised to support the anticorruption reforms of President Martin
Vizcarra, is running as a candidate of the leftist Together for Peru party,
which seeks to end the political crisis that led Vizcarra to dissolve Congress
on September 30.
Small, thin
and calm in demeanor, she sported an Andean hat over braided hair during her
interview, with bright red lipstick and, tied to her left wrist, the green
scarf that symbolizes support for legalized abortion.
What
motivated you to run for Congress?
CARI:
"We want trans people to have more opportunities. We don't enjoy the same
conditions as the rest of the population. It's no coincidence that our life
expectancy is less than 32 years. Here the state doesn't guarantee our
rights."
"(Congress) has been more concerned with defending the corrupt. I'm tired of traditional politics. That's why I entered politics, to put Congress at the service of the citizenry."
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Cari, who
supports the anticorruption reforms of President Martin Vizcarra, is
running
for office amid growing awareness of transgender people and their rights
globally (AFP Photo/Ernesto BENAVIDES)
|
"(Congress) has been more concerned with defending the corrupt. I'm tired of traditional politics. That's why I entered politics, to put Congress at the service of the citizenry."
How do
you present yourself to voters?
CARI:
"I introduce myself as a trans, indigenous, migrant woman. I was born in
the south of the country. My mother is from Ayacucho and my father is from Puno.
In this country we receive an education that aims to repress who we are, to
repress our sexual identity and to repress our cultural identity. They force us
to be ashamed of our roots."
"In a
country that teaches you to be ashamed, a country that educates in order to
repress you, to describe yourself as an indigenous trans person is already
revolutionary. It is using your body to fight; fighting without even uttering a
word."
What is
the main point in your platform?
CARI:
"We want to finish (Vizcarra's) political reform, to complete the reform
of the justice system and to launch an economic reform that guarantees the
voices of the citizenry and of vulnerable populations."
"We do
not want the situation facing women and LGBTQ people to continue, which is why
we are proposing a reform to put the fight against gender-based violence and
all forms of discrimination on the table."
"We
need to stop raising future macho men, future homophobes, future transphobes
and woman killers. We need education with respect. I have suffered transphobic
bullying in school."
"We're
fighting to decriminalize abortion in all cases because we don't believe that a
democratic state can continue to condemn a woman to be a mother against her
will."
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Facts about
Peru (AFP Photo/Gustavo IZUS, Nicolas RAMALLO)
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Is it
true that you practiced prostitution?
CARI:
"I had to be involved in prostitution though I didn't want to. It was for
a short time... but it was the most complicated stage of my life."
"It
was when I was about to finish university. I had gone five days without eating
and my stomach was empty. It was a matter of necessity. I got out of it thanks
to a network of contacts and thanks to feminists who saved my life."
Were you
also a catechist?
CARI:
"I was a catechist. I am a believer, I believe in a loving God. I believe
that no religion can serve to justify hate."
If you
studied law, why aren't you practicing as a lawyer?
CARI:
"After finishing my university studies, those in charge refused to let me
join the professional association. Without that membership, you can't work,
though I tried hard. That depressed me for a while."
Is it
difficult to campaign in a country with a tradition of machismo?
CARI:
"We have had to face situations of discrimination throughout the campaign.
We have been threatened and have suffered situations of harassment and physical
violence."
