Tremenda Nota es el medio socio del Washington Blade en Cuba. Esta nota salió en su sitio web el 19 de julio.

LA HABANA — La homofobia y la transfobia usadas por la policía con las personas detenidas en las protestas del pasado 11 de julio, fueron denunciadas por el estudiante Leonardo Romero Negrín en una entrevista publicada este lunes por La Joven Cuba, a una semana de los incidentes.

“Cuando llegamos a la unidad nos desnudaron a todos. Nos decían que nosotros éramos unos maricones chupapingas y que nos iban a coger el culo”, contó el estudiante de física, detenido en las cercanías del Capitolio mientras intentaba impedir la violencia de la policía contra Marco Antonio Pérez Fernández, de 17 años.

“Nos tuvieron contra la pared durante dos horas, llevábamos cuarenta minutos desnudos esperando, venían por detrás y me halaban el pelo, lo tengo largo, y me decían: ‘Chinita, con este pelito se puede hacer tremendo peluquín'”, relató Leonardo.

“Me tocaban las nalgas, a mí y a otros también”, detalló también.

En una conversación con Tremenda Nota, el estudiante reflexionó sobre la gravedad de este incidente, que revela contradicciones en la posición de las autoridades sobre la comunidad LGBTIQ+.

Leonardo no es gay ni trans, pero ha contribuido en muchas ocasiones con las campañas del activismo a favor del matrimonio igualitario en Cuba.

Tremenda Nota entrevistó durante la manifestación a tres mujeres trans que señalaron las razones particulares que tuvieron las personas LGBTIQ+ para unirse a las protestas.

“Vine porque estoy cansada de la represión que tiene la policía con los trans, no nos dejan salir a las calles, nos piden carnés, nos llevan por prostitución”, explicó Adriana Pérez Fernández mientras marchaba con sus amigas hacia la Plaza de la Revolución.

“Nos llevan para las unidades sin necesidad ninguna, nos meten en ‘peligro’, las familias pasando trabajo, cargando sacos para una prisión, al final de cuentas sin ninguna necesidad”, confirmó Analía Escalona, una mujer que dijo estar calificada como maestra y no tener empleo solo por ser trans.

Analía denunció que las autoridades usan frecuentemente contra ellas la categoría penal vigente en Cuba de “Estado Peligroso”, un recurso que les permite procesar a personas sin cometer un delito.

“Necesitamos plazas de trabajo para personas trans, donde podamos ir vestidas de mujer”, reclamó Adriana Pérez Fernández.

Tremenda Nota no ha podido confirmar si estas mujeres trans se encuentran entre los más de 500 detenidos registrados por activistas independientes, o si pudieron llegar a un lugar seguro después que la policía disolvió violentamente la manifestación en los alrededores de la Plaza de la Revolución.

Otras mujeres trans, participantes de las protestas ocurridas en el municipio de Arroyo Naranjo, La Habana, y entrevistadas en la prisión provisional conocida como “El Vivac”, fueron tratadas por la policía como hombres y denunciaron que el sistema penal cubano, en general, sigue desconociendo la identidad de género.

La última información sobre estas detenidas conseguida por Tremenda Nota, hace suponer que fueron procesadas la pasada semana por su participación en las manifestaciones.

A 20-year-old transgender woman was found shot to death in her apartment in the D.C. suburb of Suitland, Md., on Saturday, July 17, shortly before 10 p.m., according to a statement released by Prince George’s County police.

The statement identifies the victim as Taya Ashton, who lived in an apartment on the 2300 block of Brooks Drive in Suitland, where police were called to respond to a shooting.

“The victim was located inside her apartment suffering from a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead on the scene,” the police statement says.

“Detectives are working to identify a suspect(s) and determine a motive,” according to the statement. “Based on the preliminary investigation, at this time, detectives do not believe this was a random crime,” the statement continues.

“At this point in the investigation, we have uncovered no evidence suggesting Taya’s murder was due to her gender identity, but as in all cases, we explore all possibilities,” the statement says.

The statement adds, “We are asking anyone with information that could help detectives to please reach out by calling 301-516-2512. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS, go online at pgcrimesolvers.com, or use the ‘P3 Tips’ mobile app.” The statement says callers are asked to refer to Case 21-0032181.

D.C. resident Stuart Anderson, Taya Ashton’s grandfather, told the Washington Blade that her parents and extended family members accepted Ashton’s status as a transgender woman and are devastated over the taking of her life by violence.

Anderson said he arrived at his grandchild’s apartment after being alerted to the shooting by another family member minutes after police arrived. He said he and other family members did not observe any signs of a forced entry into the apartment, leading them to believe Taya Ashton may have known the assailant and possibly invited the person to her home.

“We saw her. It looked like a struggle might have taken place,” Anderson said.

P.G. County police spokesperson Corp. Nicholas Clayton told the Blade on Monday that detectives were actively investigating the case and would be looking for any and all available evidence to identify the person responsible for Ashton’s murder.

He said police could not disclose details related to the condition of the body or other evidence found at the scene, including whether or not there was a forced entry into the apartment, because doing so could jeopardize the investigation.

“Today is a somber and sad day for the Transgender Community as we remember yet another life so precious taken away,” said D.C. transgender advocate Earline Budd in a statement responding to the announcement by P.G. County police on Monday that the murder had occurred.

“This murder only reminds us of the tragic shooting in 2019 of both Ashanti Carmon and Zoe Spears,” Budd said in her statement. “Both were brutally gunned down between March 30 and June 19 of 2019, less than a mile from each other.”

Budd was referring to the location in Fairmont Heights, Md., also in Prince George’s County near the D.C. border, where the two trans women were fatally shot. P.G. County police arrested 33-year-old Baltimore resident Gerardo Thomas later that year for the Spears murder. No arrest has been made in the case of Carmon’s murder.

“Transgender individuals are experiencing violence locally and around the country almost every day,” Budd said in her statement. “D.C. and P.G. County are only separated by a line, and we must come together as one community to address this violence.”

Budd added, “There should be no rest in the LGBTQ community when something as tragic as this happens. Our prayers go out to the family of Taya.”

Anderson said he and other family members were making arrangements for a vigil in Taya Ashton’s honor at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 21, at River Terrace Park, which is located in D.C. at Benning Road and Anacostia Ave., N.E. along the Anacostia River. He said the vigil would take place at or near the site of the park’s main gazebo.

Budd said she is helping the family set up the vigil.

SACRAMENTO – The State of California Third District Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that a state statute requiring nursing home staff to use the correct pronouns for trans and nonbinary patients is a freedom of speech violation.

The Court, in a unanimous 3-0 decision, struck down this key provision of the LGBTQ Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights, created by SB 219 in 2017, authored by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and sponsored by Equality California. The Court upheld the provision in the law that requires nursing homes to place transgender patients in rooms that match their gender identity.

“The Court’s decision is disconnected from the reality facing transgender people. Deliberately misgendering a transgender person isn’t just a matter of opinion, and it’s not simply ‘disrespectful, discourteous, or insulting.’ Rather, it’s straight up harassment. And, it erases an individual’s fundamental humanity, particularly one as vulnerable as a trans senior in a nursing home. This misguided decision cannot be allowed to stand,” Senator Wiener said in a statement.

SB 219, also known as the LGBTQ Senior Bill of Rights, protects LGBTQ seniors in long-term care facilities from discrimination and mistreatment based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Wiener authored and passed SB 219 in 2017, and then-Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law.

“The Court’s decision is a beyond disappointing, especially for our state’s transgender and nonbinary seniors. Let’s be clear: refusing to use someone’s correct name and pronouns isn’t an issue of free speech — it’s a hateful act that denies someone their dignity and truth,” said Equality California’s Executive Director Rick Chavez Zbur.

“Study after study has shown that trans people who are misgendered face alarming and life-threatening rates of depression and suicidal behavior. And older LGBTQ+ people face feelings of isolation, poor mental health and extreme vulnerability to communicable diseases like COVID-19. California’s nursing home patients deserve better than this — and we’ll be fighting until this decision is overturned,” he added.