Chile
Transgender woman sues Chilean national police
Isabella Panes alleges she suffered harassment, exclusion after becoming ‘carabinera’
Isabella Panes in 2022 was celebrated as a symbol of inclusion.
Wearing an olive green uniform and a shy smile, she appeared in the media and on social media as Chile’s first trans female “carabinera” or national police officer. The Carabineros promoted Panes as a sign of openness, but that story has become a dramatic case of institutional discrimination.
Panes today faces the Carabineros in court.
She has denounced a series of systematic acts of exclusion, harassment at work, and violation of fundamental rights that she and her defense team maintains pushed her into a mental health crisis that almost cost her her life.
“My hope is that tomorrow we will be able to live in a world of equality for all. Just that we understand that we are human beings and we have to make life a lot easier for each other,” Panes told the Washington Blade during an exclusive interview.
Panes, 29, grew up in Laja in the Biobío region.
She dreamed of becoming a “carabinera” since she was a child, despite the fact that she faced discrimination because of her gender identity. After years of effort, surgeries and a difficult transition, Panes enrolled in the Carabineros Academy in 2021.
Panes faced the challenge of making her medical processes compatible with the physical demands of training. Even so, she graduated with good marks, and was recognized as part of the new institutional image the Carabineros wanted to project after the 2021 social unrest tarnished their image.
This institutional support disappeared after the media campaign.
Panes alleges she was marginalized from operational duties and relegated to administrative tasks, despite her interest in and training to patrol the streets like any other officers.
“I joined the Carabineros to serve, not to be a marketing decoration,” she said. “I was offered to be part of the change, but only if I kept quiet and accepted the mistreatment.”
The accusations against the Carabineros are serious: Constant mockery by colleagues, dissemination of private information about her personal life, invasive questions about her body and sexual orientation. Panes’s legal representatives said this abuse took place within a context where the institution did not take effective measures to protect their client.
The Carabineros Social Security Administration, known by the Spanish acronym Dipreca, also refused to cover her transition-related medical procedures, arguing they were “aesthetic,” despite medical reports that indicated their importance for Panes’s mental health and well-being.
Panes in January attempted to kill herself by suicide. She managed to survive after calling Chile’s 4141 mental health care number for help.
“They were killing me slowly, from the inside,” said Panes.
Panes has brought her case to the Supreme Court after a lower court ruled in favor of Dipreca’s decision to not cover her medical treatments.
Her legal team in a lawsuit has also accused the Carabineros of employment and systematic discrimination. Panes is seeking damages and institutional reforms.
“The Carabineros used Isabella to clean up its public image, but when it came to guaranteeing real rights, they abandoned her,” said Javiera Zúñiga, spokesperson for the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, a Chilean advocacy group.
“It is not enough to show up at the Pride march,” she added. “True inclusion is demonstrated in deeds, in daily dealings, in respect for the dignity of all people.”
Panes’s case starkly exposes the limits of diversity policies when there is no deep institutional commitment to implement them.
“I am no longer afraid,” said Panes, ”What happened to me cannot happen again. Not for me, but for all those who come after me.”
Chile
Far-right Chilean President José Antonio Kast takes office
Former congressman opposes LGBTQ rights
Chilean President José Antonio Kast took office on Wednesday.
Kast — the far-right leader of the Republican Party who was a member of the country’s House of Deputies from 2002-2018 — defeated Jeannette Jara — a member of the Communist Party of Chile who was the former labor and social welfare minister in former President Gabriel Boric’s government — in last year’s presidential election.
The Chilean constitution prevented Boric from running for a second consecutive term.
The Washington Blade has previously reported Kast has expressed his opposition to gender-specific policies, comprehensive sex education, and reforms to Chile’s anti-discrimination laws. Kast has also publicly opposed the country’s marriage equality law that took effect on March 10, 2022, the day before Boric took office.
The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, a Chilean LGBTQ and intersex rights group known by the acronym Movilh, declared a “state of alert” after Kast’s election, “given this leader’s (Kast’s) public and political trajectory, characterized for decades by systematic opposition to laws and policies aimed at equality and nondiscrimination of LGBTIQ+ individuals.”
Argentine President Javier Milei and Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Christopher Landau are among those who attended Kast’s inauguration that took place in the Chilean Congress in Valparaíso.
Chile
Far-right José Antonio Kast elected Chile’s next president
Advocacy group declares ‘state of alert’ over president-elect’s opposition to LGBTQ rights
José Antonio Kast on Sunday won the second round of Chile’s presidential election.
Kast is the far-right leader of the Republican Party who was a member of the country’s House of Deputies from 2002-2018. He defeated Jeannette Jara, a member of the Communist Party of Chile who was former labor and social welfare minister in outgoing President Gabriel Boric’s government, by a 58.2-41.8 percent margin.
The election’s first round took place on Nov. 16.
Kast and Jara faced each other in the runoff after no candidate received at least 50 percent of the vote in the first round. Kast will take office on March 11.
“Under his leadership, we are confident Chile will advance shared priorities to include strengthening public security, ending illegal immigration, and revitalizing our commercial relationship,” said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday in a statement. “The United States looks forward to working closely with his administration to deepen our partnership and promote shared prosperity in our hemisphere.”
The Washington Blade has previously reported Kast has expressed his opposition to gender-specific policies, comprehensive sex education, and reforms to Chile’s anti-discrimination laws. The president-elect has also publicly opposed the country’s marriage equality law that took effect in 2022.
The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, a Chilean LGBTQ and intersex rights group known by the acronym Movilh, in a statement acknowledged the election result. Movilh also declared a “state of alert, given this leader’s (Kast’s) public and political trajectory, characterized for decades by systematic opposition to laws and policies aimed at equality and nondiscrimination of LGBTIQ+ individuals.”
“We urge the president-elect and far-right sectors that follow him to understand and internalize (the fact) that the rights of LGBTIQ+ people are inscribed in the universality of human rights, and they are not built upon an ideology or a political trend,” said Movilh in its statement. “This is not, and never has been, a left-wing or right-wing issue, although some on both sides have gone to great lengths to suggest otherwise, without any basis other than their own partisan or electoral aspirations.”
Organizado Trans Diversidades, a group that advocates on behalf of trans and nonbinary Chileans, on social media said it will “continue the fight for our community’s human rights.”
Chile
Chilean presidential election outcome to determine future of LGBTQ rights in country
Far-right candidate José Antonio Kast favored to win Dec. 14 runoff.
The results of Chile’s presidential election will likely determine the future of LGBTQ rights in the country.
While Congresswoman Emilia Schneider, the first transgender woman elected to Congress, managed to retain her seat on Sunday, the runoff to determine who will succeed outgoing President Gabriel Boric will take place on Dec. 14 and will pit two diametrically opposed candidates against each other: the far-right José Antonio Kast and Communist Jeannette Jara.
Schneider, an emblematic figure in the LGBTQ rights movement and one of the most visible voices on trans rights in Latin America, won reelection in a polarized environment. Human rights organizations see her continued presence in Congress as a necessary institutional counterweight to the risks that could arise if the far-right comes to power.
Kast v. Jara
The presidential race has become a source of concern for LGBTQ groups in Chile and international observers.
Kast, leader of the Republican Party, has openly expressed his rejection of gender policies, comprehensive sex education, and reforms to anti-discrimination laws.
Throughout his career, he has supported conservative positions aligned with sectors that question LGBTQ rights through rhetoric that activists describe as stigmatizing. Observers say his victory in the second-round of the presidential election that will take place on Dec. 14 could result in regulatory and cultural setbacks.
Jara, who is the presidential candidate for the progressive Unidad por Chile coalition, on the other hand has publicly upheld her commitment to equal rights. She has promised to strengthen mechanisms against discrimination, expand health policies for trans people, and ensure state protection against hate speech.
For Schneider, this new legislative period is shaping up to be a political and symbolic challenge.
Her work has focused on combating gender violence, promoting reform of the Zamudio Law, the country’s LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination and hate crimes law named after Daniel Zamudio, a gay man murdered in Santiago, the Chilean capital, in 2012, and denouncing transphobic rhetoric in Congress and elsewhere.
Schneider’s continued presence in Congress is a sign of continuity in the defense of recently won rights, but also a reminder of the fragility of those advances in a country where ideological tensions have intensified.
LGBTQ organizations point out that Schneider will be key to forging legislative alliances in a potentially divided Congress, especially if Kast consolidates conservative support.
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