After conquering beauty pageants and sports, transgender Latinas excite on the screen

The Latina MJ Rodríguez made history this year by becoming the first transgender woman to be nominated in the category of best actress for the Emmy Awards, the most important on national and international television. Her work in the series "Pose" is in English, but alongside her there are more and more artists who work in Spanish and who are proudly and very deliberately giving more visibility to the transgender community,

One of them is Argentine actress Mariana Genesio, one of the stars of the Amazon Prime Video series “Little Victories”. “It is a privilege to participate in a production in which the story of a trans woman is presented in such a natural way, which offers the public the chance to see a normal life, in a relationship with a man, with challenges like any other. woman, as well as moments of plenitude, like those that motherhood gives," the artist told the Los Angeles Times in Spanish.

Part of Amazon's Hispanic Heritage Month offering, the series follows the lives of three women brought together by little Victoria. A girl born through artificial insemination and a surrogate. Eventually it is known that the male donor is today a transgender woman and history finds them when the little girl is already five years old and her three mothers navigate the minefield of a society that sometimes condemns and others is confused by such a family formation. untraditional.

“It would have helped my family a lot to have series like this on television when my sister was growing up and when she told my parents she was transgender,” actress Selenis Leyva, born in Cuba of Cuban ancestry, told us. and Dominicans. “Latinos receive a lot of information, especially regarding the sentimental aspects of soap operas and series. It would have given us all a context.”

In her book “My sister”, which she published last year, the protagonist of the series “Diary of a Future President”, recounted the process that her family and community went through when the boy they had known all their lives how José gradually transformed into the beautiful woman that Marysol Leyva is today.

Maryzol herself accused Spanish-language television producers of having “increased the suffering of the LGBTQ+ community for years.” In an interview conducted when she presented the book that she wrote four hands with Selenis, the activist criticized how until recently "gay, lesbian or transgender characters had characteristics that not only reaffirmed dangerous stereotypes, but also ridiculed them."

When he talks about danger, Maryzol Leiva does not exaggerate. According to official figures, 197 transgender people were murdered in Latin America in 2020. That is, one every two days. In this country, 2021 is shaping up to be the most dangerous for the transgender community in the last 6 years. A specific case that shocked the Latino community last year was the violent death of the transgender woman Alexa Negrón in Puerto Rico. The case caused such a stupor that the reggaeton player Bad Bunny used his platform to denounce attacks against transgender people and used his presentation at the MTV Music Awards to send a powerful message by using the color purple, with which that community identifies and wear feminine clothing when singing “Yo perreo sola”.

Those tragedies, big and small, inspired the Leiva sisters to write their book and celebrate that in the second season of “Diary of a Future President”, on Disney +, Selenis has had to be the mother of a son who he begins to discover his sexuality and that he is attracted to other boys. “It is part of the mission to continue educating,” she stated.

For Mónica Trasandes, the director of programs for the Hispanic community of the organization GLAAD, the most important organization in the country that represents and defends the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, "the incorporation of realistic characters that tell stories of transgender Latinos It is essential for the visibility and normalization of the people that make up this group”.

Although there are more and more transgender people in public life and more and more famous families who speak publicly about the sexual identity of their children, “there is still a need for the media to teach with fiction and non-fiction what everyday life is like in many different situations and lifestyles. We not only need to see the transition process and the difficulties faced, which are many, but also understand that productive, healthy and happy lives can be led regardless of sexual identity or orientation,” added the activist.

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The messages that television is sending are not only for transgender people and their families. Nor are their only recipients those who physically attack members of the community.

In “Pequeñas Victorias”, Emma, ​​the character of Genesio, is in a stable relationship with a doctor played by Facundo Arana, one of the most popular telenovela leading men in Argentina. “It has been a privilege to be in a project that reminds us that we are all human beings and love is that, master. Everything else accompanies, but the essence unites us all," the actor who became known internationally with the starring role in the iconic "Muñeca Brava" told this newspaper.

The Brazilian soap opera “Sweet Ambition” came to show the development of a relationship between Britney, a transgender woman played by the actress Glamor García, who falls in love and ends up marrying a homophobic and transphobic baker. "It was wonderful to see how the public wanted Britney (her character of hers) and Abel to stay together and they applauded and were excited when they finally got married," Garcia told the Brazilian press at the time.

The production showed some kisses between lovers and even a beautiful wedding.

“It was a lesson for everyone,” said Juliana Paes, the star of the telenovela from the mega television company Globo. “Many times those of us on the other side of the screen underestimate the public.

Although Brazilian soap operas had already told the realities of transgender people and other members of the LGBT+ community, until “Sweet Ambition” an already adult transgender character comfortable with his transition had not been fully explored.

“It is important to see what happens next,” Trasendes stressed. "It's the element of hope and normality that helps families tremendously."

The only telenovela produced by a Spanish-language US TV channel with a focus on a transgender character has been “100 days to fall in love”. One of the characters in the Telemundo production was Ale, who began as Alejandra and during the episodes revealed herself as Alejandro. His process was partially accompanied by the audience that only got to see the first season on air.

Season two spent a year on Netflix, though national audiences haven't had access to it yet. In it you could see the physical and legal transition from Alejandra to Alejandro and the way in which her family and friends were companions, allies and even protectors, when necessary, in the process. The character was played by the Mexican actress Macarena García, who has declared herself moved by "the large number of boys and girls who have written to me and even parents who have told me how much Ale's story has helped them," she said.

Although the community celebrates the inclusion of trans characters, our interviewees agreed on the importance of transgender actors having more and more opportunities to work and be known by the public. In addition to the opportunities, there is something even more essential, as explained by the Venezuelan actress Laura Santiago: The hope is that with more and more visibility "people can become aware that we are women who deserve to live." Santiago is the first transgender actress to have starred in a telenovela. This is the Colombian Lala's Spa, from the RCN chain.

When MJ Rodríguez walked the Emmys carpet, she underscored the communities she represents: “I am an Afro-Latin woman and a woman from the trans experience.” All of those communities are still fighting for greater inclusion in all aspects of American life, including the media.

For this reason, although transgender actors also dream of playing all kinds of characters, Argentine Genesio understands that she and her colleagues are pioneers and have a great responsibility, so "although it would be interesting to play different women, I don't would care to continue telling our stories.”