María Belén Correa gains U.S. refuge after years of Argentinean trans activism
Argentinean transgendered woman María Belén Correa had not intended to make her home in the United States. Nevertheless, in a groundbreaking decision hailed as an important precedent, the U.S. granted Correa, 31, political asylum based on the grounds that, because of her gender change, she faces life-threatening oppression in her native country. Sadly, Correa’s path getting here is marked with fear and tragedy. In February 2000, Correa’s friend and fellow transgender rights activist Vanessa Lorena Ledesma died at the hands of the Buenos Aires police five days after she was arrested. “They opened the coffin and she was all tortured,” Correa said. “She had cigarette burns. They had pulled out her nails. She had been terribly tortured. In the wake of that loss, Correa, a co-founder of the Association of Transvestite, Transsexual and Transgender Argentineans (ATTTA), the first organization of its type in that nation, decided to stay and continue fighting for legal rights for transgendered people. “I still thought I could change things,” Correa said.
Gay City News
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