Inter Press News Service Agency – Buenos Aires – Marcela Valente
Noelia Luna was born a man, but lives as a woman. She is unemployed, has lived with the same partner for 15 years and has three children. Her life seems fairly uneventful. But compared to other transvestites, transsexuals and transgenders in Argentina, she is a relative rarity: she is a survivor.
“I was able to go to school and have a family, but for the majority of us, life is extremely difficult,” Luna told IPS.
“It’s a cultural issue. For the typically ?macho’ Latino male, ?fags’ are something to look down on and laugh at from the time they are children, and this continues to be true later, in school or in hospitals, where we face discrimination,” she said.