Alejandra González Pino

Alejandra González Pino (10 March 1968 – 5 October 2022) was a Chilean politician.[1] She was the first transgender person to be elected to a political office in Chile and one of the first in Latin America after Kátia Tapety in Brazil in 1992.[2]

Alejandra González Pino
Member of the Municipal Council of Lampa
In office
6 December 2004 – 6 December 2016
Personal details
Born(1968-03-10)10 March 1968
Batuco, Santiago, Chile
Died5 October 2022(2022-10-05) (aged 54)
Batuco, Santiago, Chile
Political partyPH
Independent
OccupationPolitician

Biography

edit

From a young age, González had felt as though she identified as a woman. In 1995, she joined a circus of drag queens in her neighborhood and owned her own hair salon. She gave hairdressing classes to those infected with HIV/AIDS at San José Hospital in Santiago. In 2002, she met with TECHO, for whom she served as a municipal and provincial representative.[3]

Political career

edit

In 2004 [es], González was elected to the municipal council of Lampa as an independent within the Juntos Podemos Más coalition. She received 6.8% of the vote and became the first transgender person to serve in a political office in Chile.[4] She was re-elected in 2008 with 6.3% of the vote within the Concertación list and was re-elected again in 2012 with 9.5% of the vote. She lost her mandate in 2016, having only received 2.5% of the vote.

In 2012, González became Chile's first transgender deputy mayor when Graciela Ortúzar left her office to campaign elsewhere.[5] In 2014, she invoked the anti-discrimination law against Ortúzar,[6] who was sentenced by the Supreme Court of Chile in 2017 to pay a fine, a ruling described as historic by González and LGBT rights groups.[7][8]

Alejandra González Pino died of heart failure in Batuco on 5 October 2022, at the age of 54.[9]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Encuentran muerta a la primera concejala transexual de la historia de Chile". El Contraste (in Spanish). 5 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Kátia Tapety: ora mulher, ora travesti? Gênero, sexualidade e identidades em trânsito no Brasil" (PDF). Federal University of Pará (in Portuguese).
  3. ^ Robles, Víctor Hugo (21 October 2016). "Alejandra González, concejala trans de Lampa: "La primera vez que juré, pidieron presentarme de terno y corbata»". El Desconcierto (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  4. ^ "El concejal transexual tres veces electo". La Tercera (in Spanish). 20 December 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Concejala transexual demanda a la Municipalidad de Lampa". Publimetro Chile (in Spanish). 21 April 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Concejala transexual Alejandra González: "Exijo mi derecho a tener mi propia identidad"". ADN Radio Chile (in Spanish). 25 April 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  7. ^ González, Valentina (26 December 2017). "Justicia respalda a ex concejala trans que demandó a alcaldesa de Lampa por discriminación". Radio Bío-Bío (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  8. ^ Dodds, Tomás (6 October 2022). "Corte Suprema acoge demanda por discriminación contra concejala transgénero". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Alejandra González Pino, primera mujer trans electa en cargo de representación popular en Chile y Latinoamérica, falleció a los 54 años". El Mostrador (in Spanish). 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.