Being trans in Venezuela: overcoming rejection, self-destruction and violence

By Nicole Kolster

Caracas, Jun 28 (EFE).- “Mummy, what would have happened if I were born a boy?” Giordy Quiñones would repeatedly ask his mum as a child.

Today, at 25 years old, Giordy publicly identifies as a transgender male, but it has only been six years since he has been living “freely” in a body that he considers his own.

Giordy’s journey, one tainted by depression, discrimination and self-destruction, is a story shared by many transgender people in Venezuela.

Between 2008 and 2020, some 3,664 transgender people were murdered worldwide as a result of discrimination, and 164 of them were in Venezuela, according to a report by Transgender Europe.

“It is very sad that people reject you for being trans. When you tell a person that you are trans, they totally ostracize you and move away from you,” Giordy says.

Since he was a little girl, Giordy always felt trapped in a body that didn’t belong to him.

“I expected my body to be more masculine (…) when the breasts and curves started to show, everything feminine, I thought: ‘this doesn’t belong to me,’” he recalls.

The fear of rejection and discrimination led Giordy to fall into a deep depression.

“I was afraid to say: ‘Mum, I don’t identify as a girl, I feel more like a boy.’”