Historically, women have been subjected to ostracism,
violence, exclusion, the sphere of the private, to fulfill, often against our
will, social roles imposed by society dominated by men.
It has not been different for lesbian women, on the
contrary, we have been subjected to the same discrimination as heterosexual
women and, also, because of our sexual orientation, also by some of our
homosexual male friends and activist.
40 years have passed since the creation of the first gay
group, Entendidos and almost 30 since the beginning of the homosexual movement
in Venezuela in 1989 with the Movimiento Ambiente, both dominated by gay men
and with minimal presence of women collaborators. The emergence of Amazonas, Women
of Venezuela in 2001, was born as a force that sought to give voice to the
lesbian woman and achieved it, for a time.
I can understand, perfectly, the fear that lesbian women can
feel to go out into the public sphere, to show us, to make us visible. Yes,
fear of rejection, to lose the love of our family, to lose a job, to be
subjected to public derision in a deeply macho society. There are many years of
accusations of being stigmatized as perverse, sick or sinful beings. However,
many women in more difficult times had the courage to be authentic and not hide
their sexual orientation. Women like Christina, Queen of Sweden, Anne, Queen of
Great Britain, Gabriela Mistral, Chavela Vargas, Teresa de la Parra, Martina
Navratilova, Ellen DeGeneres and many more.
But nowadays it is something that we have been surpassing
worldwide. Today we have the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International
Covenants, with the Yogyakarta Principles, with a myriad of laws and legal
resources that protect us. Countries that have been advancing in the
recognition of our rights. All this has not happened by magic. It has happened
because lesbian women and gay men have taken to the streets. They have done
what most of us, lesbian women in Venezuela, do not dare to do yet, be visible.
Without a doubt, spaces have been opened for women as a
result of many years of efforts of the feminist movement (heterosexuals,
lesbians, bisexuals, black women) and in alliances with other social movements.
From the right to education, to work, to voting, to our sexual and reproductive
rights. There is still much to be achieved, such as equality in the workplace,
salaries, equal opportunities and balance of responsibilities in the home among
many other pending issues. But let's not fall to lies dear sisters, let's not
fool ourselves, those conquests are all geared toward heterosexual, feminine,
white, upper class cisgender women. In the public sphere, we lesbian women with
all our particularities remain invisible.
Except for a few Venezuelan actresses who have come out of
the closet and for those of us who are in the field of human rights defense or
activism, for the common of society we are all heterosexual women and that is
how they treat us. In laws against violence, in gynecological consultations, in
medical consultations, in inclusion plans, equality plans, parity plans,
equality and political participation, in the demands for sexual and
reproductive rights, in educational plans, economic plans, in the annals of
history, in the great landmarks of society lesbian women remain invisible.
After thirty years of struggle for human rights: civil,
political, economic, social and cultural human rights movement in Venezuela and
almost 50 LGBTI struggles in the world (with reference to the pride rallies), Venezuelan
lesbian women do not have a solid movement.
We are still locked in our houses.
We remain locked in the closet, we are still hidden in the discotheques, we are
still limited to anonymity in the chats, using false profiles and pseudonyms in
social networks. We remain afraid that they will see us next to a very visible
lesbian woman, or very masculine or very evident for fear of being identified
as lesbians. And even when in positions of power, lesbian women choose to
remain invisible and prefer to hide their sexual orientation, even though this
is very evident to many.
And, no, I will not continue to place all the responsibility
on gay men, on machismo, on heterosexual feminists. Nor do I pretend to blame
lesbian women, I repeat I understand the history of rejection, but it is time
to overcome that past. It's time to get up from our chairs, it's time to get
out of our confinement. It's time to be visible, it's time to go out and claim
and demand our rights.
The moment is now. It has been too many years of
confinement, too many years of being invisible. But each of us must admit our
share of responsibility.
No one is obliged to come out of the closet, that is an
individual process and each one must decide at the right time and according to
their circumstances. But it is a very heavy burden to live a double life, to
remain hidden. It is a terrible burden to keep an important part of our lives
hidden. Hide our happiness next to the loved one, hide our chosen family, our
partner, hide children, if it is the case. Nobody deserves to live with a
hidden part of itself. The weight of maintaining a hidden life is greater than
that of being a visible lesbian woman.
Being visible we expose ourselves to rejection, to violence,
to contempt, to family rejection, to dismissals, but being in the closet we
face exclusion, alienation, marginalization, physical and psychological damage
and terrible diseases such as the cancer product of that feeling of internal
rejection. The invisibility limits us in our rights, limits us as citizens,
limits us in our dignity as human beings.
The decision to be visible is ours, of each one of us, but
if you decide to do so, you must know that you have support, you are not alone.
There are many more women like you, go out and look at them. Like you, they are
full of fear but if you go out you will find them and we can then support each
other. Lesbian women can create circles of friendship, sorority and mutual
support, but to achieve this we must be visible.
And what will we gain by being visible?
We will win peace, rights, the possibility of loving in
freedom, we will gain pleasure, we will gain dignity, we will gain health, we
will gain fullness. We will win friendships, we will earn the respect of others
for living outside the closet.
There is much to be done, being visible we can demand our
rights:
We can demand that our families be legally recognized
We can demand the rights of our children be guaranteed.
We can demand gynecological protocols that contemplate our
sexual practices.
We can ask for specific policies to combat discrimination
based on sexual orientation.
We can demand that they consider us in the prevention plans
of HIV-AIDS and other STIs.
We can demand to be included in the prevention of cancer.
We can demand that they have our reality in the equality
plans.
We can demand that there be specific tools to address
intragender violence.
We can demand to be included in family planning plans if you
want to be a mother
We can demand that the day of lesbian visibility be an
annual celebration
We can demand to be included in the studies and analysis of
reality, present and past and that are made visible in the school curriculum.
We can help our parents, family and friends to better
understand what it is to have a daughter, sister, cousin or lesbian friend.
We can contribute fully to the development of our country.
Let this be the beginning of a new era. A new time for
Venezuelan lesbian women. One time marked by the courage to go out and face. To
tell the oppressor that we will never allow ourselves to be invisible and to be
discriminated against for being lesbian women.
It is time to get up and say with courage "I am a
lesbian woman, I make myself visible to demand my human rights". Let's all
be visible together to demand our human rights.
