Trans activist Susana Barrales, director of La Casita de Unión Trans, a shelter exclusively for trans migrants and refugees, was the victim of an attack when unknown people tried to set fire to her home in Tijuana, Baja California.
Through a video shared on her Facebook social network, the activist showed the moment in which a structure was burning outside her house, right at her entrance door, which she noticed minutes after she arrived home, after having been away for work.
“As you can see, someone came and wanted to set fire to the house where I am,” she said in the video, showing the facade of her home, while also seeing how she tries to put out the fire, in an event that occurred on Thursday night.
This Friday, Barrales briefly confirmed on social media that, “last night I had a small mishap, I don’t know what to think anymore, but well, that doesn’t stop me, I will continue working, I will continue fighting.”
“I am a little bit confused, but I will continue fighting. Thanks to the Casita de Unión Trans for supporting the community (…) and nothing, we continue working here,” she said.
At the beginning of August, EFE documented the threats and protection charges that organized crime has made to activists and shelters in Tijuana.
On that occasion, Barrales shared that “the death threats” she has received previously “are related to the shelter,” which is why she now lives with a panic button that she carries everywhere.
On that occasion, she explained that this year she has received “four death threats, they have broken the windows of my car and they have done many more severe things to me, many colleagues have left (Tijuana) because of that situation, but we continue, we continue to face reality.”
On Thursday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemned “the violence perpetrated against LGBTI people and the violent deaths of trans and gender-diverse people.”
She explained that the information in the media in Mexico indicates that, “since January, 36 murders of trans women have been recorded” and that in June and July alone “at least eight murders have occurred in different states of Mexico,” while in all of 2023, 43 cases were documented.
Statement by trans collectives
In light of this situation, various collectives of the trans population such as the Jardín de las Mariposas strongly condemned “the attempted burning of the home” of Susy Barrales, a prominent LGBTI+ activist from Tijuana.
In a statement, they said that “this cowardly and violent act not only threatens the life and physical integrity of Barrales but represents a direct attack on the LGBTI+ community as a whole.”
They also demanded a thorough and prompt investigation and punishment of those responsible.
“We call on society in general to reject any manifestation of hatred and discrimination, and to unite in defense of the human rights of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” they said.
Source: milenio
