Lucas Waldron
Student, University of San Francisco
Transsexual in Bolivia
Posted: 10/31/2012 1:43 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lucas-waldron/transexual-in-bolivia_b_2044147.htmlI wasn't shocked that roadside prostitutes in Cochabamba, Bolivia were taunted by passers-by; this was still-macho, provincial Latin America after all. But nothing could have prepared me for the strength of character of these transgender sex workers who, against all odds, have organized to argue for their right to health care treatment -- and, more important, their rights as human beings.
I lived in Cochabamba, the third largest city in Latin America's poorest country, this past summer in between my junior and senior years at University of San Francisco, through a program with the Foundation for Sustainable Development. Considering Bolivia's socially conservative reputation, I had no expectation of working with sex workers or the transgender community during my internship with an NGO based in HIV prevention. But, as so often happens, my emphasis shifted when I became acquainted with a community of marginalized transsexual women.
As a transgender man, my preparation for my internship in Bolivia was rooted in my desire to blend in. My desire to "pass" as male, even though I had not started hormone therapy, was riding on my understanding that Bolivian society would not have a concept of gender androgyny. I was right. Based on my artificially flat chest, short Bieber-esque haircut, and hairy legs, most Bolivians perceived me as a pubescent male, rather than a 21-year-old female-bodied university student.
