Alejandra González Pino

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is González and the second or maternal family name is Pino.
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

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]

Biography

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

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

  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.