Outside the binary - 16th December 2022

After a 9 year battle, activist and writer Shane Cienfuegos became the first non-binary person to receive a gender-neutral identity document in Chile. In the section to indicate gender, the card's marked with an 'X' instead of 'F' for female or 'M' for male.

However, this is only a partial victory, as Chile still doesn't legally recognise gender other than male or female. Anyone else wishing to have gender neutral identity documents is likely to face a similar battle.

For Cienfuegos the fight for full recognition must continue.

Shane Cienfuegos: "Non-binarism, trans-feminism is a way of understanding society so that it is much freer, so we can advance to a state of law, to a state of well-being where regardless of how we see ourselves, or how we feel, we can be part of something as beautiful as society."

Cienfuegos was bullied from an early age. As an advocate of non-binary rights, they've suffered several violent attacks over the years - something which they recount in their recently released book.

Shane Cienfuegos: "I have survived, I have made myself tough, to survive a cruel, dehumanising system that only wants to leave us on the streets, and it is good that now we are in all spaces (all sectors of society)."

Over the last decade, Chile's moved away from the legacy of strict conservatism from dictator Augusto Pinochet and the heavy influence of the Catholic Church. Same sex marriages have been legalised as have adoptions by gay couples.

Despite an anti-discrimination act put in place in 2012, 2021 saw 1,114 complaints of discrimination against members of the LGBTQ+ community. Life expectancy for trans people is still very low. The main cause of trans deaths is murder, and stigma leads to higher levels of suicide amongst the community.

For Marcela Cortes the struggle for the LGBTQ+ people continues.

Marcela Cortes: "Trans people in this country are not seen. There are few trans people that reach this age, most of them die very young. My friends, my colleagues, have died young. We go through a daily struggle, bad health, there is still discrimination, homophobia, that hasn't ended in this country. We are not seen by the government."