Gender X in Chile - 16th December 2022

Shane Cienfuegos is the only person in Chile with an 'X' on their ID card. The 'X' is for Cienfuegos's gender, which is non-binary. But on Chile's national IDs, the only options are 'F' for female or 'M' for male. Cienfuegos started a legal case to change their ID card. It took 9 years for a court to agree.

Cienfuegos wants the law to change. They want society to include people of all genders.

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 as a child. And they've experienced several violent attacks for talking about non-binary rights.

Cienfuegos has written a book about their struggles.

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)."

Chile used to be an extremely religious society with strict laws. But after a decade of change, same sex marriages are now legal. Gay couples are also able to adopt children.

Since 2012, there have been laws against discrimination. But in 2021, there were 1,114 reports of discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. Trans people are most at risk. Many trans people are still murdered.

Trans people need more help, says Marcela Cortes.

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.