TRANS PEOPLE: As Common as We Are Diverse*

We are active representatives of the LGTBI movement that has fought for our rights in the city of Barcelona over the past forty years. These struggles have shaped the reality we live today—a reality where trans people have always been present. Today, we gather to celebrate and make visible our pride, and especially that of trans people, supporting an inclusive, non-binary, and non-pathologizing view of gender.

We reject the phobias against our way of being, the dogma that boxes us in, and the distorted views many still hold about us. Now is the time to work together and rise against the physical and psychological violence imposed by the heteropatriarchal system. We denounce exclusion, violence, and how society portrays us, forgetting that we are much more than our gender identity or sexual orientation. Through our presence and participation, we dismantle homogenizing pressures and narratives.

Long live diversity! Diversity enriches society—let’s not hide it!

We demand comprehensive healthcare and call on the Ministry of Health and the Government of Catalonia to implement a new trans health protocol that is non-pathologizing and based on human rights. We want healthcare that is dignified, free, and universal, with special attention to the most vulnerable: children, elders, immigrants, dependents, and those with chronic illnesses.

We demand a properly funded HIV prevention plan, incorporating new strategies from a sexual health perspective and training healthcare professionals to achieve real progress. It’s urgent to revise the “Gender Identity Law,” removing the diagnosis of gender dysphoria as a requirement to access our chosen names. We demand the freedom to choose names and gender on official documents, including for migrants and minors.

We urge companies to facilitate access to employment for trans people, with the involvement of unions, employers, and public administrations. We denounce exclusion, call for real recognition of our labor and social rights, and demand access to housing. We reject and combat all abuse, violence, or exploitation—whether sexual or labor-related.

We demand rights for trans migrants, who often arrive in Catalonia fleeing extreme threats and discrimination: access to legal status, healthcare, and public services on equal footing. We ask for training for professionals in administration, social work, education, and healthcare to better understand and respect the many expressions of human diversity.

We want society and media to adopt a respectful and inclusive view that dismantles stereotypes rooted in ignorance and which fuel transphobia and other forms of LGTBIphobia. We demand that governments and the justice system respond to any aggression or violation of our rights.
In light of the increasing violent attacks on our community—such as recent cases in Madrid—we call for a strong and immediate response from authorities and society at large. We demand proper, respectful care for older trans and LGTBI people in nursing homes, day centers, and healthcare facilities, recognizing and respecting their identities without mistreatment or neglect.

We also highlight a new generation of trans children who express their identities early in life. These children and young people deserve the same rights as everyone else. Today we are also here to affirm their right to be who they are.

We want LGTBI realities to be positively integrated into schools, high schools, and other educational and leisure spaces, teaching future generations about the full spectrum of human gender beyond binaries and heteronormativity. We demand the implementation of protocols in all schools to combat LGTBIphobia, bullying, and exclusion based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Let’s end school bullying once and for all. Not one more child should suffer through that hell! We cannot allow another suicide like the one last December.

We publicly denounce the widespread violence and murders of trans people around the world simply for being who they are. We denounce the impunity with which this genocide is carried out, the lack of government action to stop it, and demand the full involvement of society—especially governments, international bodies, and human rights NGOs—to implement or pressure for legislative and judicial measures that put an end to this violence.
We also urge the Spanish government to protect the rights of trans people seeking asylum, ensuring their safety, proper care, and inclusion in the communities where they are welcomed.

We hope the day comes when all these demands are fulfilled. What will not disappear is the memory of those who can’t be here with us today—those who remind us that activism and the fight for change are still urgently needed to build a better and more inclusive society.

NO FORGETTING, NO FORGIVENESS. JUSTICE, TRUTH, AND REPARATION.
TRANSFOBIA AND LGTBIPHOBIA SERIOUSLY HARM OUR HEALTH—AND YOURS!