Online activism exponentially increases the coalition of marginalized communities and allows individuals to communicate with millions of other similar minded people. Platforms can be social media networks, blogs, phones, online petitions and more. The LGBQTI community in Latin America coalize as internet activists advocate for increased representation, provide research and information, and join petitions to secure internet freedom.

Image from pixabay.com.

Why is this blog important and why should we continue using the internet as a platform for activism? Is online activism effective? What has online activism done for underrepresented groups in Latin America?

Online activism has historically worked to dismantle barriers for those who have little political agency in a socio-political society that favors the most privileged demographics.¹ The marginalized LGBTQI population in Latin America face basic challenges of homophobic, transphobic acts and legislation as well as increased censorship and stricter freedom of expression laws. Online activism exponentially increases the coalition of marginalized communities and allows individuals to communicate with millions of other similar minded people. Platforms can be social media networks, blogs, phones, online petitions and more.² The LGBQTI community in Latin America coalize as internet activists and advocate for increased representation, provide research and information, and join petitions to secure internet freedom.³

Here are a few stories about how online activism has fundamentally changed Latin America’s perception of gender and sexuality:

LGBTQI Online Activism in Brazil

Political representation for marginalized communities in Brazil continues to be threatened by the traditional conservative party. In 2018, Jean Wyllys, Brazil’s first openly gay congressman, resigned after many threats of violence directed towards him. “I want to take care of myself and remain alive,” said Wyllys who will now live abroad.⁴ The recent assassination of Marielle Franco, an LGBTQI activist in Brazil, demonstrates the difficulty LGBQTI Brazilians have to maintain political positions.⁵ Brazil’s violent reactions to Wyllys and Franco demonstrate an unwillingness to include marginalized identities in politics. For this reason, online activism in Brazil is one of the main platforms for diverse people to be heard in Brazil.

One of the largest LGBQTI Brazilian Youtubers, Põe Na Roda, brings awareness to the LGBQTI through humorous and entertaining videos.

His 1 million subscribers demonstrates the impact of his message and the demand for LGBQTI news.⁶ In response to Brazil’s Straight Pride day, the youtuber posted a video saying, “We are a minority, and as a gay man in Brazil, I don’t have the same rights, and this politician is wanting to make a ‘Straight Pride Day.’ For what?”⁷ In response, he uploaded a comedy parody about the unnecessary nature of this holiday which went viral with over 600k views. Social media enables LGBQTI people a voice in response to Brazil’s unjust politics. A community of activists in Brazil unite through youtube and voice their opinions about current events. Brazil’s National Congress invited “Põe Na Roda” to speak in 2018. This invitation demonstrates the political impacts online activism can create for marginalized communities in Brazil. Despite attempts to repress LGBQTI voices, Brazilians respond through online activism to change the way information is shared and equalize political discourse.

Cuban Cyber Activist Blogs

Cuba is known as one of the most internet restricted countries in Latin America with a constitutional ban on private media. ⁸ Cuba is also stricken with the lowest connectivity rates in the Western Hemisphere due to America’s ban on undersea cables near Florida. ⁹ The government has historically harassed and silenced online activists and journalists. In 2003, “Black Spring” occurred and the Cuban government imprisoned 75 journalists, librarians and activists claiming they were a threat to national security. ¹⁰ Because of the timing of Black Spring, the world was transfixed on 9/11 and little was done to react to this harsh government suppression. Despite these barriers, Cuban cyberactivists have created a channel of blogs that aim to uncover this sort of social and political abuse and overcome internet repression.

The Platform Cuban Voices provides a community for citizens to participate in civic engagement.¹¹ Regular Citizens can upload their blogs and provide insight into their experiences with Cuban culture and politics. In 2012 during the Population and Housing Census, Francisco Rodrigues complained in his blog “Paquito el de Cuba” that transsexuals and homosexuals deserve to be included in this count. ¹² In an interview for the Havana time he said “The census shows the reality of the nation,” he explained. “It’s even one of those materials upon which legislation is later passed. You have to describe reality like it is, and this was a good opportunity to produce concrete information about real life.”¹³ The pressure from his blog was enough to encourage the government to begin research about including the LGBQTI population in the census. Although representation has a far way to go for Cuba, the strides made in the internet repressed environment are impressive.

Internet activism gives activists the ability to publish current events with speed and create digital information which is far easier to hide and distribute than printed newspapers. Government officials continue to label online activists as “Ciberguerra” and arrest those who disseminate censored information. The situation in Cuba continues to be unfavorable for marginalized communities; however, online activism assists Cuba’s slow transition into a more democratic system and reworks conventional political bodies to include the LGBQTI community.

Youtube and Trans Awareness in Chile

On his youtube channel “Female to Noah” Noah tells a story of how he found a trans community on youtube and grew awareness of his own identity.¹⁴ He details his motivations to create a youtube channel saying “well this is great for me, because I understand a lot of English. But what are other people doing? I looked and looked, and I only found one channel, by a Mexican guy. He was middle class, had to work to pay for school; his reality was a lot closer to mine. That’s when I decided to start my own channel.” Noah recognized the lack of visibility Latin American trans people had and began his youtube channel to document his experience with a mastectomy.

Machismo beliefs dominate the social culture in Chile making identities outside of the gender binary difficult to understand.¹⁵ Noah explains how he struggled with this culture and lacked the words needed to describe why he did not want to be a man. However, when he came across a youtube community of trans people, he was able to find a community to reach out to learn more about the spectrum of sexuality that exists.

Noah’s story and other trans activists have worked to secure Chile’s passage of the Gender Identity Law this year.¹⁶ Trans people over the age of 14 can change legal documents according to their gender identity. Trans people still have many other legislative roadblocks; however, people like Noah continue to create an online trans coalition in Chile to make fundamental changes to Chile’s rigid gender and sexuality culture.

I felt a connection to Noah’s stories and the experience he had on the internet. Growing up in a traditional home of Vietnamese immigrants, my parents passed down Vietnam’s patriarchal traditions to me. I only understood society in terms of gender binaries. One day, while I was on youtube, I came across the video “I am Jazz.” The video depicts a young boy’s transition into Jazz, a transgender girl. I felt overwhelmed with emotions after this video and realized that my misunderstanding about the transgender identity resulted in my negative judgments. Online activists like Jazz can work to reorient traditional beliefs. Not only did her video inspire me to be accepting toward LGBQTI communities, but I also credit her for inspiring my political activism. When applying to colleges I wrote many of my essays about my strong desire to assist marginalized communities and how this passion began with my misunderstanding of trans people like Jazz.

Online activism like this blog is important because they work to change the political dialogue in an artful manner that disturbs conventional political discourse. This ‘artful’ form of conversation allows those who are not familiar with the discourse around Trans issues to grow, understand, and ultimately become a supporter of marginalized communities.

Notes