The story of the struggle of Los Carpinchos, the first swimming team in Argentina for trans men

The proverb says: the law made, the snare made. And in some occasions there is no cheating, but there are some shortcomings for compliance with the regulations to be effective. In Argentina there is one, number 26,743 in force since 2012 and known as gender identity law, which guarantees – without bureaucracy or medical reports – that anyone can have their own identity document according to the way they perceive it. It may or may not match the sex assigned at birth. What happens beyond the DNI, is what has to do with the shortfalls.

The same law that grants this right guarantees others that are not strictly fulfilled. In general terms, the LGTBIQ+ collective indicates a lack of real policies by the different state structures, regarding the training and education of those who articulate global assistance protocols in the field of health, for example.

“They leave us exposed to different types of violence and crimes that are committed within healthcare institutions -public and private- such as: negligence, mutilation, patient abandonment, irreparable harm, sexual abuse, psychological, physical and emotional harm that they opt for the highest suicide rate within the LGBT community,” they explain in a statement by The capybarasa swimming team crossed by this conquest of rights and by the absence of concrete tools to fully execute it.

It is a space that was not created for competition, but for working on global health through social sport. It is driven by the organization Argentine trans men (HTA) who for the past 13 years, i.e. two years before the promulgation of the Law on Gender Identity, has supported inclusion through sport. From the free swimming courses of the City of Buenos Aires, they were born The Capybara. It is the first swim team in Argentina made up entirely of trans men.

“We set out to give an answer through Social Sport, a different containment space where you can work on physical and psychological health and fundamentally on self-esteem, meet and have fun”He says Ferdinand Martinin a chat with clarion.

In 2022 there are 45 people enrolled who took turns in 27 classes on Sundays from 9 to 11 in the swimming pool of the Gregorio Pomar Sports Center Of forest. The HTA is conducting a national survey of trans men. Current figures represent a population of 10,000 people. The swimmers who participated in the program belong to AMBA and the age range is from 16 to 55 years old. For 82% of participants, they were the first swimming practices of their lives.

-Why capybaras?

-We needed a mascot for our badge. The teams have a particularity: Las Leonas, Los Pumas… We are the first group, apart from the fact that we were born from a program, from an Integral Health project to work on many of the invisible difficulties of trans men. A good group has formed, a space that is good for us. Part of the program is to work on self-esteem and the bond between peers and belonging. This is why I proposed choosing a pet and I proposed the theme of capybaras because it has to do, in fact, with the feeling somewhat reflected in the problem of exclusion that these little animals live in wetlands, their area of ​​origin from which they have been excluded, as has happened to us in many stages of our lives, with our families, in our society, even in our LGBT community. I proposed it for this reason, because they identify us. The capybaras, the little animals, have adapted and returned to their places of origin… Many people accept them and many others don’t. There are many similarities to the trans men issue. It is also a very cute animal. We already have a logo, the insignia.

-Visibility…

-There was a great invisibility compared to us. Unfortunately, it has been established in our LGBT community that trans types, those of us who go through hormonal treatments and surgical processes, as if remaining “unattended” -in many quotes-, as trans people, have a very easy access to rights, which we are not. It’s a prejudice. In the pool over 50 percent of the kids are unemployed or doing odd jobs in very violent places and that if they find out we are trans we are exposed to situations of violence or abuse where you put your life in danger. What happened to Tehuel De la Torre is not something isolated. It has happened to all of us in the course of our lives to find ourselves in spaces that have a very violent charge if our identity is exposed. There are invisible crimes. Tehuel’s disappearance has to do with that violence, with that invisibility. Unfortunately, within the LGBT community, there is a lot of sexual abuse and especially of trans men.

-Are they like capybaras even within the LGBT community?

-There are many prejudices about our possibilities. Unfortunately, the question of the “transvestite-trans quota” has been installed, in a far from innocent way… the text of the law says: transvestites, transsexuals and transgenders There is a prioritization of a sector of the trans population, more programs or scholarships for trans girls. The job openings are, if there are 100 positions, there are 95 for girls and the rest for some trans guy, if there is one. There is inequality and imbalance, even though we were the advocates. They are mental political games that separate and tire many, who withdraw from the spaces. That’s why it’s so important to build spaces like these, to make all these issues visible.

-Are they excluded from the “work quota”?

-There are more trans, transvestite or transfeminine girls accessing it and the percentage of trans men is much lower. Of the 10 girls who enter, there is only one and by chance. And out there because that trans man is related to the political color or has connections with whoever is getting him in with quotas. Nationally he is not satisfied. In Chaco, Neuquén or Santa Fe, it is not done. Quota-based access to work is thought of in this perspective: they are always trans girls. There are several projects presented to the Chamber of Deputies, which have to do with economic compensation for the elderly and unfortunately also think (only) of trans or transvestite women. And there are many (trans men) over 50 who have survived with occasional or precarious jobs and with health and economic problems, because there is no pension or pension. The subsidies, the (food) bags, the trend is always that trans women or transvestites are given more access and trans men are relegated and this is clearly a discriminatory situation. What we Los Carpinchos try to do is make these types of situations visible.

– And what are Los Capybaras for? What’s the goal, beyond the pool?

– Los Carpinchos is a space for healing and mental health work through recreational and sporting activities. Swimming challenges us, with our identities, our bodies and the way we experience our bodies. Many teens sometimes find it difficult to accept these experiences. Especially the lack of access to surgeries. That’s why there are guys who swim in a T-shirt. Access to basic rights such as health will save lives. This is the intention of the space. being together After class we have breakfast or lunch which turn into small dialogue workshops in which fears, difficulties, experiences, sufferings are exchanged, to get around and resolve them. It’s an accompaniment. These are things that have to come to light, to be visible. We are on that road.