The Pink Triangle, Colors Sitges Link, and my first interview

Hello!

I hope that this post finds you well. This week, there is a lot to process. First, I will share some more information about the pink triangle in Sitges. The site of this monument is where last week's event on the International Day against LGTBIQ+phobia took place. Next, I present a brief summary of a seminar on Spain's law 4/2023, a law for the equality of trans people and for the guarantee of the rights of LGTBI people in Spain. Then, I present information about some services offered by the organization Colors Sitges Link to people living in Sitges or visiting. Then, as promised, I give you a brief review of the article Without the gender binary by Cheyenne Crump in Colors Sitges Link's Vision magazine. After that, I summarize my first official interview of the summer. Finally, I give you a preview towards what's to come over the next week.

Wow, that is a lot! Let us get started.

The Pink Triangle

At the top of the page, you will find a picture of the Pink Triangle of Sitges. There are multiple names that people use to refer to the monument. The first is obviously the Pink Triangle. Nowadays, from what I have heard, this is the most used name. However, on the internet, there are other names in circulation: The Sculpture to the homosexual collective and Sitges Against Homophobia.

This monument has a lot of historical and cultural significance for Sitges. It was unveiled in 2006 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 1996 riots that occurred after police began perpetrating violence against gay men on the beach at night. It also commemorates the life of a gay waiter that was killed by neo-Nazis.

The inscription on the monument, originally written in Catalán, reads “Sitges Against Homophobia / Never Again / 5 October 1996-2006.” This monument was the first of its kind in all of Spain.

Obviously this monument is very important. The events that necessitated the creation of this monument are atrocities against humanity and we must always remember the people lost to LGTBIQ+phobic violence. Simultaneously, my question from last week persists: where is the trans representation? Yes, today the people of Sitges say it is an LGTBIQ+ monument... but how does this monument represent trans people directly? It was created to commemorate violence against gay men - something that is horrible and tragic - not to commemorate trans people. Even the past names of the pink triangle do not include homage to trans people. None of that is to say that it is problematic that the pink triangle exists... again, it's a beautiful, unique and very important monument. What I want to convey is that it says something that there is no monument that pays tribute to trans people in Sitges.

With a simple Google search 'monumento trans españa' (monument to trans people in Spain), the only result I find is the monument Glorieta de la transexual Sonia. This monument, located in Barcelona, was unveiled in 2013 to commemorate Sonia Resclavo Zafra, a transfeminine individual who was murdered by a group of neo-Nazi skinheads in 1991. I love that this very important monument exists, but like the pink triangle, it is commemorating incidents of violence and hate. It would be great to see public tributes to trans people that are inspired by trans joy and love in addition to the memorials that are commemorating many deplorable events.

Seminar on the most recent law pertaining to trans people in Spain

Last Wednesday, there was an event organized by Colors Sitges Link about Spain's trans law 4/2023 and Italy's law 164/1982. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the event due to other commitments, and so here I summarize in brief what I know about the seminar based on Colors Sitges Link's posts on Instagram (all photos in this section are from Colors Sitges Link's Instagram page,) the text of Spain's law and conversations I've had with my connections here in Sitges. Here is the announcement that made the event public:

The seminar was conducted in Spanish, Catalan, English, and perhaps Italian. By attending the event, participants were able to learn more about the legal situation of trans people in Spain and Italy and explore new perspectives on the 'self-determination of trans/non-binary people'. The event took place at the Ateneu Popular de Sitges, a community space. One observation I've made is that there are so many public spaces in Sitges where community events can take place. It is fantastic that there is this kind of access to shared spaces to hold events that are important to the community like this event.

The distinguished speakers were:

Anna de Nicolás: Transfeminist lawyer with a specialization in gender issues, representing Colors Sitges Link.
Gioele Lavalle: President of Gender X, shedding light on social issues in Italy.
Cristina Leo: Vice-President of Gender X, discussing the legal situation in Italy.

Literature Review: Without the Gender Binary, by Cheyenne Crump

Cheyenne Crump published their article Without the Gender Binary in the 2022 edition of the magazine Visión, published by Colors Sitges Link each year. Crump is also the magazine's editor-in-chief.

The article begins with a brief history of how Sitges was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. After the pandemic, Crump says, there was a sudden increase in visibility of non-binary/gender nonconforming people. They go on to explore the question, "What does [a life without the gender binary] look like?” They also give a brief history of what has happened historically to people who have not conformed to the binary gender. Finally, they shares their hopes for the future of the world. Read the full article here.

The First Interview

Now, I am very excited to share some information about my first interview with you. According to my data protection and ethics practices, there are some details that I omit from my published writing to protect the people I am working with. For simplicity in summarizing the conversation, I use the name Juan to refer to the interviewee. With that, Juan is a cisgender man in his 60s and lives in/is from a rural town in northern Spain. He does not live in Sitges, but he has traveled here and throughout Spain many times.

The first interesting finding of this interview is about his profession. He is now retired, but when he was working he was an elementary school teacher. He taught all subjects to the children. I asked a lot of general questions about his work with children hoping he would mention something related to gender. After 10 minutes of nothing, I asked, "Have you taught a child who has embodied a dissident identity such as transgender or gay?” He said no, but that there were some students who Juan believes, later in life, discovered themselves as a person with a dissident identity.

Then, I said, "I am going to give you some terms. With each one, can you tell me if you've heard of the term, and if so, tell me what you know? The terms were: trans, ‘travesti’ (there is no direct translation for this word; some would translate it as ‘transvestite,’ however, in the English language, that term is considered offensive. Meanwhile, ‘travesti’ is a common, non-derogatory term in the Spanish language,) ‘transexual’ (this term is also generally considered offensive in the English language,) gender-dissident, non-binary, gender affirmation, gay, queer, lesbian, bisexual, intersex, and the gender-neutral pronoun ‘elle.’ The most interesting responses to this series of questions were about the terms ‘travesti’ and ‘transexual.’ Each person who knows about these words has a unique perspective and so it is important to take these answers with a grain of salt and remember that they are not necessarily other people's definitions. What Juan said about the term ‘travesti’ is that it is a person who was born a boy but does things to be perceived as a girl. He said the same thing about ‘transexuales’, but the difference is that ‘transexuales’ seek medical interventions to change their sex. How I interpret what Juan said is that he has the perspective that people who identify as ‘travesti’ have a female gender identity and feel comfortable in their bodies while ‘transexual’ people have a female gender identity and also feel a sense of body dysphoria and want to change their sex.

Another question I asked Juan was, “Have you ever met a person who was assigned female at birth but then shared with the world that they identify as a man (or the other way around?) A person who does not identify with a gender (a non-binary person?) He told me that he has met people with this type of identity but that they always flee to the bigger cities like Madrid or Barcelona.

Juan also shared some very interesting information about the medical system in Spain with me. He said that, because of public healthcare and public health insurance, it is more or less easy for citizens of Spain to access medical care in España. Again, it is important to take this answer with a grain of salt and remember that this is not necessarily the perspective of Spanish society in general. With that, he said that for people who want to take hormones to change their secondary sex characteristics, they can easily do so. It will be interesting to hear the perspective of a person who has gone through this process for themself as I continue my study.

When I was chatting with a friend about this interview, they asked me, "Why would you interview a cisgender man as part of a study on trans identities in Spain?" What I told them is that in my opinion, it is important to understand the perspectives of all parts of society on trans identities in order to understand what it is like to be trans in Spain. Of course, my conversation with Juan gave me a lot of important information. A million thanks to Juan for being interviewed by me.

Final Notes and What’s Up Next

Before concluding, I want to share some information about an event that happened on May 20 in Barcelona. Every year, since 2019, the LGTBI Center in Barcelona hosts a day of special events. There are workshops for adults and also events for children during the day. At night, there are many parties and music plays. Learn more here.

During my last few weeks in Sitges, I plan to interview the leadership of Colors Sitges Link. I want to understand how the organization works, how the organization's board of directors is formed and who are the people involved in the organization. Also, as I mentioned, I want to understand more about the finances of the organization.

I will also continue to look into the community spaces for trans people here. I have several leads and am excited to share them with you when I can. I was talking to a trans person from a town next to Sitges and she was talking about the pathologization of trans bodies. I will explore this as well, of course.

I would love to hear from you. You can leave me a message in the comments area below, email me (hola@mattiebaird.com) or use the contact page through this site.

Thanks for reading! See you next week!

The Pink Triangle, Colors Sitges Link, and my first interview

The Pink Triangle

Seminar on the most recent law pertaining to trans people in Spain

Other Services Offered by Colors Sitges Link

Literature Review: Without the Gender Binary, by Cheyenne Crump

The First Interview

Final Notes and What’s Up Next

Bandstand Dedicated to the Transsexual Sonia, an ethical dilemma, and more interviews

Celebration and Commemoration, A Taste of Sitges LGTBIQ+ Culture, and some emerging trends