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At Unicauca, we celebrate once again 'The Magic of Being Able to Be': this is how we commemorate Pride Month.
In 2023, the University of Cauca joined the commemoration of Pride Month with the educational campaign 'The Magic of Being Able to Be'. This initiative recognizes the struggles and advocacy for the rights of diverse populations, emphasizing the university as a space for self-discovery and personal transformation, a space to be oneself. It acknowledges that there are still significant challenges to face, but these are being addressed through various initiatives, which we aim to explore further in this contextual note.
In June 2023, within the University of Cauca, a regional hub of thought that has contributed to societal construction for nearly 200 years, there was initiated an educational campaign titled 'The Magic of Being Able to Be' during Pride Month. This campaign is grounded in acknowledging the richness of diversity, especially within a public institution that serves as a space for self-discovery and personal transformation. It's important to note that we are in a process where many challenges remain, particularly in eradicating all forms of violence to ensure a completely safe space for everyone.
The initial phase of this campaign included a series of content aimed at contributing to this complex educational journey. Some focused on contextualizing the commemoration of Pride Month, others aimed to denaturalize violence against diverse individuals, and yet others sought to spotlight the various communities within the university community that also play a role at local, regional, and national levels in advocating for the rights of diverse populations.
In the second year since the launch of this special campaign, we aim to delve deeper into the political processes led by different collectives within the university community that advocate for the rights of diverse populations. These include the Black Butterflies Collective, the Transaliades Collective, and the Diverse Cultures Corporation, whom we introduce below.
The Black Butterflies Collective focuses on advocating for the human rights of transgender individuals. They are actively advocating for the Trans Integral Law Now bill, a legislative proposal aimed at securing health care, education, and access to discrimination-free workplaces for transgender individuals. It also seeks to facilitate name and gender marker changes on official documents, establish mechanisms for protection against violence, guarantee sexual and reproductive rights for transgender people, and include protection and reparations measures for transgender individuals who have been victims of armed conflict. These actions aim for transformation within the current state system, which is why members of this collective actively participate in various spaces and meetings where the aforementioned bill is discussed and developed.
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On the other hand, the Transaliades Collective has taken the initiative to bring transgender issues to the streets of Popayán, demonstrating that diverse populations have always existed. Through their tireless efforts, they have established themselves with an artistic, cultural, and academic agenda for mobilization since late 2021. Their first NaviTrans event on the Black Butterflies Bridge (Esmeralda Bridge) marked a significant moment, aiming to provide companionship during a time of year that can be lonely for many in the diverse community due to lost loved ones who dared to be themselves. This event has become an important precedent and since then, they have been active in public spaces, showcasing the talent, art, charisma, and performative skills of transgender individuals while shedding light on the daily violence they face.
It's noteworthy that the Transaliades Collective organizes the "Yo Marcho Trans" event in Popayán, which will celebrate its fifth edition on July 12th with a schedule of mobilization and performative art to denounce medical violence against the transgender population and demand actions to ensure comprehensive health care aligned with their transitions. They have also organized vigils, demonstrations, artistic workshops, legal document change support, and commemorations of dates such as Trans Visibility Day (March 31st) and Trans Day of Remembrance (November 20th). Additionally, they provide workshops on self-defense and personal care for transgender individuals. In 2023, they produced educational material as part of the project "Ways to Inhabit the Dissident Body without Dying in the Attempt," and with "Yo Marcho Trans," they will launch a new initiative titled "ALERTRANS POPAYÁN!: Virus of Transphobia in the Health CIS-tem.”
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As for the Corporación Culturas Diversas, this organization, founded in 2018, works to create civic and social environments in the Cauca department where human rights and the existence of diverse and gender-disidentifying individuals are respected. They aim to impact both the diverse gender-identity population and heterosexual individuals, who, in many cases, are perpetrators of violence in family, school, public, and workplace settings. This corporation envisions a world where all individuals have equal rights and opportunities to develop their personal and social life projects. Therefore, they invite people to get closer and firsthand knowledge of diverse populations, emphasizing that, like any human being, they have the right to be respected and valued.
For the commemoration of this Pride Month, they have organized a series of activities in partnership with the Centro Cultural Banco de la República de Popayán, under the framework of "Cotorreando: la diversidad en la calle" (Chatting: Diversity on the Streets), a strategy that seeks to discuss the lives of sexual and gender diversities and dissidents in public spaces in Cauca. Among these activities is the event "Orgullo, resistencia y resiliencia: el poder de las diversidades y disidencias sexuales y de género en el Cauca" (Pride, resistance and resilience: the power of sexual and gender diversities and dissidents in Cauca), which will take place on Friday, June 28th, starting at 8:30 AM at the Centro Cultural Banco de la República. This event is supported by the Unidad para las Víctimas (Victims Unit) and the Unidad de Búsqueda de Personas dadas por Desaparecidas (Unit for the Search of Disappeared Persons).
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As we have mentioned in different spaces and moments, at the institutional level, the University of Cauca is undergoing a transformation process and has undertaken actions to become a violence-free space. Hence, the importance of Agreement 086 of 2021, through which the Institutional Policy for Inclusive Higher Education was established, as well as the Protocol for the Prevention and Response to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Sexual Violence, which was instituted under Agreement 005 of 2023. These mechanisms present actions in response to situations of violence that may arise and are open to self-assessment by the university community.Undoubtedly, these are fundamental steps being taken with a firm commitment to create spaces and activities that are free from all forms of discrimination. They aim to promote respect for diversity and offer Unicaucanos a safe place to express themselves.
Thus, sharing part of the political processes that some organizations, collectives, and individuals, both organized and unorganized, undertake at the local and regional levels, highlights how these initiatives enrich and serve as examples for this institution that is in the midst of transformation, aiming to become a place free from any kind of violence. With our second year of the 'La Magia de Poder Ser' campaign, we once again invite you to ask us how we engage with those around us and how we seek mechanisms to embrace diversity.
Lastly, stay tuned to our social media channels, as well as our Unicauca Estéreo radio station and its digital platforms, where we will be sharing information about other initiatives undertaken by organizations within our university community that contribute to making our society fairer and more equitable. At Unicauca, we are always proud to be who we are: a university of many colors!