Diane Marie Rodríguez Zambrano (; born 16 March 1982) is an Ecuadorian activist and politician who focuses on human rights and LGBTQ rights in Ecuador. She is the transgender chairwoman of the Silhouette X Association and a representative of the Observatory LGBTI of Ecuador. In 2009, she created a legal precedent in favor of the transgender population,Aids Alliance , "Transgender name change in Ecuador sets Legal Precedent". Retrieved August 10, 2013 to sue the Civil Registry to change her birth name to her present name.Daily El Universo, "Transgender with new identity" - In Spanish. Retrieved August 10, 2013. In 2017, she was elected as the first trans member of the National Assembly of Ecuador, and the second LGBT member after Sandra Alvarez Monsalve, who was elected as an alternate assembly member in 2009. She completed her mandate in 2021.
Biography
Early life In 2000, at the age of 17, she began her work as an activist with the now-defunct foundation Amigos por la Vida (Friends for Life) in the city of Guayaquil. She was initially the Secretary to the Foundation's president in this volunteer organization. After a year, she began to connect with other NGO youth groups. She championed with other young LGBTI the processes related to sexual orientation and HIV/AIDS in the first bill of youth, promoted at the time by the "House of Youth" of the old Ministry of "social welfare" of Ecuador.
After several years, she directly contacted the Kimirina Corporation to participate as a field researcher in the "Needs Assessment" in transgender populationsDraft Haya Uma Diagnosing the needs of the transgender population in 2008 - In Spanish. Retrieved August 8, 2013. which would reaffirm their hypothesis of the situational state of transgender people in those years. The results of the study were published after a year.
She developed LGBT activist rights in Ecuador while she was in college studying Commercial Engineering. She left in her second year due to bullying at the various companies where she worked.
Community-based organization In 2006, with the support of the "transgender project" of Quito, she created in the city of Guayaquil the community-based organization (CBO): "Future Community", an organization that focuses on specialized local activism for gender identity. This proposal arose from the confusion and the need of its founders to separate the issues: sexual orientation and gender identity. The organization failed after six months due to "Gaytriarchy - gaytriarcado" (a portmanteau of gay and patriarchy coined by Diane Rodriguez in 2012Gkill City , Extensive interview with Diane Rodriguez, where the term "Gaytriarcado - GayPatriarchy" arises - In Spanish. Retrieved August 8, 2013 .) that made their work illegitimate.
Silueta X After serving for 26 years, she created the girl group "Silhouette X" (Silueta X), whose name comes from the questioning before the system Kish-Straight. The activities of this group had such an impact that they had an interview in the Daily Spectator Journal El Espectador of Colombia, "It was race, sex now, by Juan Camilo Maldonado - In Spanish. Retrieved August 8, 2013. of Colombia that discussed trans and intersex activism in Ecuador.
In 2010 the project "Social inclusion of young transgender people to be trained in micro-enterprises, decreasing poverty, sex work and proliferation HIV/AIDS" was approved, which gave the opportunity to legally register the organization and pass the "Girl Group Silhouette X" to "Silueta X Association".
Activism
Legal advocacy In 2008, while working in the "Hotel Oro Verde" of Guayaquil, she was unexpectedly fired by the hotel chain. Although it was the 3rd company that had done this to Diane Rodriguez, she had never filed a legal complaint due to a lack of knowledge of the laws, which allowed her to file a legal complaint against the company for employment discrimination. It is speculated that it was employment discrimination because the day before the group Silueta X developed a panel with the Kimirina Corporation and the "Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion of Ecuador" entitled: "Increasing HIV/AIDS awareness in transgender youth" and the event "the transgender and their capabilities", held at the zonal government of Guayaquil. The events were covered by various media and Diane Rodriguez publicly participated (at that time as a transvestite). Diane Rodriguez followed a legal process to sue the hotel, creating a precedent in Ecuador, in which an LGBT individual filed a discrimination lawsuit against a private company.
The legal battle continued until 2009. Rodriguez was not seeking damages or compensation, but only to be reinstated to her old job as a cashier, and to have her gender identity respected at work. Public hearings from the ombudsman and the hotel were prolonged but indicated that they could not accept it because her self-identification as a woman did not match her legal identity.
The legal requirements of the hotel to reinstate her to work drove her to implement the campaign: "Females with Female Names", unleashing the legal implications of trans issues interest in this country. The "Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador" of 2008 in its favour; which first entered the "gender identity" initiates a legal complaint against the "civil status" because it denies the request to change their names from male to female.
Her second legal battle resulted in her favor, after several internal adjustments of the "Civil Registration" with the Ombudsman in February 2009, making this achievement in the first legal precedent in the Republic of Ecuador in transgender identity. A law was created to establish access for transgender, transsexual and intersex people to change their names from masculine to feminine or vice versa.
After partially meeting the legal demands of the hotel company, she continued with the first-filed legal complaint, ignoring the change of its female names for later testimony in open court, that the hotel had economic problems and was downsizing. This stalled the process of the employment discrimination complaint because they could not incorporate it to work, by economic arguments. The hotel promised to locate another company for Diane Rodriguez, but that never materialized. Later, another complaint was presented to the Ombudsman's Office, where it was found that the hotel, months after the legal process, was in search of new cashiers to work in the same hotel company. The case continues and is still open, and there is no legal resolution from the Ombudsman's Office of Ecuador.
Completing this year, through a protective action against the Civil Registration, another legal process starts on this occasion to demand recognition of their female gender identity, sponsored by the Ombudsman's Office. However, months after she was denied the action for defense by the first civil court. The judicial record of the complaint, after this result, instead of continuing to the provincial court, stagnates when dilated by the Ombudsman's Office, lost her case for sex change in the identity card, after a couple of years.Digital Journal - Carla Antonelli - In Spanish. Ecuador Judge denies sex change legal quoting Bible verses and godsVideo, Youtube - In Spanish, I refuse sex change in the identity card to Diane Rodriguez. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
Impact Media
For the first time, after having had a bad report with the Extra Journal in 2009 with the headline "I'm going to marry a black and adopt 3 children" whereby Diane Rodriguez, made public her complaint against daily newspaper, comes to an agreement with it, to make "positive report about Silueta X" which initially started nine transgender members of Silueta X, with points in the photographic studio of the Journal, and subsequently standardized good stories, not only in that environment, but it influenced the context.Journal Extra - In Spanish , Letters to the Editor - Positive Stories in Journal EXTRA
The initial aim was to position the trans issue within the country through the medium of communication that was most widely read as this environment, achieving in this way the visibility of activities inherent to LGBTI issues, as no other media had done. Later an awards ceremony, where the biggest winner was the medium who had previously had disputes was made.Extra Journal - In Spanish Washed away with awards Silueta X
Impact on authorities
In development 2010 complained to the authorities and had media uptake on the Census population of INEC (National Institute of Statistics and Censuses) of Ecuador, due to the lack of advice and unwillingness to register in the same populations LGBTI, especially those transgender, that having been born in one sex and living in another gender. The trans and intersex endpoint was in great demand as identified as the man born and living as women or vice versa, is to falsify information. The demands sustained that trans and intersex people do not belong to either, getting lost in that census the opportunity to make a statistic LGBTI.El Universo - In Spanish In GLBT no doubt about how self-define the genre. Asked on August 10, 2013. In the same year, conducted the study "Psychosocial about sex work among transgender and transsexual youth 15 to 29 years in the city of Guayaquil during 2010",Psycho-social study by Diane Rodriguez - In Spanish, on sex work among young transgender and transsexual 15 to 29 years in the city of Guayaquil in 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2013. which had an impact locally. Regarding their results, due to the approach to prostitution transIlga - In Spanish Ecuador: Transgendered people seek inclusion to leave sex work Accessed. August 10, 2013.
It lapsing 2011 Diane Rodriguez, got the attention of the Ministry of Interior and the police community, by proposing a joint effort with the transgender population. The approach is part of the various complaints of trans partners who performed sex work, and who expressed the abuse of some policemen. Thus begins the inter-institutional agreements with the authorities and get to the first "awareness workshops of sexuality and gender",Extra Journal - In Spanish , "Transsexual train the police". Retrieved August 10, 2013. in order to reduce stigma and discrimination against prostitutes and transgender sex workers in Guayaquil.TV Series, Owners Mid Day - In Spanish, "Report on sensitization by Diane Rodriguez National Police". Retrieved August 10, 2013.
Social impact
Victor Victoria In 2009, with several organizations led by the Kimirina corporation, Diane Rodriguez gave life to the first comics or preventive character transgender, which she called "Victor Victoria".AG Magazine , "Diane Marie Armoire and Exclusion to Militancy and action - In Spanish". Retrieved August 10, 2013.
The magazine was intended to give the necessary attention to the transgender population in the different aspects of everyday life such as health, education, employment, and violence, including trans specificities. Publication of the journal was kept for two years in a row, reaching the trans population in general.Portal AIDS - In Spanish, Victor Victoria the Transgender Magazine. Retrieved August 10, 2013.
My gender My ID card