Pink News

Russian Gay Men with Children have been Warned by Authorities They Face Arrest

Lily Wakefield, Pink News October 9, 2020

Under the rule of Vladimir Putin, authorities have declared gay men in Russia who have had children by surrogacy will face arrest for “baby trafficking”.

According to The Independent, Russian state media reported that a source within the country’s Investigative Committee compared surrogacy to baby trafficking, and insisted that it was an offence for men with “non-traditional orientation” to use their sperm for IVF.

“We plan to arrest a number of suspects, single men, and Russian citizens, who have used surrogate mothers to give birth to children,” the source added, despite the fact that surrogacy is actually legal in Russia. This plan has not been confirmed by the government.

Seven people have already been arrested in Russia on baby trafficking charges after a baby born to a surrogate mother died in a tragic cot death in January.

The baby was found in a flat in Moscow with three other children, all believed to have been conceived by surrogate, and two nannies.

The children were being cared for by nannies while their parents organised paperwork to take them back home. The baby was found to have died by natural causes.

But Russian authorities decided that the baby died “by negligence” and that the surrogacy arrangement constituted “baby trafficking”. Medical staff and lawyers involved in the surrogacy were arrested.

Lawyer Igor Trunov, who is representing the children’s parents, told The Independent: “Babies, unfortunately, do die… Whatever you do, you should not believe state investigators when they say they are acting out of interests of child welfare.

“They have chosen to send three eleven-month-old kids to a children’s psychiatric facility.”

The babies’ parents are suing the government in Russia for “abducting” their children, who are legally recognised as foreign citizens.

But government investigators are playing the blazing anti-LGBT+ sentiment in Russia, said Trunov, by linking baby trafficking to gay men.

More from PinkNews

Stars you didn’t know are LGBT+Celebs you didn’t know have an LGBT sibling The stars who went gay for pay

He said: “They want to connect baby trafficking to the idea of sexual orientation, knowing how that resonates with the wider public. They understand no one is going to stand up for gays.”

Trunov added that he had no doubt a “political order” was driving the investigators’ sudden interest in gay men a surrogacy.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has consistently taken aim at the country’s LGBT+ community, stirring up hatred among his most loyal supporters, members of the Russian Orthodox Church, and leaving LGBT+ rights groups outside of Russia alarmed in the ways he is targeting queer people.

In 2013, Putin oversaw the introduction of the country’s infamous “gay propaganda” law, which bans so-called “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships” among minors.https://lockerdome.com/lad/13296932562903654?pubid=ld-5883-3439&pubo=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinknews.co.uk&rid=www.pinknews.co.uk&width=572

Human rights monitors say that the law has been widely exploited in Russia to clamp down on freedom of expression for LGBT+ people.

During the recent constitutional referendum which allowed Putin to extend his rule beyond the 2024 cut-off, Putin’s campaign relied heavily on taking away LGBT+ rights, from effectively erasing trans people from existence to a constitutional ban on marriage equality.

National/ News/ Top Stories

Trans Teen Banned from School until She Adheres to a Male Dress Code

Pink News, Rajdeep Singh October 8, 2020

Sanay Martinez, a trans student from Louise, Texas, has been kicked out of her school until she abides by the male dress code.

With in-person teaching reopening for the autumn semester, Louise Independent School District prohibited Martinez from adhering to the school’s female dress code after she alerted officials that she is trans.×

Administrators told her that unless she cuts her hair, takes out her earrings, and dresses in accordance with the “male handbook”, she cannot return.

Martinez was just a typical student at who enjoyed her classes and loved spending time with her friends, but told ABC13 that the experience has made her feel almost like a pariah.

“It’s my senior year and I would love to go back to Louise ISD, but I don’t feel welcome at all,” she told the outlet.ADVERTISING

She and her close friend are even considering transferring to a school some 10 miles away in El Campo in protest. School officials sought to stress that as much as they “accept” Martinez, she must abide by their rules.

Trans teen and her best friend may have to transfer to another school due to anti-trans dress code.

The 18-year-old said: “[The school administrators] don’t have to accept it, but they should respect it”.

“They told me I can’t come back until I cut my hair and take out my piercings. And I do not like that because as a female, I should follow the female handbook and not the male handbook.”

More from PinkNews

Stars you didn’t know are LGBT+Celebs you didn’t know have an LGBT sibling The stars who went gay for pay

Due to the school’s inability to respect as well accept Martinez, she and her friend Alexis Mendoza will most likely have to be transferred to El Campo High School, in the neighbouring town of El Campo.

Mendoza said: “They’re being really disrespectful. They know [Sanay] since [she] was in Pre-K.”

She said that the school was “fine” when Martinez came out as gay, “but when [she] came out as trans, that’s when everything changed.”

The superintendent of Louise Independent School District said how they “accept” and “love” Sanay, but she must follow the rules.

Martinez continued “I’m here to tell everyone, that transgender students should be allowed for their education.

“It is their rightful purpose for them to go into the school and get their education. It doesn’t matter what race, gender or sexuality.”

International/ News/ Top Stories

Egyptian Police are Using Grindr to Hunt and Imprison Queer People

Emma Powys Maurice, Pink News October 6, 2020

Fake dating profiles are being used by security forces in Egypt to entrap LGBT+ people and subject them to horrifying abuses in prison, a new report has found.

According to Human Rights Watch, the government in Egypt is specifically targeting the LGBT+ community using social media and apps such as Grindr to “clean the streets” of queer people.×

The watchdog group accused police personnel and officers of Egypt’s National Security Agency of routinely picking up individuals off the streets and detaining them in inhuman conditions, often after illegally searching their phones.

Prosecutors use this content to justify prolonged detentions as they rubber-stamp police reports and bring unjustified prosecutions against them. Once in jail the victims are subjected to systematic torture and abuse, including forced “virginity tests”.

“Egyptian authorities seem to be competing for the worst record on rights violations against LGBT people in the region, while the international silence is appalling,” said Rasha Younes, LGBT+ rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.ADVERTISING

One man, “Yasser”, 27, told the group he was arrested in Giza after chatting to a man on Grindr. “When they came back with a police report, I was surprised to see the guy I met on Grindr is one of the officers,” he said.

“They beat me and cursed me until I signed papers that said I was ‘practicing debauchery’ and publicly announcing it to fulfil my ‘unnatural sexual desires’.”

LGBT+ prisoners in Egypt describe being ‘water-hosed and tied up for days’.

Human Rights Watch shared detailed accounts from 15 separate people, including one from a 17-year-old girl, which reveal the horrific scale of physical and verbal abuse “ranging from slapping to being water-hosed and tied up for days.”

Political activist and trans woman Malak el-Kashif, 20, said she was arrested and “put in a cage-like cell” the size of a freezer after attending a protest in 2019. Security forces questioned her about her private life, her gender-confirmation surgery and her relationship with other activists, she said.

“I suffered the worst verbal abuse I have ever encountered by police officers and they forbade me from going to the bathroom for two days. They subjected me to a forced anal exam. They sexually assaulted me,” she said.

One victim was forced to stand for three days straight in a dark room with his hands and feet tied with a rope. Another detainee said police forced her to undergo three separate virginity tests, after which she “bled for three days and could not walk for weeks.”

Nine interviewees said police officers ordered other detainees to abuse them. Eight were victims of sexual violence while five were forced to undergo anal examinations.

More from PinkNews

Stars you didn’t know are LGBT+Celebs you didn’t know have an LGBT sibling The stars who went gay for pay

Four said they were denied medical care, and eight said they were forced to sign confessions. All were denied access to lawyers.

The shocking report echoes the trauma of prominent LGBT+ activist Sara Hegazy, who took her own life three months ago after struggling with PTSD and depression caused by her torture in a Cairo jail.https://lockerdome.com/lad/13296932562903654?pubid=ld-5883-3439&pubo=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinknews.co.uk&rid=www.pinknews.co.uk&width=572

“Prison killed me. It destroyed me,” she said after she escaped.

Her tragic suicide devastated the Egyptian LGBT+ community and sent waves of shock and solidarity worldwide. Candlelight vigils were held in cities from Brooklyn to Beirut to honour Hegazy and raise awareness of the struggle she faced.

Human Rights Watch is now calling on Egypt’s partners to “halt support to its abusive security forces until the country takes effective steps to end this cycle of abuse, so that LGBT+ people can live freely in their country.”

National/ News/ Top Stories

Activists Demand Debate Moderator Grill Mike Pence on his Being Anti-gay

Lily Wakefield, Pink News October 5, 2020

Activists have demanded that the next debate moderator grill Mike Pence on the Trump administration’s homophobia and transphobia, after LGBT+ rights went unmentioned during the first presidential debate.

LGBT+ issues were sidelined in the presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump on Tuesday (September 29).

The messy and hostile debate amounted to 90 minutes of insults and accusations peppered with constant interruptions from the president, who refused to abide by moderator Christ Wallace’s rules.

On October 7, the vice presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris will take place, moderated by USA Today journalist Susan Page.

But activists are determined that the second debate will not overlook LGBT+ issues.ADVERTISING

In a letter to Page, 13 LGBT+ rights groups “implored” her to address queer rights, as it would “do our nation and community a disservice to exclude these issues as a part of the conversation”.

The letter from rights groups, including Human Rights Campaign, LGBTQ Victory Fund and Media Matters, said: “In the midst of this pandemic, President Trump and Vice President Pence put forward a rule limiting LGBTQ people’s access to health care by eliminating LGBTQ non-discrimination protections from the Affordable Care Act.

More from PinkNews

Stars you didn’t know are LGBT+Celebs you didn’t know have an LGBT sibling The stars who went gay for pay

“Hate-fuelled violence is on the rise, and so far this year 30 transgender and gender non-conforming people have been killed, putting us on track for the deadliest year on record for the transgender community.

“A majority of those lost are Black and Latinx transgender women who live at the intersection of racism, misogyny, and transphobia — all of which have been fomented and exacerbated by Trump, Pence, and their allies.

“LGBTQ children are dealing with higher instances of bullying in schools, all while Secretary DeVos offers fewer methods of recourse against those bullies.”

Voters, of whom one in 10 identify as LGBT+ according to recent data from NBC, need to be aware of the anti-LGBT+ views held by Pence and the wider Trump administration, the letter insisted.

“Vice president Mike Pence and senator Kamala Harris have deeply divergent records on equality that should be highlighted for Americans… In 2016, presidential and vice-presidential debate moderators did not ask candidates a single question about LGBTQ issues across four debates.

“You have the opportunity to change that and address the issues our community faces in this trying time.”

Features/ Health/ Top Stories

LGB More Likely to Get Migraines than Straight People

Emma Powys Maurice, Pink News September 29, 2020

Lesbian, gay and bisexual people are significantly more likely to get migraines than straight people, and scientists believe the stress of bigotry could be one reason why.

A survey of 10,000 Americans aged 31-42 by San Francisco’s University of California found that almost a third of LGB people experienced migraines, a figure 58 per cent higher than in heterosexual participants.

And although the researchers were unable to pinpoint the exact reason behind the painful and disabling headaches, we can only assume that the constant strain of dealing with cis straight nonsense is a contributing factor.

“There might be a higher rate of migraines in LGB people because of discrimination, stigma or prejudice, which may lead to stress and trigger a migraine,” the study’s lead author Dr Jason Nagata told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“Physicians should be aware that migraines are quite common in LGB individuals and assess for migraine symptoms.”

Migraines can be accompanied by sensitivity to light and sound as well as blurred vision, nausea and vomiting. The throbbing headaches are the most common reason for emergency room visits in the US, and while there are many different triggers, the cause is still unclear.

The study found that the increased risk of migraines was seen even in those who identified as “mostly heterosexual but with some same-sex attractions”.

It’s possible that the prevalence in the queer population is connected to the rise in hate crimes, which have reached the highest levels in a decade in the US. LGBT+ people are among the most frequently targeted groups, alongside Jews and Black people.

Dr Nagata also considered that another reason LGB people may be more likely to get migraines could be the barriers of receiving healthcare.

Other studies have shown that women are much more likely to experience migraines than men, and up to 85 per cent of American migraine sufferers are female.

Migraines also appear to be more common among Black Americans and Americans with lower socioeconomic status, according to the National Headache Foundation.

National/ News/ Top Stories

Religious Bigot Rallies Followers Behind Trump’s SCOTUS pick so LGBT+ Rights ‘No Longer See the Light of Day’

Patrick Kelleher, Pink News September 28, 2020

A Republican has urged other conservatives to back Amy Coney Barrett as the new Supreme Court justice so that LGBT+ rights “will no longer see the light of day”.

Brian Brown, head of the anti-gay National Organisation for Marriage, told his followers that it is “absolutely imperative” that Barrett be appointed to the Supreme Court in an email.×

Brown, who once compared himself to Jesus and has fought to reverse progress on LGBT+ rights, told followers that they must launch an “unprecedented effort to ensure that this justice confirmed without delay”.

“I’m asking you to make a sacrificial financial gift to [National Organisation for Marriage] right now so that we can immediately deploy a comprehensive pressure campaign aimed at holding Republican Senate votes to confirm president Trump’s pick to the Supreme Court,” Brown wrote, according to an email published by JMG.

“This is a moment that could pay decades of dividends for all the issues we care about,” he added.ADVERTISING

“We’ve never had a bigger opportunity to advance our cause. Will you be with us at this historic moment?”

Republican Brian Brown wants Amy Coney Barrett appointed to the Supreme Court so they can roll back LGBT+ rights.

Brown went on to claim that the left “has gone absolutely berserk” since Trump announced the staunchly anti-LGBT+ Roman Catholic as his nominee to the Supreme Court, following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

“This is the Supreme Court nomination that could finally bring us a reversal of Roe v Wade and usher in a pro-life majority on the court,” he added.

“It could pave the way for the restoration of marriage to our laws and scrapping the illegitimate, anti-constitutional imposition of same-sex ‘marriage’ on the nation.

“It will mean that religious liberty will be restored to its rightful place as a foundational constitutional right, and that the fake ‘rights’ that are constantly demanded by the left – including special rules for homosexuals and the so-called transgendered – will no longer see the light of day.”

Brown said “LGBT extremists” will do “everything in their power to block” Barrett’s confirmation as a Supreme Court justice.

https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.411.1_en.html#goog_2101816077

“It’s imperative that we be on the front lines fighting for control of the Supreme Court by demanding that Republicans support president Trump’s nominee.”

The Roman Catholic Supreme Court nominee has expressed her opposition to same-sex marriage in the past.

Trump officially announced Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court on Saturday (26 September).https://lockerdome.com/lad/13296932562903654?pubid=ld-5883-3439&pubo=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinknews.co.uk&rid=www.pinknews.co.uk&width=572

LGBT+ organisations and advocates have expressed concern over the nomination because of Barrett’s anti-gay beliefs, as well as her membership of a religious group that declares that husbands are the leaders of their wives.

More from PinkNews

Stars you didn’t know are LGBT+Celebs you didn’t know have an LGBT sibling The stars who went gay for pay

In 2015, Barrett signed a letter to the Ordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family, declaring support for “the Church’s teachings… on the meaning of human sexuality, the significance of sexual difference and the complementarity of men and women; on openness to life… and on marriage and family founded on the indissoluble commitment of a man and a woman”.

In 2017, Barrett was grilled by Democratic senators during her confirmation hearing to become a United States circuit judge on whether her staunch Catholic beliefs would affect her judgement on issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion.

Senator Dianne Feinstein told Barrett: “The dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for for years in this country.”

At the time, 27 LGBT+ rights groups opposed Barrett’s confirmation in an open letter, expressing concern that “her religiously-infused moral beliefs would inform her judicial decision-making”.

The Roman Catholic judge is set to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg who, in contrast, a feminist icon and champion for equality and LGBT+ rights.

National/ News/ Top Stories

Donald Trump Sued by Lesbian Niece Mary for ‘Cheating’ her Out of Millions

Emma Powys Maurice, Pink News September 25, 2020

Donald Trump is being sued for fraud by his niece Mary Trump, who claims her uncle and his siblings deliberately cheated her out of tens of millions of dollars.

The lawsuit filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Thursday (September 24) includes multiple claims of fraud, concealment and civil conspiracy, among a myriad of allegations.

The president is said to have conspired over several decades with Mary’s aunt, former federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry, and uncle Robert Trump (who died last month), to squeeze her out of the family business and deprive her of her multi-million dollar inheritance.

For the Trumps, “fraud was not just the family business — it was a way of life”, the suit claims.

“They lied. Rather than protect Mary’s interests, they designed and carried out a complex scheme to siphon funds away from her interests, conceal their grift, and deceive her about the true value of what she had inherited,” it adds.

It is alleged that the family presented themselves as Mary Trump’s protectors while secretly taking her share of minority interests in the family’s extensive real estate holdings.

The suit claims Mary Trump was pressured into accepting a settlement after being led by her aunts and uncles to believe their father’s estate was worth $30 million, the Associated Press reported.

“All told, they fleeced her of tens of millions of dollars or more,” the suit states, explaining that the alleged “fraud perpetrated by Donald, Maryanne and Robert” came to light after a 2018 New York Times investigation valued said estate as being worth more than $1 billion.

Mary Trump first made her claims in her tell-all memoir.

Many of the lawsuit’s accusations were laid out in Mary Trump’s scathing tell-all memoir, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.

In the book, Mary says she was cut out of her grandfather’s will as a result of her father’s death. She claims her uncle Robert Trump told her she was excluded because her father died of alcoholism, and wasn’t around to inherit a share of the fortune. She also says her grandfather disliked her mother.

Mary Trump also accused her uncle Donald Trump of trying to “steal vast sums of money from his siblings” by secretly trying to change his dying father’s will to write his siblings out of control of the family’s fortune.

Because Mary was a teenager at the time of her father’s death in 1981, a lawyer named Irwin Durben was appointed to act on her behalf with regards to her inheritance.

But according to the lawsuit, Durben was “irredeemably conflicted” and sided with Mary’s family members over her own interests, and “ultimately acquiesced in defendants’ campaign to squeeze her out of the family business entirely.”https://lockerdome.com/lad/13296932562903654?pubid=ld-5883-3439&pubo=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinknews.co.uk&rid=www.pinknews.co.uk&width=572

In a statement accompanying the lawsuit, Mary Trump says they “betrayed me… by telling lie after lie about the value of what I had inherited and by conning me into giving everything away for a fraction of its true value.”

The suit adds that the fraud “was particularly egregious and morally culpable because defendants deliberately targeted her because they disliked her“.

Trump has not publicly responded to the lawsuit but has referred to his nieceas being “unstable.”

Robert Trump attempted to secure an injunction and restraining order to block the book’s publication, but this was denied. The memoir was published in July despite the Trumps’ best efforts to quash it.

Features/ Top Stories/ Transgender / Transsexual

Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler Wants to Erase Trans Kids from Sports

Nick Duffy, Pink News September 25, 2020

Republican senator Kelly Loeffler has submitted a bill that attempts to rewrite a key civil rights law to legally erase transgender kids and bar them from taking part in school sports.

The Georgia senator on Tuesday (22 September) submitted a bill in the US Senate that would rewrite parts of Title IX, a civil rights law passed in 1972 that protects people from sex-based discrimination in education programs.×

Republican senator Kelly Loeffler files anti-trans bill.

Loeffler’s planned amendment seeks to define sex as “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth” for the purposes of athletics, and bar trans people from taking part in sporting events in their true gender.

It states that any recipient of federal funds “who operates, sponsors, or facilitates athletic programs or activities… [must not] permit a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls”.

Per a release, the bill is intended to “make sure schools keep girls’ sports for girls” – although, by defining gender as based solely on reproductive biology and genetics, it would logically compel cisgender teenage girls to compete against transgender boys and non-binary people.

In addition to Loeffler, the bill is co-sponsored by four notoriously anti-LGBT+ Republican senators – ‘freedom to discriminate’ backer Mike Lee, anti-trans JK Rowling megafan James Lankford, Taylor Swift foe Marsha Blackburn and Tom Cotton, whose interns like to rant about “f****ts”.

Republican senator Kelly Loeffler (Toni L. Sandys-Pool/Getty Images)

In a release, Loeffler said: “Title IX established a fair and equal chance for women and girls to compete, and sports should be no exception.

“As someone who learned invaluable life lessons and built confidence playing sports throughout my life, I’m proud to lead this legislation to ensure girls of all ages can enjoy those same opportunities. This common sense bill protects women and girls by safeguarding fairness and levelling the athletic field that Title IX guarantees.”

The bill is backed by a swathe of anti-LGBT+ hate groups including the Family Research Council, run by Trump ally Tony Perkins.

Perkins, whose group has long fought to deny women access to healthcare, claimed the bill would “help ensure that girls are afforded the opportunity to play on a level playing field”.https://lockerdome.com/lad/13296932562903654?pubid=ld-5883-3439&pubo=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinknews.co.uk&rid=www.pinknews.co.uk&width=572

National/ News/ Top Stories

‘Suicide Prevention Bill Becomes First LGBT-inclusive Law Unanimously Approved by Congress

Nick Duffy, Pink News September 24, 2020

A suicide prevention bill that includes LGBT-specific training for helpline workers has become the first ever LGBT-inclusive legislation to pass through the US House of Representatives without a single vote against it.

The house passed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act, which will allow Americans to dial 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, by unanimous consent on Monday (September 21), sending the bill to the president’s desk.

LGBT+ suicide prevention charity The Trevor Project notes that the bill “is the first that is specifically LGBTQ-inclusive to pass Congress unanimously in history”, with not a single lawmaker casting a vote against it.

In addition to the creation of the 988 number, The Trevor Project notes that the bill “contains several key LGBTQ-inclusive provisions”, including a requirement for Lifeline counsellors to undergo LGBT+ cultural competency training.

The 988 lifeline, which has already been approved by the FCC, would also include an integrated voice response option to help LGBT+ youth and other high-risk populations to access specialised services.

The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act is the first bill that is specifically LGBT-inclusive to pass Congress unanimously in history (Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash)

More from PinkNews

Stars you didn’t know are LGBT+Celebs you didn’t know have an LGBT sibling The stars who went gay for pay

The bill notes that “youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer are more than four times more likely to contemplate suicide than their peers, with one in five LGBTQ youth and more than one in three transgender youth reporting attempting suicide”.

The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act will now head to the desk of the president, having been passed through the Senate in May.

The passage of the legislation comes despite major hurdles for other laws relating to LGBT+ people, not least the Equality Act, a non-discrimination bill which continues to be blocked by the Republican leadership in the Senate. Usually the mere mention of LGBT+ issues is enough to give rise to some votes against proposals.

The 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline ‘will undoubtedly save countless lives’.

Features/ Top Stories/ Transgender / Transsexual

Soraya Santiago the First Out Trans Person to Run for US Office Dies at 73

Lily Wakefield, Pink News September 23, 2020

Soraya Santiago, a trans activist, queer icon and the first person in Puerto Rico to receive gender confirmation surgery, has passed away at the age of 73.

According to the Associated Press, Santiago had been battling cancer, and died Tuesday (September 22) at her home in the city of Carolina.

She was a trailblazer in a multitude of ways. Not only was she the first known person in Puerto Rico to have had gender confirmation surgery, she was also the first on the island to successfully change her name and sex on her birth certificate, and the first openly trans person to run for office in the US territory.

In 2019, she told United Explanations: “Those were doors I opened, and I hope to keep opening more doors so that the community can keep establishing itself where it should be and not where people want it to be.”

Santiago featured in multiple documentaries, including the award-winning 2014 film Mala Mala, and wrote a book titled Made by Hand: Gender Dysmorphia. ADVERTISING

She graduated with a BA in political science from the University of Puerto Rico last year at the age of 72.

Congratulations Soraya! Today, she graduates with a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Puerto Rico!”Para un Imposible, Millones de Posibles.” -Soraya
Posted by Mala Mala on Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Soraya Santiago remembered as a ‘heroine’ in the fight for trans rights.

Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of Puerto Rico’s largest city, paid tribute to Santiago on Twitter, writing: “Soraya, our heroine in the fight for the dignity of our compatriots in the trans community, died after a battle against cancer.

“We love you, we owe you a lot and we will never forget you.