Gender: X - Proud owner of Chile's first non-binary ID card

Miguel Sanchez, Agence France-Presse

<p>SANTIAGO, Chile - Shane Cienfuegos, the first non-binary person to receive a gender-neutral identity document in Chile, says they feel a &quot;great weight&quot; of responsibility despite their victory over centuries of discrimination.</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BzcCd2HF5zL/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:16px"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:40px;margin-right:14px;width:40px"> </div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:100px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:60px"> </div></div></div><div style="padding:19% 0"> </div><div style="display:block;height:50px;margin:0 auto 12px;width:50px"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BzcCd2HF5zL/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="background:#FFFFFF;line-height:0;padding:0 0;text-align:center;text-decoration:none;width:100%" target="_blank"><svg height="50px" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 60 60" width="50px" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd" stroke="none" stroke-width="1"><g fill="#000000" transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 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style="padding:12.5% 0"> </div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;margin-bottom:14px;align-items:center"><div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(0px) translateY(7px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;height:12.5px;transform:rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px);width:12.5px;flex-grow:0;margin-right:14px;margin-left:2px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(9px) translateY(-18px)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left:8px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:20px;width:20px"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:2px solid transparent;border-left:6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom:2px solid transparent;transform:translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left:auto"><div style="width:0px;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(16px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;flex-grow:0;height:12px;width:16px;transform:translateY(-4px)"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"> </div></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"> </div></div><div style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BzcCd2HF5zL/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by Shane Aguila Cienfuegos Cortes (@shanecienfuegos)</a></div></div></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script>&quot;It is difficult to be the first,&quot; the 29-year-old told AFP 10 days after receiving their new ID from a civil registry in Santiago. </p><p>In the section to indicate gender, the card is marked with an X instead of an &quot;F&quot; for female or an &quot;M&quot; for male.</p><p>With long, flowing dark hair, a neatly-trimmed beard, lipstick, a flowery dress and platform heels, Cienfuegos chooses the gender-neutral Spanish-language pronoun &quot;elle&quot; (they) and describes themselves as transgender and non-binary.</p><p>Cienfuegos fought a nine-year legal battle to finally receive, on October 14, an identity document that reflects how they see themselves.</p><p>It was the first ID card to be issued in Chile to identify its holder as neither &quot;male&quot; nor &quot;female.&quot;</p><p>&quot;This is not Shane&#x27;s victory, it is a collective victory,&quot; said Cienfuegos about non-binary and transgender people in a conservative, Catholic-majority country where they are still the target of discrimination and violence.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/12/08/21/chile-congress-approves-same-sex-marriage-bill">Chile Congress approves same-sex marriage bill</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/03/12/22/chiles-first-gay-couple-gets-married">Chile’s first gay couple weds, as same sex marriage law takes effect</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/12/08/21/same-sex-marriage-now-legal-in-30-countries">Same-sex marriage now legal in 30 countries</a></li></ul><div><strong>&#x27;We don&#x27;t die of diabetes&#x27;</strong></div><p>Cienfuegos said they were bullied from a very young age, and suffered several violent attacks over the years.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;ve had to fight for my life on the street I don’t know how many times,&quot; they recounted at the Cultural Center in Las Condes, Santiago, at the launch of a book they had authored about an eventful life.</p><p>&quot;I have survived. I have made myself tough to survive a cruel, dehumanizing system,&quot; they said between signing books.</p><p>&quot;The main cause of trans deaths is murder; we don’t die of diabetes or heart attacks, we die because we are killed, because we commit suicide because of that violence,&quot; Cienfuegos said.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dNAeiXArUzQ?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>They have been an advocate for the rights of non-binary people since high school, and paid for a qualification in social work by selling sex.</p><p>Today, Cienfuegos is a senior figure at the Organizando Trans Diversidades (Organizing Trans Diversities) advocacy group.</p><p>Over the past decade, Chile has been moving away from the conservatism inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) and the influence of the Catholic Church. </p><p>Still, last year, 1,114 complaints of discrimination against LGBTQ+ persons were registered in Chile -- 127 from transgender people -- according to the Movilh gender activist group.</p><p>In 2012, Congress passed the Anti-Discrimination Act, and three years later legalized same-sex civil unions.</p><p>In 2018, a law was passed that allows for a sex change from the age of 14, and last year, Chile approved gay marriage and adoption.</p><p>In July, an appeals court in Santiago finally recognized Cienfuegos&#x27; non-binary gender.</p><p>But the fight is not over.</p><p>Chile still does not legally recognize genders other than male or female and anyone else who would want an &quot;X&quot; on their ID will likely face a legal battle similar to Cienfuegos&#x27;.</p><p>&quot;The non-binary identity card is a milestone among a range of milestones for the advancement of fundamental rights,&quot; Cienfuegos said.</p><p>&quot;But conservatism is about enduring daily discrimination against... sexual diversity,&quot; they added.</p><p>In July last year, Chile&#x27;s neighbor Argentina became the first country in Latin America to allow a gender other than male or female to be listed on a person&#x27;s identity document, following in the footsteps of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States among other countries.</p><p>msa/mlr/jh</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1682912" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div> </div>

Shane Cienfuegos, the first non-binary person to receive a gender-neutral identity document in Chile, says they feel a 'great weight' of responsibility despite their victory over centuries of discrimination.

Gender: X - Proud owner of Chile's first non-binary ID card | ABS-CBN

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Gender: X - Proud owner of Chile's first non-binary ID card

Gender: X - Proud owner of Chile's first non-binary ID card

Miguel Sanchez,

Agence France-Presse

Published Oct 26, 2022 10:26 AM PHT

Read More:

LGBTQ

gender

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transgender

non-binary

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