While domestic violence has increased due to people staying at home during the quarantine, violence against transgender individuals has increased while venturing outside the home. In Panama, the government has issued a strict gender divided stay-at-home order: women are allowed to go outside for necessities on M/W/F and men on T/Th/S. All individuals must stay indoors on Sunday. Additionally, citizens are given time slots each day according to the last digit of their passport numbers. This order comes after the previous stay-at-home order was not taken seriously and many people still ventured outside their homes for non-essential business. By segregating males and females, the Panama government hopes to cut the number of people going outside at any given time in half. However, this has had the (perhaps) unintentional effect of endangering transgender men and women in Panama.

When asked about the danger placed upon transgender Panamanians by this order, a government official assured the reporter that if the individual has a woman’s name and is outside on the female-designated day, there would not be a problem. And visa versa for trans men. However, this was never communicated to the public or law enforcement. Thus, it should come as no surprise that trans men and women being outside on the specified day for the gender with which they identify has been anything but ‘not a problem’. One specific case occurred on April 1 with Barbara Delgado in Panama. Delgado left her house on Wednesday  morning to walk to a local medical facility where she volunteers. She was detained by local authorities along with two men and one woman who were violating the quarantine order. The woman was not out within her specified time slot, and the two men were out on a women-only day. While the other three people were issued a warning and allowed to leave, Delgado was taken to the police station and questioned for hours because she did not appear ‘female enough’ to be outside on a Wednesday. She still has a ‘male’ marker on her driver’s license because Panama law requires gender reassignment surgery to change one’s gender marker. This caused additional taunting and transphobic comments from the police officers. Eventually, Delgado was released with a fine after the long, unnecessary ordeal.

Although horrible, what happened to Delgado is almost a best-case-scenario for what could have happened. With violence against trans individuals occurring at staggering rates around the world, including at the hands of law enforcement, it is a scary thought to think about what could have happened. This situation begs the question that has been brought up many times in class of who deserves to live during a pandemic? Delgado was going to volunteer at a medical facility, but what if she was going to the grocery store to purchase food? What if she was shopping on April 1 because her paycheck just cleared and she could finally afford to go to the store? In all of these situations, she would have returned home empty-handed because the police thought she didn’t look ‘feminine enough’. That transphobic judgement just because police officers can exert their power in harmful ways can lead to dire situations for vulnerable populations. I think it’s also important to note that the aforementioned situations don’t have to be true for her to be allowed to go out in public like other non-trans individuals. This speaks to the larger issue that oppressed populations must justify their actions in a way to garner sympathy for equal treatment whereas other non-oppressed individuals do not. A trans female in Panama, for example, must be buying medicine for her dying grandmother to be allowed to ‘skirt the system’ and go out on a Wednesday while a white women on the same day can go out because she wants more snacks.

Another thing that this article made me think about, which has already been circulating in my mind with recent abortion-banning and transphobic laws being passed during this pandemic, is just the question of really? Like, if the world were ending, old white politicians would still be clamoring for votes in an anti-abortion bill? And what does that say about our government officials? I’ve seen a lot of social media posts about how this pandemic has really shown us who people are, and I agree completely. On a personal level, it’s been time for reflection and self exploration. Among friends, I have been able to see who puts in the effort to set up Zoom calls when we aren’t in the dorms together. And in government, the priorities have been exposed. In the case of the Panama officials stopping Barbara Delgado, it brings to light that transphobia will persist even when people’s lives are directly and visibly at stake. I feel like Kourtney Kardashian and the rest of the world is Kim: “Kim, there’s people that are dying.” And yet, the Kim Kardashian world still worries about her diamond earring.

Avery Myers

Sources:

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/02/panamas-gender-based-quarantine-ensnares-trans-woman#

https://www.tvn-2.com/nacionales/Personas-riesgo-restricciones-movilidad-basadas_0_5545695457.html