The archival riot: Travesti/Trans* audiovisual memory politics in twenty-first-century Argentina

Abstract

This article analyzes the making of travesti/trans* memory politics in Argentina. Focused on audiovisual initiatives, archives, catalogs, novels, and digital activism, it studies how these policies emerged in the wider context of the archival and digital turn. While placing the dialogues with Argentine centrality of memory in social conflict and Latin American archival grassroots politics, this text addresses the role of remembrance in the production of travesti/trans* identity. This article argues that trans* memory initiatives acted as politics of belonging that worked in two levels: defining the limits of a common identitarian past, and reaching a wider cisgender audience to highlight the social violence that defined travesti/trans’ precarious lives. This article shows how by placing travesti/trans* memories in tension with national retelling of the past, they are building politics of belonging to legitimate their claims of social reparation to make new trans* futures possible.

Homonationalism, LGBT desaparecidos, and the politics of queer memory in Argentina

“…Expelled at an early age from their homes, most travestis lacked formal education (Berkins, 2015). Although many were highly articulate when presenting their grievances against the police, public opinion perceived their language, appearance, and misdemeanor in ways that worked against their claims (Butierrez, 2022). In addition to the disadvantage posed by their work as prostitutes and their racial background, most dressed provocatively to attract patrons.…”

“…Such violence is considered implausible by a national representation of Argentina as tolerant, opened to sexual diversity, and respectful of human rights. Like Marce Butierrez (2022) explored in a recent paper, the deaths of travestis at the hands of civilians or police is often ignored because they constitute "malas victimas" or "bad victims." Travestis are often dismissed as victims when perceived as not being "innocent" because they trafficked drugs or were addicted to them (Cutuli, 2017;López Perea, 2018), engaged in illegal activities, solicited men in the streets, and, most important, because of their dark complexion.…”

“…The archive introduces an innovative approach by emphasizing agency and joy, directing attention away from victimhood, especially through the collection of thousands of images showing evidence of mutual support within travesti networks. Funded by the Argentine government and international agencies, this online memory archive shows that the Argentine state does not actively silence or repress travesti memories of victimhood after 1983 (Simoneto and Butierrez, 2022). Yet, when these memories surface, both the state and civil society ignore them.…”

“…Prejudice against travestis was so pervasive that only a handful of them were able to find employment, for the rest of them, prostitution was the only alternative (Berkins, 2015). Over the years, travestis have challenged negative stereotypes (Álvarez, 2000; Berkins, 2004; Simoneto and Butierrez, 2022) and advanced effective political strategies (Cutuli, 2012), but in the last two decades of the twentieth century they were still more vulnerable to police exploitation and brutality because they had become one the most visible embodiments of abjection in Argentine mainstream popular culture. As travestis gradually began to organize to avoid paying bribes and resist police harassment, the police responded with an escalation of brutality to regain control and continue to exploit them (Cutuli and Insausti, 2022).…”