8:00 PM
Beacon Theatre
New York, NY
A muxe woman, Peregrina Vera is a member of the Indigenous Zapotec community from the town of Juchitán in the southeast of Oaxaca state in Mexico. A skilled artisan of traditional woven clothing, Peregrina also prepares decorations for local festivals. But in addition to her artistic endeavors, she is one of the leaders of the Transformándome (“Transforming Myself”) project housed at Mexfam, a nationwide civil society organization promoting access to health, education, and advocacy of sexual and reproductive rights. The project helps educate the muxe about their rights and how they can live authentically as themselves, including acquiring identification documents that accurately portray their names and genders.
Peregrina’s activism includes documenting incidents of hate crimes against the muxe throughout the region. This is a subject she unfortunately knows all too well after she experienced a recent violent attack and robbery in which all of her work tools were stolen.
These incidents have increased as new people have moved into the region.
“Before they did nothing to us,” Peregrina explains. “Now if you’re at a party, just by seeing you, they want to attack you, they insult you, and on many occasions, the aggression changes from words to physical attacks.”
By documenting these incidents, Peregrina is helping to bring the issue of hate violence to the attention of authorities and the public. She is also working to connect members of her community through online meetings using computers acquired by the Transformándome project. All of her activism is aimed at increasing the acceptance and inclusion of her muxe community.
Mujer Muxe, Peregrina Vera es miembro de la comunidad indígena Zapoteca del pueblo de Juchitán, en el sureste del estado de Oaxaca. Hábil artesana de la ropa tejida tradicional, Peregrina también prepara adornos para las fiestas locales. Pero además de sus esfuerzos artísticos, es una de las líderes de Transformándome en Mexfam, la organización nacional de planificación familiar de México. El proyecto ayuda a educar a la comunidad Muxe sobre sus derechos y sobre cómo pueden vivir auténticamente sin esconderse, incluyendo cómo obtener documentos de identidad que reflejen con exactitud sus nombres y géneros.
El activismo de Peregrina incluye la documentación de incidentes de crímenes de odio contra la comunidad Muxe en toda la región. Se trata de un tema que, por desgracia, conoce demasiado bien tras haber sufrido recientemente un ataque violento y un robo en el que le sustrajeron todas sus herramientas de trabajo.
Estos incidentes han aumentado a medida que nuevas personas se han trasladado a la región.
“Antes no nos hacían nada”, explica. “Ahora, si estás en una fiesta, solo con verte quieren agredirte, te insultan y, en muchas ocasiones, la agresión pasa de las palabras a los ataques físicos”.
Con la documentación de estos incidentes, Peregrina está ayudando a llamar la atención de las autoridades y del público sobre el problema de la violencia motivada por el odio. También está trabajando para conectar a los miembros de su comunidad a través de reuniones en línea utilizando computadoras adquiridas gracias al proyecto Transformándome. Todo su activismo busca aumentar la aceptación y la inclusión de su comunidad Muxe.
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A forest with the sun shining through trees, with a text overlay that quotes Jon Stryker and Annette Lanjouw of Arcus Foundation saying, “Destruction of nature exposes us to a panoply of diseases, and creates and exacerbates social injustice and political repression around the world.”
A razed forest.
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A scene from a protest, people wearing face masks, waving signs and banners, drumming on a drum, dancing, shouting through a megaphone. Two signs are a sheer black color with gold trim and list several names, including Roxsana Hernandez, Claire Legato, Muhlaysia Booker, and Nina Pop. Another sign says “Black Trans Lives Matter”.
A Learn More button that links to the Arcus Foundation’s support page for LGBT Social Justice.
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A Learn More button that links to a story: “I Know Who I Am, But My Country Doesn’t Recognize Me”.
A woman wearing a long-sleeved gray shirt under a jumper featuring white and pastel yellow, blue and green circles, a black head covering and a red face mask, stands in front of a church building with a sign that says: “Central Methodist Mission You are born in love by love for love”. A text overlay identifies her as Mia Lukas, SistaazHood, homeless trans women supported by Gender DynamiX, South Africa, and quotes her saying: “With their support, we feel more included in society.”
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An aerial view of a forest with area of deforested land. A text overlay that quotes Fransisca Ariantiningsih, Orangutan Information Centre, Indonesia, saying “Logging and habitat destruction force animals from the forest, making them vulnerable to trafficking.”
A woman with neck-length dark brown straight hair and a beige dress shirt talks in front of a pink flowering tree.
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A text overlay with a quote saying “The orangutan is Indonesia’s national treasure. It takes years to rehabilitate each individual.”
An adult orangutan eats tree bark while clinging to a tree.
A text overlay with a quote saying “Our ecosystem is shared between humans and wildlife. If one single thing is gone, it affects all.”
A Learn More button that links to the Arcus Foundation’s support page for Great Apes and Gibbons Conservation.
An adult gibbon with black fur climbs a tree with a baby gibbon clinging onto the adult. Two bonobos move through trees.
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A man in a gray dress shirt and wearing a shoulder bag sits behind a table and reaches toward prescription medicine boxes and opens one to take out a smaller box and hand it to someone on the other end of the table. A text overlay quotes Jon Stryker and Annette Lanjouw of Arcus Foundation saying “Conservation without social justice is neither ethical nor possible. To achieve conservation and respect for the world’s apes, we work with the people who live alongside them.”
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The man from the pharmacy walks down a dirt path past bushes while smiling.
Text comes up on the screen saying “Push boundaries. Make change.” Logos for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn appear on the screen.
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