Trans Bolivian Senate candidate hopes to make history

In the context that discrimination and exclusion are real for the Bolivian LGBTQ community, Casa Trans Pamela Valenzuela exists as a shelter and comprehensive support center for transgender people.

Since opening in 2022, CASA Trans has provided key services that provide legal, medical, psychological, and food aid beyond simple housing.

Casa Trans is located in the San Pedro district of the capital La Paz, where it opens daily and offers a soup kitchen where clients can prepare their own food. Anyone who needs food is welcome, but the main purpose is to support trans women and men.

Luna Humérez, president of the main ción de Travestis of Bolivia’s Transgeneros y Transexual Femeninas (OTRAF) and director of Casa Trans, told the director of Washington Blade that the project has begun to address needs that have worsened the Covid-19 pandemic. Many trans people have found themselves homeless and have no means to support themselves due to the loss of informal work or sex work.

Support from the Global Fund has allowed Jumeles and other activists to create spaces that provide free food and shelter.

“It was post-Covid that influenced the creation of Casa Trans,” explained Humérez. “You know that Covid has had a lot of problems with the trans community, especially the Latino trans community. They were doing sex work, they were living every day, they were living on rent, they couldn’t go out to work.

Activists said the support Casa Trans can provide has expanded.

“The space has been expanded and the interdisciplinary care team has been expanded from the peer-to-peer work we do, social workers, psychologists, endocrinologists, general practitioners, legal counsel, lawyers,” Humérez said.

“The space is evolving so much that we are attending more and more cases, supporting more and more people, and not just LGBT people, but also people in vulnerable situations,” she added.

Despite legal and social advances, LGBTQ people in Bolivia continue to face major challenges in health, education, employment and housing.

In the first virtual survey of the country’s LGBTQ community conducted by the Ombudsman office and the National Institute of Statistics, over 60% of respondents said they were facing discrimination at some point in their lives. This abuse includes verbal and physical violence and exclusion in the workforce and education system.

33% of respondents said they don’t have any type of healthcare. Sexual minorities and trans women are the most vulnerable. 65% of respondents said they didn’t know how to access Bolivian unified health system.

“The legislation in Bolivia and the rights of trans people have improved over the years,” Humeres noted.

“We had a leftist government that did some things like the gender identity law and the anti-discrimination law, but they weren’t enough,” Humeres told Blade. “At this point, Bolivian trans population does not have all rights as a cisgender population. So, at this point, we are separated from a lot and I think it’s important that the state has to continue fighting to make its full rights recognised without restrictions.”

Humérez said it is important for LGBTQ activists to take part in the elections held this year.

“I think it’s important that we have to be political stakeholders in these new elections coming this year,” she said.

Casa Trans is struggling to secure funding

Casa Trans doesn’t just provide roofs and food. However, opportunities for legal advice, professional healthcare, psychological support and vocational training in the transition process. Interdisciplinary teams (attorneys, social workers, psychologists, endocrinologists) work to provide these services. CASA Trans also arranges scholarships for colleagues who want to study at universities and technical research institutes.

“The challenges are complicated because we don’t have direct funding,” says Humérez, who said the people who work with Casa Trans are volunteers.

She said US President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze almost all US foreign aid would make an even more difficult effort to secure sufficient funding for Casa Trans.

“Now that Donald Trump has become president of the United States, I believe this will affect not only the United States, but also the countries in the region, Latin America, and so on,” Humeles said. “So, for us, the work we do is so important that we receive financial support so that we can continue our work.”

The existence and work of Pamela Valenzuela Trans House highlights the urgency to address the inequality and discrimination facing the Bolivian LGBTQ community.