SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 27 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The LGBTIQA+ and Trans associations from Tenerife have announced this Monday that they will leave the Island Diversity Table if the Cabildo de Tenerife maintains its support for holding a trans-exclusionary debate at the ‘III Women and Sport State Congress’ where “predictably” inclusion will be questioned of ‘trans’ people in sports competitions.
The entities denounce that the Cabildo de Tenerife has organized this debate on trans inclusion, which was already suspended for this very reason on the island of Gran Canaria, “with its back turned to the organizations belonging to the LGBTIQ+ Island Table and with speakers reproducing speeches of hate and questioning of trans people”.
From activism they warn that all the speakers participating in the congress debate, among which are Irene Aguiar or Laura Redondo, “reproduce hate speech that expresses that ‘trans’ women are actually biological men who usurp positions from women athletes , spreading hoaxes about the application of the recently approved Trans Law”, picks up a note from Diversas.
In the opinion of the entities, the Cabildo should bear in mind that the International Olympic Committee advocates non-discrimination against ‘trans’ people in sport, and that in the field of professional competition there are formally regulated controls, “so allowing For someone to assume the role of judge is to encourage discrimination, which violates the right to equality”.
The groups demand the president of the Cabildo, Pedro Martín, and the Minister of Diversity, Nauzet Gugliotta, not to support a debate that only exudes hatred against ‘trans’ women, because “it would mean an enormous betrayal that would disqualify the transversal diversity policies implemented during this mandate and a forced break of the synergies built with trans activism”.
All in all, the groups are questioning, “without removing an iota of responsibility from Gugliotta and Martín, if behind this disastrous decision would be the third vice president of the Cabildo de Tenerife and Minister of Social Action, Citizen Participation and Diversity, María Franquet, who already signed a regrettable manifesto with trans-exclusionary positions a few years ago”.
For this reason, they request precautionary measures against “imminent damage due to discrimination.”
As denounced by the ‘trans’ activist, Carla Antonelli, the groups point out that this debate could “violate” the regional and state legal system in terms of diversity, with the commission of very serious offenses provided for in the Trans and Intersex Canary Law, for the dissemination of hate speech that denies ‘trans’ realities.
COMPLAINT BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CANARY ISLANDS
For this reason, the entities have requested in writing the General Directorate for Diversity of the Government of the Canary Islands to urgently adopt precautionary measures to avoid the “imminent damage due to transphobic discrimination that could occur with the holding of this debate, as authorized by the Article 14 of the Trans and Intersex Canary Law”.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the activists warn that, if the debate is finally held with the use of “vexatious expressions that deny the existence of trans people”, they will denounce the people and public institutions responsible to the Government of the Canary Islands so that they start the disciplinary procedure provided for in current legislation.
The associations also claim that “public diversity policies must be applied transversally in all areas, so that they are not used as cosmetic political medals and are effective in all areas of institutional management, also in the sports field, where they are still there are serious cases of discrimination against trans people”.
