A prominent leader for the struggle of Argentina's transgender community has been found murdered in her home, triggering demands for justice -- including from the president.
Diana Sacayan, 40, who was found dead Tuesday in her apartment in Flores, a district of the capital Buenos Aires.
Sacayan had been a vocal leader of several organizations seeking equality for Argentina's LGBT community and in 2012 was personally given her national identity card by President Cristina Kirchner recognizing her as a woman, a first for Argentina.
"I ask for the support of the federal security forces and the metropolitan police to promptly investigate this terrible crime," Kirchner said, calling Sacayan's death murder.
Investigators believe she was killed between Saturday afternoon and Sunday, according to the news website of the justice ministry.
The alarm was raised after she failed to attend a national conference of women at the weekend in Mar del Plata, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of the capital.
The meeting called for a march on November 25 to protest the murders of women.
Argentina was the first Latin American country to allow same-sex marriages nationwide, in July 2010, and also allows gay couples to adopt. Since 2012, it has allowed transgender people to have the gender they want on their national ID cards.
A prominent leader for the struggle of Argentina’s transgender community has been found murdered in her home, triggering demands for justice — including from the president.
Diana Sacayan, 40, who was found dead Tuesday in her apartment in Flores, a district of the capital Buenos Aires.
Sacayan had been a vocal leader of several organizations seeking equality for Argentina’s LGBT community and in 2012 was personally given her national identity card by President Cristina Kirchner recognizing her as a woman, a first for Argentina.
“I ask for the support of the federal security forces and the metropolitan police to promptly investigate this terrible crime,” Kirchner said, calling Sacayan’s death murder.
Investigators believe she was killed between Saturday afternoon and Sunday, according to the news website of the justice ministry.
The alarm was raised after she failed to attend a national conference of women at the weekend in Mar del Plata, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of the capital.
The meeting called for a march on November 25 to protest the murders of women.
Argentina was the first Latin American country to allow same-sex marriages nationwide, in July 2010, and also allows gay couples to adopt. Since 2012, it has allowed transgender people to have the gender they want on their national ID cards.
