Joanna Cifredo is a Puerto Rican transgender activist and advocate for the LGBTTQI+ community’s human rights. She has worked with marginalized groups all over Puerto Rico and the United States and is executive director of the True Self Foundation. Cifredo studies Sustainable Development at University of Sagrado Corazón and is constantly organizing movements in order to fight for trans youth rights.
Recently, Cifredo called out a 120 mile walk around Puerto Rico, called Walk for Equality, to claim the approbation of the Project of the Puerto Rican Senate number 485. The project seeks to create a human rights letter for the Puerto Rican LGBTTQI+ community in order to ensure their protection from the dangers of transphobia and gender-based violence; both of which have claimed the lives of a considerable amount of trans people during the last couple of years.
Because Puerto Rico has been deeply affected by a wave of gender and domestic violence, activist Joanna Cifredo walked in the name of all trans rights and specially those we lost, some of them being: Michellyn Ramos Vargas, Neulisa “Alexa” Luciano Ruiz, Penélope Díaz Ramírez, Yampi Méndez Arocho, among others. Cifredo also decided to stop by on some campuses of the University of Puerto Rico such as Mayagüez and Arecibo, where she educated college students about the importance of the project approbation.
Cifredo is currently thirty-four years old; and, for her, the importance of people understanding why she’s doing a lot of activism lies in the fact that not a single trans person that has died in Puerto Rico has lived over thirty-four years of age (at least, not those that have been documented by police records and the media). That’s why she believes it is of the utmost urgency and importance to considerably shift the perspectives and misconceptions many people have about trans people.
The activist announced the march to the public on September 8. The activity itself began on September 23 in San Germán; the specific date and place that marked one year since Michellyn Ramos Vargas’ death. The other stops she made as part of the march were, Moca, Guajataca, Manatí, Toa Baja, Bayamón and, lastly, the capital city of San Juan. Once the activists stepped foot at the Capitol, she ended the march by summoning a call to justice at the behest of transgender rights and protection, as well as to honor the fatal victims of transphobia and gender-based violence. Many people participated in the manifestation.
The community took part and supported Joanna Cifredo at all times. For example, Estrella Del Mar Meléndez Pabón, a trans beauty specialist, walked alongside Cifredo and talked about how she lived and felt the presence of Neulisa “Alexa” Luciano Ruiz when they passed by Toa Baja, where she tragically lost her life. Del Mar accompanied Cifredo to remember their trans siblings while spreading hopeful and empowering messages about “self love, liberty, and the right to live without anyone stepping on us out of spite, because we are all different and equal at the same time and deserve respect”, she claimed.
For them, there is nothing more valuable than the capacity of justice and right that can give them true equality. Joanna Cifredo wants to remind that the rights letter is not only for the LGBTTQI+; but, in reality, for all the Puerto Rican community as a whole. It was a walk for everyone to remember that they can fight for their own rights and make a difference; that their voices are always worthy and deserve to be heard; and that, by joining forces, the island can rid itself of a hateful and oppressive system.
Even though the Walk for Equality was made in honor of killed trans individuals (mainly women, who have suffered the vast majority of transgender slayings in Puerto Rico), to claim youth trans rights, but principally, as an initiative of love created to wake up people’s conscience, as Cifredo once said in an interview at Noticentro WAPA.
Thank you, Joanna Cifredo, for being strong, for being fearless, and, as you say, for fighting in the name of “the ones that are not here, the ones that are here and the ones that are coming”. It’s a true honor for the Puerto Rican’s LGBTTQIA+ kids and adolescents to have you as a role model, a guide, a faithful believer, and a champion for their rights.
Remember: you don’t always have to agree with someone’s perspective, but you do have the moral obligation to listen and respect others’ rights and happiness. From now on, be open to develop an empathetic mind that lets you get to know different points of view and people alike. At the end of the day, we are all worthy of respect, freedom, peace and joyfulness. We all deserve to live fully and not be scared for our lives just for being ourselves… “Here’s to equality!,” as the amazing activist likes to say.