Yren Rotela and Mariana Sepúlveda, Paraguay 

Yren and Mariana have been fighting for years to change their legal names. Without it, transgender people like them cannot get proper access to education, livelihood, opportunities—and even their right to protest and expression. Tell Paraguay to legally recognise the identity of trans people so they can exercise their rights. 

Yren and Mariana want to live their lives freely and do things they love, like playing volleyball, dancing and going to the theatre. However, as trans women, Yren and Mariana are busy defending themselves against discrimination. They’ve been bullied, physically attacked and prevented from speaking out about the issues they face in their daily lives.  

Trans people in Paraguay cannot legally change their names or obtain identity documents that match their gender identity, among other discriminatory practices. This means trans students cannot get school certificates in their chosen names, which makes finding a job difficult. This inequality has motivated Yren and Mariana to become activists, to demand change.  

But protesting isn’t easy for trans people in Paraguay. Paraguay is a very conservative country which treats trans people and the wider LGBTI community unfairly. It tries to make them invisible. Because of this, protests by trans groups are often banned, and in some cases, demonstrations have been attacked.  

Yren and Mariana have been fighting for years to change their legal names. If they could get documentation that matches who they are, it would mean the state had started to recognize their existence as trans women. As Yren says: “I came into the world to show who I am, not to be told who I am.”