"Being transsexual has helped me get where I am in Mexico"

[xchrom]

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/02/23/inenglish/1330002947_826642.html


Sánchez is a PRD contender.

Diana Sánchez Barrios doesn't usually like to have coffee with her breakfast - she prefers tea. She only drinks coffee on the days that she needs an extra boost, and this particular day is one of them. "We haven't stopped for a minute. We need to make a lot of effort," she says.

Sánchez is a transsexual who is running for a seat in Mexico City's legislative assembly on behalf of the leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD).

At the age of 16, Javier Alejandro stopped being Javier Alejandro, after he discovered his true sexual identity. The sudden transformation forced him to leave school as well as abandon his parents' home.

Diana survived on the rough streets of the Mexican capital, working as a street vendor selling clothes and women's dress shoes. "There are a lot more opportunities in this field for people of diverse sexuality," she says. "At that time, it was impossible to find work because if they asked for your papers, they would see that you were a man and wouldn't give you a job."