In his coverage of GLAM week, Eric Lowe, editor of The Mustang student newspaper, wrote about Dr. Alice Driver’s presentation “Reporting on LGBTQ Migrants in Central America,” which she gave in Light Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 10.
Driver spoke about the courage and struggle of LGBTQ migrants, particularly those she has encountered in her latest project in San Salvador, the world’s most dangerous city.
“Driver’s mission was to chronicle the struggles of the trans gender migrants in Central America. While people who identify as trans can often face their own struggles in the United States, things are far worse for those in San Salvador,” Eric wrote. “In the Latin American countries, trans people, specifically women, are not accepted, being denied even the most institutional of rights such as employment, healthcare and even education. Driver said that while trans women struggled merely to exist in that society, trans men more or less went unperceived, receiving the same rights as any other citizen. In some cases, families would even celebrate when one of their own transitioned from a woman to a man.”
Driver told the story of a trans woman who had migrated from Central America into Mexico with intentions to reach the United States border and request asylum. Eric wrote: “She documented being on a bus with this woman and observing the environment around her, with many staring at the woman. ‘You don’t go unnoticed traveling with a trans woman,’ said Driver.”
Read Eric Lowe’s full article about Driver’s GLAM week presentation in The Mustang.