In Spain, the emotion after the defenestration of a transgender teenager

“Stop Bullying”, read on one of the boxes arranged in the center of the flowers placed in homage to Ivàn, on Sunday 26 February, in Catalonia. A few days earlier, this 12-year-old teenager and his twin sister defenestrated themselves from the balcony of their family apartment. This drama, which has shocked all of Spain, took place in Sallent, a town north of Barcelona, ​​reports the Spanish newspaper El País. The boy died of his injuries, while his sister is in serious condition.

Transphobic bullying in school and teasing about one’s origins

In his farewell letter, Ivan announced that he wanted to begin a gender transition, and that he was the victim of transphobic harassment at school. “ I can’t stand being harassed all day at school, being bullied because I decided to call myself Ivan “, the boy would have written in his letter, as reported by his grandfather on the Spanish radio Onda Cero. The testimony of a friend of his confirms this statement: “ He had cut his hair short and asked to be called Ivan, but some people still used a female name. El País.

According to their grandfather, the school bullying of the two children is not only related to Ivan’s gender transition. The family had arrived from Argentina two years ago, and the teenagers were allegedly laughed at for their origins or accents. The family claims they alerted Sallent’s school and municipal services “ depression and bullying “Tried by the two children, but according to them nothing would have been done to protect the twins.

Spain had passed an ambitious reform of the change of marital status

L’Observatory against homophobia in Cataloniaurged the Catalan government’s education services to clarify the facts and ensure the “ rigor and transparency of the administrative inquiry. Even at the cost of taking the case to court, which is not being done for the moment. “ It is clear that there was a situation of harassment motivated by gender identity “, they said in a statement. The Minister for Equality, Irene Montero, who has just launched an ambitious reform of the change of marital status, as you recalled Stubbornpaid tribute to the boy: “ His name was Ivan. No one else should have to suffer [d’être qui il est] “.