LGBT community requests state attention for health emergency

They request, among other topics, attention to the social protection needs of LGBT people and trans women with chronic diseases such as HIV / AIDS

“We are extremely concerned about the worldwide emergency of Covid-19,” says the Ecuadorian Federation of LGBTI Organizations in Ecuador. They ask for attention from the State

“It is possible that our sectors that are highly exposed, we are being omitted or impaired without recognizing our vulnerability.”

As of April 24, 2020, in Ecuador there are 22,719 confirmed cases of coronacirus. The largest number of those infected are from Guayaquil (15,365), and hundreds of deaths have been registered as a result of the virus (more than 1,500, among positive and suspected cases).

“These data, beyond being alarming, ignore our condition of vulnerability based on our sex-generically different identity from the norms”, emphasizes the Federation statement.

They claim that until today its population has not been a direct beneficiary of the social care announced by the Government.

“Only the Mayor’s Office of the Trunk, the Council for the Protection of Rights of Quito and the Pichincha Prefecture have made the necessary contacts with our populations to cover the national health emergency, which of course also affects us.”

They ask to protect the dignified and decent life of all people who are in Ecuador, without discrimination, especially on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

They hope that the free supply of raw food will be guaranteed for LGBT people in emerging poverty, as a result of the loss of informal or formal work due to quarantine, with greater emphasis on trans women.

Furthermore, they request attention to the social protection needs of LGBT people and trans women with chronic diseases such as HIV / AIDS, Tuberculosis, Cancer, Diabetes, etc.

“This regardless of whether they have a System in the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion, since it has become visibly exclusive, based on the gender identity or sexual orientation of Ecuadorians”