Georgina Epiayú, the trans Wayuu who fought for 45 years to be recognized as a woman
The documentary ‘Alma del desierto’ shows the discrimination, poverty and abandonment felt by this 72-year-old in her struggle to access her civil rights
Georgina Epiayú searches with her thin, tanned hands inside her cloth bag. She impatiently fishes around until she finds and shows her ID card to the interviewer through the screen of her cell phone. She points to the “F” (for “Female”) that appears under the “sex” category on the document. She says that getting that letter on the ID took her 45 years of paperwork and insistence. With a meager income and a loneliness that makes her more vulnerable at her age, Epiayú, 72 and the first Wayuu woman to be registered as trans, has always prioritized her goal of being officially recognized as a woman.
