Leonie Dorado - Bolivia Gets Its First Transgender News Anchor

Leonie Dorada, a 26-year-old is set to become Bolivia's first transgender news anchor this July. She was offered this job in the middle of the pandemic, and will be co-hosting Bolivian program Aby Ayala TV. Bolivia, which has been a largely conservative country is also one of the few to ban discrimination of LGBTQ+ individuals. In 2016, Bolivia passed the Gender Identity Law which is seen as one of the most progressive transgender legislation worldwide.

Dorado will be using her platform to shed light on LGBTQ issues. She intends to focus on trans people's rights especially concerning labour and health. Speaking about the opportunity Dorado said, "The LGBT community is a group of millions of people who demand human rights, labour rights, rights to have their lives respected, that is what has moved me to be part of this project.” Currently, she is working in a degree on Modern Music at Bolivia's National Conservatory on Music. Journalism found Dorado, as she initially was looking to pursue a career as a singer and instrumentalist.

She has been championing for Queer rights for the past few years and feels her experiences as a trans woman will drive her. She is also currently working on a book around similar themes, based on her life and her belief in resilience. In the last month's pride month celebrations, she said "It's exciting to live on a day like today, which since 1969 marked the beginning of the liberation movement calling for progress in government policies and decisions on human rights," she wrote. "The most relevant thing in my life is not the fact that I am trans, I consider it to be one of the least important things about me. Let's bet to strive to develop our capabilities to be brilliant in what we decide to dedicate ourselves, to bet on our dreams and go for them, to appreciate the best in others, to leave a world something better knowing that at least one life has been encouraged more freely thanks to ours."

This comes forth as a great move for trans people worldwide. Transgender representation in newsrooms makes trans people's narratives more likely to be highlighted. It also challenges the inherently cisgender lens that our news sources have. While it is common knowledge there is a dearth of diversity in Indian newsrooms, from caste, gender and religion identities, India saw it's first transgender news anchor in 2014. Padmini Prakash became the host of a news show in August 2014, for the Tamil News channel Lotus TV. This move came six years ago, and even now the representation of trans people in newsrooms, especially for national media outlets is bleak. Let's hope this move is backed by many more trans people entering newsrooms.

Anureet is an intern with She The People TV

Also read: 10 Transgender People Who Are Breaking Barriers Across Fields