Barcelona will dedicate a square to Sonia Rescalvo, the transsexual murdered 30 years ago
It is the dawn of 6th October 1991, today 30 years ago, Sonia Rescalvo Zafra was killed by a beating by a group of 6 neo-Nazi members of the Boixos Nois in a gazebo Ciutadella Park, a Barcelona, where where he slept with a friend of hers, Doris, who was also brutally assaulted. They beat her to death for being a transsexual woman.
The fatal beating of this trans woman is considered one of the first hate crimes en Spain and catalyst of the movement against LGTBphobia. His murder acquired great relevance because it was the first crime of a transsexual for the mere fact of being one of which there is information and evidence in the State.
It was also the first murder case investigated by the Mossos d'Esquadra, who were still deploying as police in Catalunya. At the head of the investigations was the commissioner today Joan Carles Miller. Although hate crimes were not yet classified in the Criminal Code: the aggravating factor of discrimination would not be introduced until 1995. Miller recalls that from the beginning they were clear that behind the attacks there was a motive for discrimination. «The cruel way in which the three victims were beaten showed us that it was not a robbery. They had hardly any belongings or purchasing power and were assaulted for being homeless and transsexual«. Sonia died for being a transsexual.
Humiliation in the media
The murder of Sonia generated a great commotion despite the degrading treatment that most of the in the media, using her birth name and calling her «gay transvestite«. «The word transvestite is not the right one to call me. I believe that we are within the transsexuals, with or without operation. With or without sex change. Transvestite is the man who dresses as a woman to work but during the day leads a normal life as a man. […] I live a very woman's life 24 hours a day«, Claimed bald in a report made to him at the end of the 70s that until now had remained in oblivion.
The murderers, arrested on March 11, 1992, confessed to the crime without regret and even showing pride, qualifying the victim as «scum of society«. During searches of their homes, brass knuckles, baseball bats and numerous neo-Nazi material were found. Miller highlights his attitude «belligerent and arrogant«, Even with arrogance towards the agents. "They did not recant at any time, nor did they show any regret or scruples. In fact one of them said that if I had to do it again, I would«, Asserts the commissioner. Years later, Oliver Sanchez he maintained the same attitude in an interview from prison with Jesus Quintero. The sentence found them guilty and sentenced to between 9 and 26 years in prison.
Sonia Rescalvo Zafra Square
The gazebo where she was murdered is named after Sonia Rescalvo, symbol of struggle for the rights of transgender people. Today, at 17:XNUMX p.m., the Barcelona's town hall has organized a commemorative event in the same roundabout in which they celebrated the inauguration ceremony of the Plaza de Sonia Rescalvo Zafra.
