Mocha Celis director Francisco Quiñones Cuartas. Photo: Luli Leiras
By Diego Jemio, LGBTQ Nation, September 19, 2023
In Argentina, 3.8 million students attend almost 12,000 secondary schools. In this tremendous educational world, there is one school unlike any other: the “Bachillerato Popular Travesti-Trans Mocha Celis.” This institution was born in 2011 with the mission of promoting trans and nonbinary equality in formal education. It was the first of its kind in the world. The school is named in honor of Mocha Celis, a trans person who was murdered in the Flores neighborhood in circumstances that have never been clarified.
Today, twelve years after its opening, the “Mocha,” as its students affectionately call it, has 290 high school students. It has become a beacon for the community, and the idea has encouraged the creation of similar schools in other cities and countries.
Although the construction was collective and required the impulse of the whole community, Francisco Quiñones Cuartas was one of the creators of the educational space. He is currently the school’s director and president of the civil association that was subsequently formed. During a lunch break, he speaks with LGBTQ Nation about this journey, their challenges, and the rights still to be won.
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