The Mexican trans community recently launched a digital archive that will play an important role in reconstructing, documenting, and preserving the memory of this community. Named Archivo Memoria Trans México (Trans Memory Archive Mexico), this digital platform and its related social media will also play a significant role in bringing the community together, engaging trans Mexican folks in the process of writing their history in their own terms. In this regard, Archivo Memoria Trans México joins efforts by other trans folks who have leveraged digital tools for building accessible and community-engaged archives. Such efforts have been particularly present in the United States and Canada, but also in Latin America, where the Argentinian Archivo de la Memoria Trans (Archive of Trans Memory) set an important precedent in 2012.

Archivo Memoria Trans México reconstructs the Mexican trans history through the visual records of middle-aged women. Brandy Basurto, Emma Yessica Duvali, Terry Holiday, and César González-Aguirre founded the archive in 2019 and have led this project since then. Basurto, Duvali, and Holiday are trans artists, performers, and activists with prolific theatre and acting careers, while González-Aguirre is a cis-gender male curator and researcher interested in the study of sexual diversity in Mexico. An interest in preserving, celebrating, and sharing their stories and life experiences brought this group together, as well as their conviction that creating a trans digital archive “allows them to continue dignifying trans lives”—that includes the lives of women who are no longer amongst us.

Basurto, Duvali, Holiday, and González-Aguirre presented the digital archive on June 30, 2022, at a special event in the Museo Universitario del Chopo in Mexico City, a venue that has traditionally opened its doors to the LGBTQ+ community. I had the pleasure of attending this exciting event, where we had the opportunity to hear the voices of the three women who shared their experiences growing up and living as trans people in Mexico City. The conversation touched on themes like transphobia, violence, state repression, and human rights violations, as well as on more positive topics such as forms of resistance, mutual support, community-building, and the performing arts. We also heard from Juan Jacobo Hernández, a veteran and founder of the gay liberation movement. In his remarks, Hernández discussed the close links between the gay liberation movement and the trans movement, emphasizing that the latter was and continues to be the most vocal and enduring of the Mexican movements advocating for LGBT rights.

Basurto, Duvali, Holiday, and González-Aguirre agree that reconstructing trans history is a way of “re-encountering each other” and a way to “denounce the violence that trans women have faced at the hands of the Mexican state.” This violence is neither new nor over; according to some reports, Mexico is the second most dangerous country in the world to be transgender, surpassed only by Brazil. Thus, this digital archive is as much an effort to keep trans memories alive as it is a fight for a better present and future. As the creators observe, the archive “links our revolutions, desires, duels, and survivals; it announces the possibilities of what can be.”

In recent years, other Latin American trans communities have led similar efforts to build online digital archives. The most important initiative is the Argentinian Archivo de la Memoria Trans. The trans activist María Belén Correa founded the archives in 2012 while living in the United States as a refugee. The archive contains material that spans from the early twentieth century to the 1990s, including photographs, films, audio, periodicals, and ephemera, among other materials.

The Archivo Memoria Trans México took inspiration from the Argentinian project. While still in its initial stages, it continues to expand. The archive is comprised of several fonds (the Emma Yesica Duvali, the Terry Holiday, the Coral Bonelli, the Gabriela Elliot, and the Samantha Flores fonds). Each fond features a collection of photographs that document the daily lives of trans women and offer a visual record of the spaces they inhabited, the communities they formed, and the artistic scenes in which they participated. A selection of tags allows the user to group each photographic collection into various categories, such as show, theatre, television, love, celebrations, art, and friends, among others. Up to this date, the Archivo Memoria Trans México features more than 100 images. Moreover, emulating the strategies of the Argentinian project, the Archivo Memoria Trans México also utilizes social media—specifically Instagram—to amplify their work and engage the public.

This archive is an original, timely, and exciting project that takes advantage of digital tools to reconstruct and preserve the memory of a marginalized community that has made significant contributions to Mexican art, culture, and history. Its role is not only documentary or celebratory, but an important contribution to current efforts to improve the lives of trans Mexicans.

The archive is open-access and available to anyone with an Internet connection. Check it out here or follow the project on Instagram: @memoriatransmexico!