Last year, a group of studying music at the LGBTI Centre in Bogota decided to organize a rock band unlike any other in Colombia. Members say the band, 250 Milligrams, is the first transgender male rock group in South America.
“Music became our vehicle to show the world who we really are,” member Jhonnatan Espinosa told NBC Out.
“We wanted to be more visible because we’re often marginalised by society. We didn’t want to hide away and suffer in silence. The public had to see a different side to us.”
Jiminez, the youngest member of the ensemble, told NBC Out: “It’s rare to find a band like us. Colombia is still a deeply Catholic country with largely conservative views.”
According to the US Agency for International Development, Colombia ranked fourth in the world in transgender killings between 2008 and 2013.
“Almost every day a member of the trans community is killed in Colombia because of hate crimes,” Espinosa said. “Transgender men and women are one of the most persecuted groups in Colombia.
With growing popularity, the band is moving beyond the local Bogota scene to the international arena. They were recently invited to perform at a festival in Mexico in 2018 and will be performing at several Pride events in July.
[Abridged from TeleSUR English.]
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