Prácticas transformistas contemporáneas como parte de la supervivencia travesti-trans-no binaria en Buenos Aires

Abstract

Contemporary drag practices in Buenos Aires carry a political dimension in at least two ways. First, their very existence challenges the sex-gender order imposed by the heteronormative matrix, creating identities that disrupt and resist it. Second, many performances—staged in parties, contests, and other cultural spaces—explicitly engage with political slogans and themes. This paper approaches drag practices from the perspectives of theater and gender studies, framing them as part of the sex-gender dissident community in order to revisit the impact of Argentina’s last civil-ecclesiastical-military dictatorship on this collective. It traces the specific forms of violence inflicted on the community during the dictatorship and argues that certain repressive logics persisted well into the democratic period. The analysis focuses on the performances of drag artists Armando A. Bruno, Claudia Fuego and La Kalo, examining how their artistic strategies rework and signify this history of violence. Ultimately, the paper proposes that contemporary drag practices can be read as exercises in memory that link performance to recent history, while also highlighting the differentiated forms of violence endured by the travesti-trans-non-binary community.