Every April 9, since 2011, the national day of memory and solidarity with the victims of the armed conflict is commemorated, a special date to remember the stories of those marked by the war. This day has become an important date as it signals the importance of the construction of memory in order to achieve a stable and lasting peace.

"Many important things were taken away from me: growing up with my family, with my son or my friends".

Testimony of a gay man victim of the armed conflict

According to figures from the Single Registry of Victims, there are more than 2,150 LGBT people in the country who have suffered different types of harm to their integrity in the context of the armed conflict. Tumaco, Uraba Antioqueño, Ibagué, Chaparral, San Onofre (Sucre), among others, are some of the regions/cities where these events have occurred.

The testimonies of this population demonstrate the cruelty with which the armed groups acted in order to send a violent message that any "different" person could not coexist with these actors: "They took away many important things: growing up with my family, with my son or my friends. Just for being an LGBTI person there were many threats," says a gay man from Tumaco who was displaced after being threatened.

If the war hit gay men in a dastardly way, it did not spare trans women and lesbians, who were subjected to machismo, misogyny and discrimination by different armed groups. This is how one trans woman victim of the conflict put it. "They have us as if we were sexual objects. They take us, they beat us and that's it. We are more beaten because they make fun of us as if we were sexual objects. Of many things.

That is why, on this day, we at Colombia Diversa want to reiterate our commitment to work for the defence of the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims, who have been disproportionately affected by the war. We want you to know that we will continue to seek with you and your families the truth, justice and reparation that you deserve. We also want to thank you for your courage, for defending your identity from the territories and for shouting to the world that without diversity, there is no peace.