Serie vid - Vida cotidiana y cumpleaños

Andrea Luján Rodríguez nació en 1973 en La Clotilde, provincia del Chaco. Durante su infancia vivió entre esa localidad y, posteriormente, el sur del conurbano bonaerense. Desde muy pequeña expresó una identidad de género femenina que generó rechazo en el entorno familiar y social en el que creció. En el ámbito escolar fue objeto de observaciones y estigmatización, mientras que en su hogar sufrió violencia física y simbólica por parte de su padre y el rechazo de su madrastra. En ese contexto encontró espacios de contención en los vínculos con amigas del barrio y en prácticas cotidianas que le permitían expresar su identidad.

A los 14 años fue expulsada de la casa familiar y enviada sola a Buenos Aires para reunirse con su madre, quien residía en Rafael Calzada. Tras llegar a la estación de Retiro sufrió el robo de sus pertenencias y permaneció durante un tiempo en situación de calle, hasta lograr reencontrarse con su madre. A partir de entonces comenzó a experimentar de manera sistemática la persecución policial por su expresión de género, en un período en que las identidades travestis y trans eran criminalizadas mediante los códigos contravencionales y otras prácticas de control estatal.

Durante las décadas de 1980 y 1990 integró las redes comunitarias de travestis y mujeres trans del sur del Gran Buenos Aires, viviendo en distintas casas compartidas en localidades como Wilde, Avellaneda, Monte Grande, Ezeiza y La Plata. Estas redes funcionaron como espacios de cuidado, solidaridad y transmisión de saberes. En ese período inició el trabajo sexual como estrategia de subsistencia frente a la exclusión del mercado laboral formal y fue detenida en numerosas oportunidades en comisarías de la zona sur, atravesando episodios de violencia institucional, privación ilegítima de la libertad y malos tratos. También trabajó durante dos años en una empresa privada, donde realizó tareas de limpieza hasta decidir priorizar su proceso de transición de género.

En 1995 recurrió a la aplicación de silicona líquida, práctica extendida entre las mujeres trans de la época debido a la ausencia de acceso a tratamientos médicos seguros y a políticas de salud inclusivas. Paralelamente encontró en el carnaval un ámbito de expresión y reconocimiento, participando durante años en comparsas del conurbano bonaerense y confeccionando sus propios vestuarios. Entre 2003 y 2005 compartió una convivencia con Andrés Ricardo Portillo, relación afectiva que ocupó un lugar significativo en su trayectoria.
Tras la sanción de la Ley de Identidad de Género, en 2013 regresó a La Clotilde para rectificar su partida de nacimiento y obtener un documento acorde con su identidad. Ese viaje propició el reencuentro con parte de su comunidad de origen, aunque no restableció el vínculo con su padre.

Desde 2005 reside junto a su madre en Rafael Calzada, donde continúa desarrollando su proyecto de vida. Además, se ha convertido en una referente para generaciones más jóvenes de mujeres trans, compartiendo experiencias y estrategias de cuidado construidas colectivamente. Vinculada al Archivo de la Memoria Trans, considera que la preservación de fotografías y testimonios constituye una herramienta fundamental para la construcción de la memoria colectiva y el reconocimiento de las trayectorias de las personas travestis y trans en la Argentina.

Andrea Luján Rodríguez was born in 1973 in La Clotilde, in the province of Chaco, Argentina, and grew up between her hometown and later the southern suburbs of Buenos Aires. From a very young age, she began expressing a feminine identity that clashed with the deeply conservative and macho environment in which she was raised. By third grade, one of her teachers suggested to her father that she should see a psychologist because she played with girls instead of boys. Instead, she was taken to a psychiatrist, who told her father that his child “had more female hormones than male ones” and that this would not change. From then on, violence at home intensified: Andrea suffered beatings from her father and rejection from her stepmother for plucking her eyebrows, dressing in feminine clothes in secret, and imagining herself living as a woman. At the same time, she found refuge among neighborhood friends and in small domestic rituals: wearing her grandmother’s apron, improvising breasts out of cloth, and cleaning the kitchen as she imagined an adult woman would.
At the age of 14 or 15, after years of violence and humiliation, her father expelled her from the family home and sent her alone by train to Buenos Aires, where her mother was living in Rafael Calzada. She arrived at Retiro Station on May 1st carrying only a small bag, which was stolen during her first night there. Without money or food, she survived on the streets and had her first XXX exchange in return for a sandwich. After wandering for weeks between Retiro and Constitución, she finally managed to remember how to get to Rafael Calzada and reunited with her mother, who welcomed her with affection, despite the constant rejection of her grandfather. From a very young age, Andrea was persecuted by the police simply because of her gender expression: she could be arrested just for walking down the street or going out to buy bread.
Over time, Andrea became connected with other travestis and trans women from the southern area of Greater Buenos Aires. She lived in shared houses in places such as Wilde, Avellaneda, Monte Grande, Ezeiza, and La Plata, becoming part of a large chosen family network. One of the most important figures in those years was Alejandra “La Tía,” who offered her stability and care during her time in Wilde. She also met La Tamara, who introduced her to XXX work on Camino de Cintura while she was still underage. This marked the beginning of a life deeply shaped by systematic police persecution under contravention laws that criminalized both prostitution and wearing “clothing inappropriate for one’s sex.”
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Andrea was arrested more than 150 times in police stations across Llavallol, Temperley, Turdera, Banfield, and other districts in southern Buenos Aires. She was detained in places such as the Pozo de Banfield, where she spent days isolated in underground cells without sunlight. During one arrest in Temperley, police violence left her with a broken arm. Andrea remembers those years as a period of extreme institutional violence, in which travestis were constantly targeted in police raids. At the same time, she also recalls the solidarity among companions: sharing food inside police stations, protecting each other on the streets, and warning one another about dangerous clients or police patrols.
In 1995, Andrea decided to undergo liquid silicone injections in her breasts, a common practice among travestis at the time due to the lack of access to safe medical procedures. Although she wanted to resemble popular figures such as Argentine singer Lía Crucet, over the years she began suffering chronic pain and later expressed regret about the consequences these interventions had on her body. She also worked for two years at Colgate-Palmolive, performing cleaning duties in an environment where coworkers accepted and respected her. However, she eventually quit because she wanted to continue her physical transition openly.
Between 2003 and 2005, Andrea experienced one of the most important relationships of her life with Andrés Ricardo Portillo, a client who later became her partner. They lived together in Constitución, and he asked her to leave XXX work, promising to support her financially. Andrea remembers him as the only great love of her life. Their relationship ended tragically when he died in a motorcycle accident.
In 2013, after the approval of Argentina’s Gender Identity Law, Andrea returned to Chaco to amend her birth certificate and obtain a female ID card. She returned to La Clotilde with fear after more than twenty years away, but was warmly welcomed by many people in the town, including childhood friends and local authorities. Her father, however, did not recognize her, and they never rebuilt their relationship. Andrea later learned that he had spent years telling people that his son had died in an accident, hiding her identity out of shame.
Since 2005, Andrea has been living again with her mother in Rafael Calzada, in a modest home where she shares her life with dogs, cats, and chickens. Over time, she also became a maternal figure and mentor for younger generations of travestis and trans women. Among them is Karen Solange Oldani, whom Andrea helped navigate life on the streets by teaching her survival strategies and ways to stay safe from everyday violence.
Beyond street life, Andrea found in carnival and comparsas a space of freedom and celebration. Over the years, she participated in groups such as Los Kamikazes de Don Orione, Maracaná de Burzaco, and Los Herederos de José Mármol, designing and sewing her own costumes. Carnival became one of the few moments when travestis could be publicly celebrated instead of persecuted.
Today, Andrea considers the Archivo de la Memoria Trans (Trans Memory Archive) a fundamental space for preserving the histories of those who survived decades of exclusion and violence. For her, photographs are proof of existence, memory, and collective resistance. Her testimony reconstructs not only a life marked by discrimination and marginalization, but also a story of survival, solidarity, and dignity within Argentina’s travesti-trans community.