DW’s magazine “Fuerza Latina” was honored at the 36th GLAAD Awards in the Spanish-language category for Video and Multimedia for outstanding digital reporting on LGBTQ people and their environment. The award-winning episode “La investigadora que buscaba su identidad” (“The researcher who is searching for her identity”) highlights the life of Renata Carvalho, a Brazilian trans woman who works as an author, actress, director, and transgender researcher (self-designated as “transpologist”). In an environment where trans people are often publicly attacked and have to live in hiding, Fuerza Latina showcases the challenges and resilience of the LGBTQ community in Brazil.

The country is considered one of the most dangerous in the world for queer people, who are exposed to discrimination and violence here more often than average. Some media report the average life expectancy of trans people in Brazil as only 35 years, citing a study by the non-governmental organization “Antra”. “This award coincides with the brutal attack on Sara Millerey González, a 32-year-old trans woman from Colombia, who was found with broken bones in a stream and later died in the hospital.

An interview format like the series Fuerza Latina is necessary to make this part of our society visible and to draw attention to it”, says Yaotzin Botello, Head of Talk and In-House Productions DW Español. Since 2018, the series Fuerza Latina has been presenting protagonists of feminist movements. Each week, Natalia Orozco (Colombia), Helena Carpio (Venezuela), and Quya Reyba (Bolivia) share stories of Latin American women from the fields of education, politics, and research.

They share their dreams, their fears and their visions for a fairer world. The GLAAD Awards have been presented since 1990 by the US non-governmental organization “Gay & Lesbian Alliance.” They honor film and television productions that provide a fair, accurate, and inclusive representation of the LGBTQ community. The award ceremony took place on March 28 in Los Angeles.