Every year on September 16, Paraguay observes Lesbian Visibility Day (Día de la Visibilidad Lésbica). The date recalls an act of defiance led by Feliciana “Chana” Coronel and a group of lesbian inmates who demanded the same visiting rights with their partners that heterosexual prisoners already enjoyed.

Coronel was born in Asunción on January 21, 1964, in the neighborhood of Ricardo Brugada, better known as La Chacarita. This area, a squatter settlement, is among the most impoverished places in the capital. In 1991, she was convicted of possessing 1.5 kilograms of cocaine and received a 13-year sentence, which she began serving at Buen Pastor prison.

In 1993, while the Supreme Court of Justice sent a delegation to inspect the prison, Coronel organized a demonstration. Together with other lesbian inmates, she demanded recognition of their right to meet their partners in person. After years of unanswered petitions, protest had become their only avenue.

The demonstration drew press attention. A local newspaper published a photograph of Coronel and her companions with the headline “Lesbians on the warpath” (Lesbianas en pie de guerra). It marked the first time Paraguayan media used the word “lesbian.” Although the authorities rejected the demand, the event entered history as the first public fight for lesbian rights in the country.

In 2020, Paraguay’s LGBTQ+ community chose September 16 as Lesbian Visibility Day. The date both commemorates the 1993 protest and honors Coronel, who died in prison at the age of 33 after being stabbed.

Paraguay today remains one of the more conservative nations in South America regarding LGBTQ+ issues. Same-sex relations are legal and openly gay people may serve in the military, yet anti-discrimination laws are virtually absent. Marriage, civil unions, and adoption remain inaccessible to same-sex couples, while legal gender recognition is denied to transgender people. Female couples cannot access IVF, male couples cannot access surrogacy, blood donation is restricted for men who have sex with men, and public schools are barred from discussing LGBTQ+ topics. Within these constraints, activists continue to push for visibility, equality, and change.

Paraguay is not alone in observing a Lesbian Visibility Day. Several other Latin American countries have established similar commemorations, ensuring that lesbian struggles and voices are recognized across the region.