CHEPEC - Sicky Magazine

With no legal rights or inclusive education, Peru's sexual dissidents and gender diverse population are offered a low quality of life, which is especially felt in trans communities who are denied legal recognition of their identities and are frequently subjected to verbal and physical abuse. Only 12% of Peru's trans community have access to health insurance, while a mere 50% have finished basic schooling. With a lack of opportunity and high rates of poverty, many trans women resort to sex work, and one in three are HIV-positive.

Rogue and Rovi are pictured in Collique, an impoverished area of Lima where access to education and steady employment is virtually inexistent for trans people. Significantly, it is a place once inhabited by the Colli population, whose pre-Inca beliefs included a strong admiration of feminity, exalting the feminine moon as a sacred figure. This editorial is based on the Colli's veneration of the feminine and captures this existing legacy as represented by Rogue and Rovi, two subjects of innate womanhood. I am here, I exist, I feel and I deserve they say; it is a message that defies the prejudices of present Peru, envisioning the realization of a better, fairer society where their existences are not only recognized, but revered.

PHOTOGRAPHY & CREATIVE DIRECTION – Hector Villalobos
ART DIRECTION & STYLING – Lisseli Santos
MODELS – Rovi Danielle, Andrea
HAIR – Karina Sian
MAKE-UP – Adrian Rey
ASSISTANTS – Ingrid, Carolina Villalobos
POST-PRODUCTION – Renzo Vásquez
TEXT – Charis McGowan
SPECIAL THANKS – Victor Idrogo, Terrones family