Programming and changing the world: A case of activism in the LGBTQI Community
After two months studying programming in Adalab we asked ourselves how we could use our programming knowledge for social change, in particular, for the conquest of rights of the LGBTQI community. After contacting several people from the collective we met Amanda. And she instantly captivate us.
Amanda Azañón is many different things. She has been a Telefónica employee for 25 years, a network and data engineer, the president of the Association of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals of Avila, a programmer with mastery of innumerable programming languages and a transsexual women.
In this interview Amanda talks about a form of activism beyond speeches. An act of rebellion as simple as it is rare: to dare to be what you are and find the courage to show yourself to the world.
This is what she tells us.
How could an LGBTQI programmer help to change the world?
I believe that the way for LGBTQI people to change the world is to become visible.
I don’t like to limit myself to writing applications dedicated to this community because that has very limited reach. However, if people who have a background in disciplines such as medicine, law, mathematics, physics, economics, apart from programmers, build a working team and carry out a valuable project, we could say: Hey! That contribution to the industry, or that contribution to the knowledge of the universe, has been made by LGBTQI people. That should be our goal. That would change the world.
In your particular case, in what way have you managed to change something around you?
Indirectly, back in 2011 I was working on a European project called ONE.
The project was coordinated by Dr. Admela Jukan, from the University of Brueshweig. She told me: “Amanda, you are a technical person and you are not aware of the politicking of the commission, but the fact that the project director is a woman, (Admela, she herself) and that in the engineering team there is a transsexual woman (me) has been absolutely determinant before the European Commission”.
And aside from this, having made my visible transition in Telefónica has had very positive consequences. A few months after this, two transsexual women were encouraged to come to light.
Later, I collaborated with CCOO in the elaboration of a protocol of transition in the workplace. I know that it has been used by an aeronautical mechanic of Iberia to make its labor transition as well.
To sum up, my contribution to change was not entirely related to my programming skills but rather because of my visibility and being hired in a multinational.
What do you think is the most urgent problem of the LGBTQI community?
It is complicated, since not all the letters are the same, while the LGB may have wardrobe problems in different environments, their problems in the working world do not usually differ from the rest of the population.
That said, the biggest problems are stigma, shame, aggression and postponing vital decisions while waiting to fix our situation before society.
The T, on the other hand, can have many more problems because there is no closet to hide in. When you go out into the light there is no possible hiding place and if you do not go out into the light you lose yourself…there is no intermediate solution. The problems, in the case of T, are that it is almost impossible to get employment and you may also experience aggressions and constant microagressions.
That is why empowerment is important, accomplish achievements in science, industry, art and saying: “that is what LGBTQI people have done”.
It is also very important to have positive visibility and gradually abandoning the role of victims in order to be leaders in the advancement of society.
In conclusion, this interview has made us think that equality and freedom is not something that someone can give you, it is something that should be taken. The struggle is, first of all, within ourselves. Society will not change only by an ideology or a speech, it will change by practice, by the community that we create, and above all, it will be the courage with which we live our lives that will open the way.
