Original article: Susy Shock: «Me revitaliza saber que somos un continente que tenemos nuestras Claudias Rodríguez, Hijas de Perra, Pedros Lemebel y Violetas Parras» Interview by Francisca Palma “Claudia, sister: we will not be this humanity” is the title of the poetic concert that Susy Shock will perform during her upcoming visit to Chile. This event is part of the second edition of the Performing Arts and Sexual Dissent Festival, DESVIACIONES, starting on April 22. The opening date holds significant historical weight: it marks the anniversary of the first homosexual protest which took place in Santiago’s Plaza de Armas on that day in 1973.

This historical context is the driving force behind the Argentine artist’s poetic concert, where she will present an original piece dedicated to her poet and trans activist sister Claudia Rodríguez, who passed away in November 2025, intertwining poetry, memory, and popular song. In the intersection of words and music, accompanied by her caja, the artist will offer ballads and readings that draw from Hojarascas, Susy’s book, as well as Claudia’s own poetry. This scene unfolds as an intimate ritual where mourning, affection, and politics intertwine.

Over the course of 40 minutes, her voice becomes a territory of evocation and resistance. The personal expands into the collective, engaging with a familial memory that dialogues with present-day violence and the possibility of envisioning more sensitive and habitable forms of humanity. Susy Shock is an Argentine writer, poet, singer, actress, and teacher.

She self-identifies as a “South American trans artist” and is one of the most influential voices within trans activism in Latin America. Her work blends poetry, music, and performance to affirm the political and cultural dignity of trans identities. A key figure in the LGBTIQ+ movement in Abya Yala, her artistic and activist endeavors aim to envision alternative forms of humanity rooted in tenderness, social justice, and diversity.

Memory is a central theme of the DESVIACIONES Festival. In this context, you will pay tribute to Claudia Rodríguez. What can you tell us about her and her legacy?

What does Claudia represent as an artist and activist? I consider myself fortunate to have been a contemporary of Claudia, sharing in her poetry, activism, and affection. Without those three elements, we cannot fully grasp the magnitude of a personality like hers, which was intimately tied to a journey that we also attempt to navigate from Latin America, specifically in the trans community.

I was able to tell her in life that she was immensely significant in illuminating the possibility for trans individuals to see themselves as capable of beauty; as generators and encouragers of beauty. In this regard, Claudia’s poetic legacy is boundless and just beginning. The memory of connections also extends to other creators of dissent such as Hija de Perra.

How would you describe your relationships within the local scene? From a young age, folklore has strongly connected me to the artistic creation in Chile. Clearly, those of us in folklore cannot deny the enormous presence of Violeta Parra and the legacy she continues to signify.

Since then, I have been curious about how many of us are emerging, contributing golden nuggets to this continent and our realities. Discovering Hija de Perra, following her work, listening, reading, and then meeting, as we did in Mendoza a few years ago, has been incredibly important. We were able to embrace and establish a very strong bond that lasts even if we are not physically together.

These connections surround me with my ancestors. It revitalizes me to know that we are a continent rich with our Claudias Rodríguez, our Hijas de Perra, our Pedros Lemebel, and our Violetas Parras. For the past couple of years, Argentina has been governed by the far-right.

After these initial years of Milei’s administration, what have been the main impacts on dissenting communities? How has this affected those involved in artistic creation? This government, like all right-wing governments, has clearly positioned us as enemies.

They have come with a specific action plan to undervalue us, not only to disregard us; to undermine the vast journey that has particularly illuminated young people and children, whom we care about the most. The adult world has other tools to defend itself, but I believe that growing alongside a couple of generations of young people and children, who have visible role models—artists, thinkers, and trans sensitivity to look up to—means a lot. It represents a revolutionary legacy we have managed to establish within our world.

They are aware of this and try to threaten us because behind this, there is a strengthening of our self-esteem. We come from that world, and it empowers us significantly. No one can feel like a small trans person with such tremendous guides, so we do not serve their purposes—we represent a threat.

The heterosexual world is generally more fragile in this regard. They lose jobs and do not know what to do, simply because, primarily, heterosexual upbringing is built upon being prepared to work, produce, and generate wealth—not always for oneself, but as a small link in a capitalism that needs you for that, solely for that. Meanwhile, trans people have shown from the management of our desire, which is perhaps the most profound and absolute form of self-management, that we do not need anything but ourselves.

The idea that not even the State can handle us ends up being a practice emerging from the abandonment of that State. Just look at how dangerous we are. From that same perspective of creation, how would you say the cultural sector has responded?

In your role as a creator, writer, and artist, what has been the primary impact on you? What has it inspired you to do? Art itself teaches us from a young age about self-management, the independence to generate resources to urgently pursue what we need to do.

Our songs, our chants, our poetry, our texts, our works must flow to reach others, so I believe that this exercise is what keeps us active—critically, in latent danger, yet always engaged. I believe that the new will emerge from here, from our ability to also break away from the paternalistic ideas of what culture is, of what politics in culture is, and that will be beneficial. One of your statements I’ve come across in interviews is the idea of the embrace, of love as a path to education, especially for children.

In applying this methodology over the past few years, has it worked? What lessons can you share with us, and what do you think can be applied in other contexts? I want to officially break away from the notion of sheer love.

It’s not like I’m standing at the Obelisco in Buenos Aires, embracing everyone who passes by, because I believe not everyone deserves the embrace, nor should we waste the most sacred thing we have—love—on just anyone. This work is directed toward youth and children because they have not experienced this with us. We must illuminate the differences as well.

Moreover, in the name of love, many foolishness and acts of violence have occurred—those are words I want to reclaim; I do not wish to offer them to the enemy. Regarding new generations, as trans individuals who have fought, what do you wish to pass on to those who come after you? The certainty that we must also be responsible for building bridges with others who share similar sensitivities, ethical perspectives, regardless of gender and sexuality.

We must expand our agenda in this sense, not only reflecting on issues exclusive to us but also on the future of the planet, the future of a world, and the future of a system that must be different and new. We must create, contribute, help in the dialogue, and dare to dream about it. What advice would you give to members of the LGBTIQ+ community in Chile amidst the current scenario?

Peace for the new insurgencies—strident and dissenting; peace for the new strident and dissenting insurgencies. Susy Shock’s poetic concert at the DESVIACIONES festival will take place on May 2 at 9:00 PM at a venue to be confirmed, made possible with the support of the MECENAS Foundation. All programming details for the 2026 DESVIACIONES Festival, including access mechanisms and age considerations for each performance, are available on the website desviaciones.

cl and on the festival’s social media @desviacionesfestival and Teatro Sur @teatrosur. chile.