ABOVE: Estanislao Fernández, photo via Twitter.
The son of new Argentinian president Alberto Fernández attended his father’s inauguration ceremony this week wearing a Pride flag.
Estanislao Fernández, who is known in Argentina as a popular drag performer and cosplayer by the name of Dyhzy, made headlines last month when he participated in the Buenos Aires 28th annual Pride celebration, locally known as Marcha de Orgullo, which had an estimated attendance of 300,000 people.
The 24-year-old Fernández showed up at his father’s inauguration wearing a rainbow-colored pocket square, which he wore in official photos for the event. To make sure there was no doubt about the statement, he later posted a video on his Instagram stories revealing that the pocket square was a folded Pride flag. The video was reposted by multiple followers on social media.
dyhzy sos el amor de mi vida,que decirte https://t.co/gadaoyjyGZ
— naimid ★ ★ ★ (@bullsonparaade) December 13, 2019
His father, who defeated conservative incumbent President Mauricio Macri in October, is a liberal Peronist who has spoken in support of LGBTQ rights. He has expressed his pride and support for his out LGBTQ son on multiple occasions, such as in a June radio interview in which he said, “I would worry if my son was a criminal, but he is a great man.”
Argentina is known for progressive LGBTQ rights. Same-sex sexual activity was made legal in the South American country in 1887, it has recognized same-sex marriage since 2010, and it has one of best track records in the world on trans rights.
Nevertheless, conservatives there and throughout Latin America have been persistent in their efforts to bully and ridicule the younger Fernández since his father announced his candidacy in May. Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of conservative Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, responded to news of Alberto Fernández’ victory by posting a re-tweet of a photo of himself holding a gun, comparing himself with a photo of Estanislao dressed in a Pikachu costume and commenting, “This is not a meme.”
Estanislao’s response, posted in Portuguese (the official language of Brazil), was the comment, “Brazilian brothers, we are in this fight together. I love you.”
Later, he followed up with a tweet in Spanish on his own Twitter account, to say, “Many people from Brazil began to follow me and I want to tell the LGBTTTIQQA + community and allies of Brazil that we are together in this fight. Remember that love always conquers hatred and among us, we must always take care of ourselves.”
Estanoslao has identified as bisexual.
