Jimena González Explained

Jimena González Gómez (born 1987)[1] is a Spanish academic and politician of the party Más Madrid. She was elected to the Assembly of Madrid in the 2023 regional election.

Biography

González was born in Cáceres, Extremadura.[2] She graduated in Romance philology and Arabic philology from the University of Seville. As of 2021, she was studying for a master's degree at the Diplomatic School of Spain.[3]

González ran in the 2021 Madrilenian regional election, as 28th on the Más Madrid list. She was the first transgender person to run for election under a preferred given name rather than a legal given name, which she no longer used. This was due to a law passed by the Assembly of Madrid in 2016, which allowed for a preferred name to be used, as long as it was used as such elsewhere, in this case her employment at the Complutense University of Madrid. A previous compromise offered by the electoral board was for the name Jimena to appear in brackets after the legal name – as used for the mayor of Cádiz, José María González Santos, nicknamed "Kichi" – which González considered even worse than the legal name on its own.[4] Más Madrid took 24 seats, meaning that González was not elected.[5]

González was elected to the District Council in Chamberí, the Madrid neighbourhood where she resides. In March 2023, a councillor from Vox addressed her by a male title and male form of her given name, for which he was expelled from the plenary session after refusing to apologise. González later said "I used to be called Jaime, I have no problem with that name, I don't have a traumatic relationship with it. But when they call us by our previous names every day or use old photos to grind away at us, it ends up making a lot of trans people develop a traumatic relationship with their past".[6]

González was 25th on the Más Madrid list for the 2023 Madrilenian regional election. On election day, she alleged that a representative of Vox called her a "marimacho", a derogatory term for a woman who is considered to be masculine.[7] The party received 27 seats, meaning she was elected.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jimena González . Editorial Egales . 21 June 2023 . Spanish.
  2. News: Viejo . Manuel . Jimena, la transexual que se enfrentó a PP y Vox en Madrid: “Nos merecemos tener vidas dignas, normales, sin odio”. Jimena, the trans woman who confronted PP and Vox in Madrid: "We deserve to have dignified, normal lives, without hatred". 21 June 2023 . . 20 March 2023 . Spanish.
  3. News: La activista Jimena González se presenta en lista de Más Madrid . Activist Jimena González presents herself on Más Madrid list. 21 June 2023 . Moncloa . 31 March 2021 . Spanish.
  4. News: Pérez Mendoza . Sofía . Jimena González, la primera política trans con derecho a presentarse a las elecciones con su nombre real. Jimena González, the first transgender politician with the right to appear on the ballot with her real name. 21 June 2023 . . 17 April 2021 . Spanish.
  5. News: Las nuevas caras de la Asamblea de Madrid y los históricos que desaparecerán: del exjemad a Antonelli. The new faces of the Assembly of Madrid and the historic ones who will disappear: from the former Chief of the Defence Staff to Antonelli . 21 June 2023 . . . 5 May 2021 . Spanish.
  6. News: Rodríguez-Sahagún . Agustín . Vox lleva su transfobia a un Pleno de distrito de Madrid: un vocal llama "don Jaime" a la portavoz trans Jimena González. Vox bring their transphobia to a district plenary session in Madrid: a councillor calls the transgender spokesperson "Don Jaime". 21 June 2023 . Cadena SER . 16 March 2023 . Spanish.
  7. News: Una candidata de Más Madrid denuncia un insulto tránsfobo: "Mi día empieza con la apoderada de Vox llamándome marimacho". A Más Madrid candidate reports a transphobic insult: "My day starts with the Vox representative calling me marimacho. 21 June 2023 . . . 28 May 2023 . Spanish.
  8. News: Barrado . Blas . Los diputados electos en la Asamblea de Madrid de PP, Más Madrid, PSOE y Vox. The deputies elected to the Assembly of Madrid from the PP, Más Madrid, PSOE and Vox. 21 June 2023 . Madrid Actual . 29 May 2023 . Spanish.