SICKY

Chepec

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, FAMILIA TERRONES

CLOTHES ASCENDIA, ANXTA, HUGO BOSS, STEVE MADDEN, DE LOS SANTOS, CALVIN KLEIN, VERSACE, BUSHI, SER SERES, MATISMA, KUYCHI, WOLFORD, ZOE, YIRKO SIVIRICH, GRACIELA HUAM, ZARA

Chepec

CLOTHES ASCENDIA, ANXTA, HUGO BOSS, STEVE MADDEN, DE LOS SANTOS, CALVIN KLEIN, VERSACE, BUSHI, SER SERES, MATISMA, KUYCHI, WOLFORD, ZOE, YIRKO SIVIRICH, GRACIELA HUAM, ZARA