Columbia's president appoints Minister for Women

[Imnobody4]

Colombia’s far-left president Gustavo Petro has appointed the transgender man Charlotte Schneider as Colombia’s new Minister of Women
https://x.com/JoeyMannarinoUS/status/1958561105904652474?t=g6j7RaewSAkNyTWwYg7sbg&s=09

I have no words.
🇨🇴

Ffs when will this stop

I opened this thread all optimistic then ....

FFS!

This is probably fake news. There is no minister for women, there is a minister for Equality and Equity, who is a gay man who is quite controversial for being an ex-porn actor.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Ministers_of_Colombia

Why does this matter? I'm sure this transwomen will use their deep expertise to campaign for issues most important to women: the cost of blond hair dye, free eyelash extensions and clothes for women over 6 foot.

This is the Minister for Equality who was appointed on 5 August 2025. Not trans.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Carlos_Flori%C3%A1n

Yeah I don't think this is true for multiple reasons.

The trans person is some junior government officer in Bogota.
https://es-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Charlotte_Schneider?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc

I have seen prominent Terf accounts tweeting this but there is really no confirmation of this news outside of twitter.

Think it is true, though maybe Deputy post.

https://angelestelevision.com/charlotte-schneider-primera-mujer-trans-en-ser-nombrada-viceministra-de-la-mujer-en-colombia/

dated 17 August. Translation;
Colombia is experiencing a historic event with the appointment of Charlotte Schneider Callejas as the new Deputy Minister for Women, becoming the first trans woman to hold this position within the National Government

The National Government highlighted its human rights record. The appointment generates mixed reactions in different sectors of the

It's being reported in Latin A news sources as well. According to them it's sparking debate, with some national women's campaigners supporting it and some not.

Unsurprising that it would be seized on by certain twitter commentators who can't even spell the name of the country - Petro is a former guerilla who is flexing against Trump.

It's a controversial administration with all the usual (for ColOmbia) corruption coming to the surface now, and like many marxist bros his record on women's rights is patchy. But, he's stopped state forces shooting protesters, he's given the poorest Colombians which proportionally includes more women than men more pesos in their pockets and he's openly stated his reluctance to dance to the USA tune of "war on drugs while ignoring environmental degradation". Schneider herself is a Cuban refugee and is an instrumental player In the ongoing peace process and has lobbied on behalf of brutalized and murdered women in that role. In short, it's complicated.

So the trans person is the new deputy to the gay Minister of Equality and Equity? That's two men in charge of a ministry that has the remit for women's rights.

The story is true, but this person is a sub-minister under the Igualdad (Equality) department. No surpirse, he’s the minister for “women in paid sexual activities.” Just type “Schneider” into the search bar to find the page: https://www.minigualdadyequidad.gov.co/inicio

Well it’s not that complicated. The misogynistic, sexist government thought a women wouldn’t be good enough to be a Minister for Women so got a bloke to do it instead. What’s complicated about that?

I think I have run out of facepalms…

I mean, Colombia's political situation is complex. Like, really really complex. If this guy is more on the level than his predecessors, the very fact that he's asserting Colombia's self determination wrt the USA, and prioritising righting the devastating harms done to its citizens and environment by the decades long proxy war, means women's lives will improve beyond anything seen in the last 70 years in that country, regardless of any questionable decisions around junior minister staffing.

Could it be too much to ask to also engage with actual women and thereby assert women’s self determination wrt their specific interests as a distinct sex class? Rather than simply give a man (even at that one claiming to actually be a woman) such a role and power over what women’s interests they wish to support and promote? It is just mockery of women in my personal view. Disdainful and contemptuous of women.

Is it just women who have to be grateful for the promise of any stray or incidental crumbs in the future, whilst the interests of others are promoted, and don’t seem to have to be put aside till the big big change to the complex situation is achieved?

And so how does this in any way justify appointing a man as a minister for women? If a government is so sexist it won’t even appoint a woman in the role, why does you think they’ll make things better for women in any way that women need? Are there no women in Columbia able to take on the role? Did anyone ask women?

I do find it strange that a number of countries in Central and Southern America have still got fairly traditional macho cultures in practice and yet are heavily pro trans among the political class.

Costa Rica is the same. One of the first countries to introduce gender self id and that awful UN rapporteur (I forget his name) is Costa Rican.

Surely it's unsurprising that heavily machisto cultures value men above women. Even men who dress as women.

As for Petro himself, time will tell. Certainly previous conventional politicians in Colombia (it's an O not a U, I'm sorry but I can't take your sudden interest in the country seriously if you can't even spell it) have been no friend to women or men, but have been pretty useful to the USA. This guy looks on balance to be making a difference. Ordinary Colombians just generally want the death count to go down.

This seems to be a reliable source. It's in Spanish but Google Translate automatically translated it into English for me - and can't quite make up its mind whether to use she or he when talking about him. 😂
https://emisorasunidas.com/internacionales/2025/08/21/viceministra-trans-en-colombia-charlotte-scheider/

"Charlotte Schneider Callejas, Colombia's new Deputy Minister of Women's Affairs, is promoting inclusive policies for women"
I guess that "inclusive" means that any policies to support women will also include men.

That's a Guatemalan website, and appears to be a puff piece for clickbait. Actual Colombian coverage is minimal, largely because this is a nothingburger that has been greatly exaggerated by the professionally outraged from other countries (no, Schneider is not the Minister for Women), many of whom neither speak Spanish nor know how to spell the name of the country in question.

Incidentally, Google Translate has long-established problems translating pronouns from Spanish because a) I/you/he/she pronouns are rarely used, as the verb form already indicates who is acting; b) "su" translates variously as his/her/its. This is a well-known issue, and has nothing to do with Charlotte Schneider's gender identity.

The actual Vice-Minister of Women, Olga Lucía Fuentes, is female.

@DinaGoth So if Charlotte Schneider Callejas isn't the Deputy Minister of Women's Affairs, what is his role?

PS I was aware that it was a Guatemalan website rather than a Colombian one but thought that a news source from that area of the world might follow regional politics more closely than a news source from somewhere completely different such as Europe.

Director for Women in Paid Sexual Services. Not a minister, not a vice-minister. A minor role.

Thanks for the info.

So he's a man tasked with supporting prostituted women? Jeez! What the hell does that entail? Presumably not implementing the Nordic Model or similar.

You are overly optimistic about the current leftwing government. Thus far they have proved to be as inept and corrupt as any other government and the current president is rather noted for his misogyny and double standards despite campaign promises to uplift women's lives. Petro spoke out of both sides of his mouth on the abortion issue and has revealed his opinion of women in several ways, not least calling women journalists "dolls of the mafia" last year. It is easy to make promises about land reform, previous rightwing presidents did that too- which would genuinely help poorer Colombians in a country of historical gross inequality exacerbated by violence and displacement but the actual delivery has been poor to non-existent. His administration has been rocked by scandal so that he has had to overhaul his cabinet barely two years in. Sure he has appointed a number of women ministers while sidelining Francia Marquez who has openly criticised corruption in the admininistration. Some health and social indicators show improvement but his style leans towards grandstanding on progressive issues like trans rights. He has just ordered Juan Carlos Florian to organise a march of transvestites to stop the trans 'genocide'.
https://derechadiario.com.ar/us/argentina/gustavo-petro-ordered-the-minister-of-equality-to-organize-a-march-of-transvestites