Meet Leonie Dorado : Bolivia’s First Transgender News Anchor

26 year old, Leonie Dorado, is making history becoming the first transgender news anchor in Bolivia. She was offered this job in the middle of the pandemic, and will be co-hosting Bolivian program Aby Ayala TV.  and will covers LGBTQ issues in her role, drawing on her own transition and life experience as a trans person.

In 2016, South American nation Bolivia, passed the Gender Identity Law which is seen as one of the most progressive transgender legislation worldwide. Bolivia is also one of the few country to ban discrimination of LGBTQ+ individuals.

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With incredible support from her family and friends, Dorado will be using her platform to shed light on LGBTQ issues, using her own trans experience. She intends to focus on trans people’s rights especially concerning labour and health. 

Speaking about the opportunity Dorado said, “The LGBT community is a group of millions of people who demand human rights, labour rights, rights to have their lives respected, that is what has moved me to be part of this project.” She said.

Journalism wasn’t always in Dorado’s plans. Leonie Dorado ( First Transgender News Anchor ) dreamt a career in music as a singer and piano player. Currently she is pursuing a degree in modern music in Bolivia’s National Conservatory of Music.

When she was offered the TV Anchor job in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, She did not hesitate to accept the opportunity to be a voice for trans people. The young anchor is eager to use her new platform to raise awareness around trans issues.

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She is also currently working on a book to encourage others, based on her life and her belief. With her personal motto: “Make peace with your body, put your health first, bet on your dreams and be happy.”

“The transition took me four years,” said Dorado, who as a child was called Bernardo. “In the end, I was not in the wrong body, I was looking for the way I wanted to project my life.”

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During last month’s Pride celebrations, Dorado gave a special message to her followers on Facebook.

“It’s exciting to live on a day like today, which since 1969 marked the beginning of the liberation movement calling for progress in government policies and decisions on human rights,” she wrote. “The most relevant thing in my life is not the fact that I am trans, I consider it to be one of the least important things about me. Let’s bet to strive to develop our capabilities to be brilliant in what we decide to dedicate ourselves, to bet on our dreams and go for them, to appreciate the best in others, to leave a world something better knowing that at least one life has been encouraged more freely thanks to ours.”