Laura Weinstein

Laura Frida Weinstein (1962 – 2 January 2021) was a Colombian human rights activist. From 2010 until her death she was the coordinator of Fundación Grupo de Acción y Apoyo a Personas Trans , a transgender support group.

Biography Weinstein was born in 1962 in Bogotá, Colombia, the youngest of seven children in a Jewish family; her family had emigrated to the country during the 1940s after fleeing antisemitism in Nazi Germany. Weinstein began identifying as female at the age of five, though she did publicly identify as so. During her childhood she experienced significant bullying and was regularly made to see psychologists. At the age of 17, she moved to Israel, where she studied Jewish history. Weinstein later returned to Colombia, where she studied social work at the Monserrate University Foundation. Weinstein worked with the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice providing advisory support on legislation that would subsequently be passed in 2015 as decree 1227, which allowed transgender people to have their gender identity reflected on their identity cards. Following this, Weinstein was able to legally change her gender to female.

Recognition In June 2023, the Laura Weinstein LGBTI Centre North Zone was opened in Suba by the Mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López. It was the fifth LGBTQ centre established in the city.