Monika: Do you remember your first performance as an actress? What was going through your head when you walked onto that stage?
Luly: Yes, I remember it. Honestly, it blew my mind, in the best way. My first character was a cis woman, a biological woman, a wife and mother, and I loved that a lot, because it wasn't about playing a trans woman, it was about playing a cis woman.
That opened up my horizons enormously, because I understood that I could play all kinds of characters and that my identity didn't have to determine the roles I could take on. I loved that possibility.
On top of that, my first character was in a dramatic play with a lot of social content, because it dealt with the last military dictatorship in our country, Argentina.
So a lot of things came together at once: discovering new possibilities as an actress, playing a character with such a powerful story, and at the same time being part of a play with strong social and political content.
All of that made me love and deeply respect this profession, and made me understand that theatre could also be a tool to tell stories, spark reflection and change the way people see things. And to make other trans companions see themselves as actresses too.
That opened up my horizons enormously, because I understood that I could play all kinds of characters and that my identity didn't have to determine the roles I could take on. I loved that possibility.
On top of that, my first character was in a dramatic play with a lot of social content, because it dealt with the last military dictatorship in our country, Argentina.
So a lot of things came together at once: discovering new possibilities as an actress, playing a character with such a powerful story, and at the same time being part of a play with strong social and political content.
All of that made me love and deeply respect this profession, and made me understand that theatre could also be a tool to tell stories, spark reflection and change the way people see things. And to make other trans companions see themselves as actresses too.
Monika: You have said that trans actresses should not be restricted to playing prostitutes, drug dealers or caricatures. If a director gave you complete freedom to choose your next role, what kind of woman would you want to play?
Luly: Some trans or travesti woman who was a role model, a fighter for rights, like Lohana Berkins, or Mariela Muñoz, a trans woman who adopted and raised more than 20 children. To show that side of our diversity.
Monika: In Reina de Corazones, audiences were introduced to a group of trans women who were not simply surviving, but studying, working, creating and building their own futures. What do you think those women wanted audiences to understand about trans lives that they had rarely seen represented before?
Luly: That we are people with rights, that they should stop pathologizing us, infantilizing us, and treating us as though we need to be supervised or protected, because we deserve the same respect as everyone else.
Monika: When Reina de Corazones began reaching audiences beyond Argentina, did you suddenly become aware that your very personal story had become part of a much larger international conversation about transgender lives?
Luly: The goal was always to contribute to repairing the damaged social fabric; if we managed to make even a small contribution, I'm satisfied.
Monika: A few years later came Pequeña Victoria. What was it like to find yourself in a mainstream prime-time television production alongside so many other trans actresses?
Luly: Even though I only had a background role, it really was a lovely experience, and again, I come back to the same point: helping to normalize our identities is what matters most.
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| "We are people with rights." |
Monika: Pequeña Victoria also brought the story of Diana Sacayán into a mainstream television context. How important do you think it is for younger generations to know the stories of the trans activists who fought before them?
Luly: It's hugely important for the new generations to understand that we're going through a period of setbacks in inclusion policy, and that the rights we won didn't come out of nowhere.
Behind each of those rights there were trans companions who fought, who put their bodies on the line, who opened paths and made it possible for us to have tools and opportunities today that didn't exist before.
That's why it's important to know where we come from, so we can be clear about where we want to go. Nothing was given to us: everything we've gained is the result of collective struggle, a lot of effort, and many companions who walked the path before us.
I think the new generations need to know that history, value it and respect it. Because behind every right we have today, there's a story of struggle and resistance.
And we also have a responsibility to keep protecting those rights and to keep building forward.
Behind each of those rights there were trans companions who fought, who put their bodies on the line, who opened paths and made it possible for us to have tools and opportunities today that didn't exist before.
That's why it's important to know where we come from, so we can be clear about where we want to go. Nothing was given to us: everything we've gained is the result of collective struggle, a lot of effort, and many companions who walked the path before us.
I think the new generations need to know that history, value it and respect it. Because behind every right we have today, there's a story of struggle and resistance.
And we also have a responsibility to keep protecting those rights and to keep building forward.
Monika: Many actors dream of one "big break". For you, was there a particular moment when you stopped feeling like an activist who happened to act and started thinking of yourself simply as an actress?
Luly: No, I don't see it that way, it would feel empty to me.
Monika: You have worked both in front of the camera and behind the scenes of social change, including in healthcare. What did becoming a nurse mean to you personally?
Luly: Honestly, Nursing came into my life almost by accident. It wasn't something I had planned to study. At the time I was doing sex work, I met my current partner, we got together, we got married, and I decided to leave that work behind.
He would tell me: "Well, if you can't find a job, study something." And since the university closest to home was the Faculty of Medicine, the option of studying Nursing came up. That's how, almost without planning it, I started the degree.
But once I started, it really opened my mind. I loved the subjects, university life, meeting people, making friends, and everything that came with that new world. I also understood that being a nurse didn't just mean working directly with patients, there were many other possibilities too, like teaching, training and working in different areas.
Over time, that training also allowed me to work in the Diversity area of the Provincial Ministry of Health, within a program focused on diversity. There I was able to give training sessions to doctors to help open inclusive clinics and provide tools for supporting trans people through their processes of physical transition and hormone therapy.
And I feel like it all happened very naturally, almost without meaning to. Each experience led to the next, and somehow it all came together in something many of us trans women share: the desire to help others.
He would tell me: "Well, if you can't find a job, study something." And since the university closest to home was the Faculty of Medicine, the option of studying Nursing came up. That's how, almost without planning it, I started the degree.
But once I started, it really opened my mind. I loved the subjects, university life, meeting people, making friends, and everything that came with that new world. I also understood that being a nurse didn't just mean working directly with patients, there were many other possibilities too, like teaching, training and working in different areas.
Over time, that training also allowed me to work in the Diversity area of the Provincial Ministry of Health, within a program focused on diversity. There I was able to give training sessions to doctors to help open inclusive clinics and provide tools for supporting trans people through their processes of physical transition and hormone therapy.
And I feel like it all happened very naturally, almost without meaning to. Each experience led to the next, and somehow it all came together in something many of us trans women share: the desire to help others.
Monika: Why do you think that desire is so common among trans women?
Luly: Maybe because many of us had to go through very difficult situations, we feel the need to make sure others don't have to go through the same thing. There's also a very deep search for acceptance and recognition, something that was often denied us or questioned by a society that made us feel guilty for being who we are.
But today I prefer to think that, beyond that need for recognition, what drives me is something much more genuine: being able to support my fellow trans women.
But today I prefer to think that, beyond that need for recognition, what drives me is something much more genuine: being able to support my fellow trans women.
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| "Behind every right we have today, there's a story of struggle and resistance." |
Monika: You later worked with healthcare professionals on inclusive care. Having experienced the healthcare system as a trans woman yourself, what is the biggest thing you wish every doctor understood before treating a transgender patient?
Luly: That they respect people's wishes beyond their own prejudices, that they practice active listening, that we're all as diverse as people can be, that we have different needs and shouldn't be generalized, that not everything is masculine or feminine, there's a wide spectrum.
Monika: You also taught at Mocha Celis. I love the idea that a trans teenager can walk into a classroom and see a trans teacher, nurse, actress or university student and suddenly realize, "That could be me." Did you ever have someone like that in your own life?
Luly: These days I really admire trans actresses like Maiamar Abrodos, among others.
Monika: Choosing a name is such a deeply personal decision, one that can hold layers of significance and meaning. How did you come to choose your name? Does it carry a special resonance for you, perhaps representing a part of your journey or embodying a particular feeling or aspiration?
Luly: Honestly, it was very simple, it came up spontaneously one night out dancing with some acquaintances, and afterward I refined it with friends, with my best friend, those people who stick with you through life.
Monika: Many of us feel the pressure to look like a "typical" woman, and even after surgeries, society keeps judging us. How do you personally deal with the outside world's expectations?
Luly: I try to respect myself, to have healthy self-esteem, to accept myself, love myself and value my body and my genetics. To value my roots. I'm from Catamarca, and I recognize Diaguita, Calchaquí and other Indigenous roots in my history, and that's also part of who I am.
I really value the body I have, the body I inherited from my mom, and all that genetics that's part of my identity. While I feel I have some features that come close to certain beauty standards, I also know I don't meet the conventional beauty standard, and that I'm a woman with a robust build.
I don't want to live trying to fit in, or subject myself to strict diets or demands to meet other people's expectations. I try not to let that pressure affect me, and to learn to love myself as I am.
Even from my place as an actress, I think that at some point that role, that character, will come along that I can play with the body I have. I don't want to torment myself trying to meet certain expectations. I want to trust that there are diverse stories and characters out there, and that my body can occupy those spaces too.
I really value the body I have, the body I inherited from my mom, and all that genetics that's part of my identity. While I feel I have some features that come close to certain beauty standards, I also know I don't meet the conventional beauty standard, and that I'm a woman with a robust build.
I don't want to live trying to fit in, or subject myself to strict diets or demands to meet other people's expectations. I try not to let that pressure affect me, and to learn to love myself as I am.
Even from my place as an actress, I think that at some point that role, that character, will come along that I can play with the body I have. I don't want to torment myself trying to meet certain expectations. I want to trust that there are diverse stories and characters out there, and that my body can occupy those spaces too.
Monika: I remember the time right after my transition, it was pure euphoria. My closet is still full of dresses and shoes that I literally bought by the dozens back then, and I must have tried on hundreds. I felt like I had to make up for all those years that were taken from me. Did you feel the same way?
Luly: I feel that, but more about my childhood, the dolls I wasn't allowed to play with. Today, for example, I collect Barbies.
Monika: How would you describe your personal style? Do you follow any specific fashion trends, or do you have go-to outfits that make you feel confident?
Luly: My style is more vintage, I love secondhand markets and thrift shops, I like to dress sexy but subtle, a bit girlish. I don't dress for other people. My style is feminine, lots of pink, for example, haha.
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| "I think we still need profound, decisive social change." |
Monika: And speaking of that, do you like playing around with makeup, or are you more of a "put on the basics and go" kind of person?
Luly: I'm more of a basics person, foundation, powder, lip liner and lipstick. That much, always. And something that's been happening to me lately is that I can't stand seeing my hair roots grown out, so I touch them up whenever I can.
Monika: By the way, do you like being complimented on your looks? Do you find it easy to accept compliments, or do you struggle with believing them?
Luly: It makes me uncomfortable, but at the same time it's made life easier for me, once a client told me: "You'll never be alone, you'll always have a man to support you."
Monika: Did you ever feel pressure to meet a certain ideal of femininity, like I did by trying to look like the women around me?
Luly: Yes, totally, back then if you didn't have huge hips like Beyoncé, or breasts, you were nothing, of course that weighed on me, it's part of why I had surgery. Today I regret it, but it also helped me a lot.
Monika: For a lot of trans girls, loneliness can become a part of life. Did you ever feel that, or were you lucky enough to avoid it?
Luly: Yes, mostly during my teenage years, I used to pray and ask God to send me a good man. Luckily, over the years he came along, and today I'm happily married.
Monika: What are your thoughts on the current situation for transgender women in your country? What has genuinely changed since you began your transition, and where do you think Argentina is still failing trans women?
Luly: We're going through a process that's both moving forward and, at the same time, backsliding. While we do have the laws I mentioned earlier, they often aren't enforced the way they should be.
For example, in terms of employment, there are job opportunities, but they're still few, often poorly paid, and we still struggle to access positions of greater responsibility or seniority.
There's also a lot of progress still needed in terms of acceptance and rights related to partner relationships. There are still men who don't recognize or respect us the way they should, and there are also women who don't help build a society where we're recognized as people who are fully valid to love and be loved.
That's why I think we still need profound, decisive social change. Laws are fundamental, but we also need those rights to translate into everyday life, into our relationships, into workplaces and into every part of society.
And even though we've made huge progress, we're still a minority of trans people who can access certain spaces and opportunities that are often presented as privileges. The challenge is for those rights and opportunities to stop being exceptions and become something truly accessible to everyone.
For example, in terms of employment, there are job opportunities, but they're still few, often poorly paid, and we still struggle to access positions of greater responsibility or seniority.
There's also a lot of progress still needed in terms of acceptance and rights related to partner relationships. There are still men who don't recognize or respect us the way they should, and there are also women who don't help build a society where we're recognized as people who are fully valid to love and be loved.
That's why I think we still need profound, decisive social change. Laws are fundamental, but we also need those rights to translate into everyday life, into our relationships, into workplaces and into every part of society.
And even though we've made huge progress, we're still a minority of trans people who can access certain spaces and opportunities that are often presented as privileges. The challenge is for those rights and opportunities to stop being exceptions and become something truly accessible to everyone.
Monika: Your activism has taken you from employment rights and housing to healthcare, education, artistic representation and historical memory. If you could solve just one problem facing transgender women in Argentina tomorrow, which one would you choose?
Luly: Formal employment, that's what Diana Sacayán dreamed of, she's the one who created the employment quota law. Work is a great source of social order.
Monika: You have also participated in Unides por la Música, connecting trans, travesti and non-binary artists across Argentina and Uruguay. How important is it for you to maintain that sense of community between artists living far beyond Buenos Aires?
Luly: Hugely important, there's strength in unity. A trans friend once told me that: our greatest power is that we ourselves are our own allies, things made by trans people, for trans people, and about trans people.
Monika: Many trans women are writing their memoirs these days. Have you ever thought about writing your own book, and if so, what would its central message be?
Luly: I've thought about writing a book, though not exactly a biography, more something collective, community-based, and, of course, against the system, haha.
Monika: Finally, what's next for you? What dreams and goals are you working toward now?
Luly: I'm thinking about trying to become a mother, about not stressing so much over work, and about living more with my family.
All photos: courtesy of Luly Arias.
© 2026 - Monika Kowalska
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