Feliciana Coronel

Feliciana Coronel
Feliciana Coronel
Born	24 January 1964; Asunción, Paraguay
Died	4 July 1996 (aged 32); Penitenciaria Nacional de Mujeres "Casa del Buen Pastor", Asunción, Paraguay
Cause of death	murder by stabbing
Occupation	lesbian rights activist

Feliciana Coronel (24 January 1964 – 4 July 1996), also known as "Chana", was a Paraguayan lesbian rights activist.

Biography

Coronel was born in Asunción. She lived in the La Chacarita neighbourhood.^{[citation needed]}

In 1991, Coronel was sentenced to 13 years in prison for possessing a kilo and a half of cocaine. In the Penitenciaria Nacional de Mujeres, known as "Casa del Buen Pastor," lesbians and heterosexual women without husbands or stable partners were prohibited from intimate visits. Lesbians were also not permitted much time to speak to each other.^[1]

Coronel led her fellow inmates to report the discrimination to which lesbians in prison were exposed to the press and the Supreme Court of Justice of Paraguay. On 17 September 1993, the El Diario newspaper published an article titled "Lesbians Demand Access to Private Services in the Women's Prison."^[1]

Coronel was stabbed to death in prison on 4 July 1996. No information about the circumstances of her death has been confirmed since she was killed, although newspapers at the time claimed that she was murdered by a lover.^[1]

Legacy

Coronel is considered an icon in Paraguay of the fight for lesbian rights.^[2]

Lesbian Visibility Day in Paraguay is held on 17 September in honour of the article published in El Diario.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Quintana, Juliana (17 September 2021). "Chana Coronel, la lesbiana que luchó por las visitas íntimas en las cárceles paraguayas". Agencia Presentes (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2025.
^ Erwing, Augsten Szokol; Macchias, Lourdes Agustina; Fleming, María Lucila (7 March 2022). "No soy gay, soy un 108". Con X (in Spanish). 8 (8): e043. doi:10.24215/24690333e043. ISSN 2469-0333.
^ "Paraguay celebra su Día de la Visibilidad Lésbica y organización reivindica derechos de la comunidad LGBTI". ABC Color (in Spanish). 16 September 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2025.

[:0-1] Quintana, Juliana (17 September 2021). "Chana Coronel, la lesbiana que luchó por las visitas íntimas en las cárceles paraguayas". Agencia Presentes (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2025.

[2] Erwing, Augsten Szokol; Macchias, Lourdes Agustina; Fleming, María Lucila (7 March 2022). "No soy gay, soy un 108". Con X (in Spanish). 8 (8): e043. doi:10.24215/24690333e043. ISSN 2469-0333.

[3] "Paraguay celebra su Día de la Visibilidad Lésbica y organización reivindica derechos de la comunidad LGBTI". ABC Color (in Spanish). 16 September 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2025.

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