ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay (AP) — In Paraguay , one of the most conservative countries in the Americas , many LGBTQ+ people feel compelled to leave their hometowns due to discrimination, harassment and gender-based violence.

Social rejection and the absence of legal protections take a particular toll on transgender women like Alejandra Mongelós, who first fled her home in 2013 when she was 8 and already identifying as trans. The search for a safe place where she could be herself became an ongoing struggle.

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