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The draft gender identity law was presented to the Peruvian Congress, and days later the Constitutional Court recognized this right through a ruling in a country where 20% of the trans population lacks a national identity document. There is still a long way to go, but the Peruvian LGBTQ+ community remains hopeful.

By Esteban M. Marchand, from Lima. 

Photos: Courtesy of Sin Etiquetas and Esteban M. Marchand

Trans women and men in Peru have been rendered invisible by the State throughout its history. Even within the LGBTIQ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer), their rights have never been a priority. But in recent years, trans people have risen up to begin their fight. On November 4th, the draft bill on gender identity was presented to the Congress of the Republic, and four days later, the Peruvian Constitutional Court recognized this right through ruling 6040-2015 .

“The initiative came from the community, and that’s a good thing. The law belongs to the trans population: both men and women are involved. It originated within our community, but it required the support of members of Congress to be introduced into the parliamentary system for subsequent debate,” Miluska Luzquiños, spokesperson for the Trans Network of Peru, Presentes

“It was very moving, I cried outside Congress. I still get emotional today. I’m overwhelmed with emotion. So many things have happened this month,” she added.

In addition to the historic milestone of the presentation of the preliminary bill, something unprecedented happened during the session: the pro-government legislator Alberto de Belaunde apologized to the trans community on behalf of the Nation .

What does the preliminary draft propose?

The draft bill presented to Congress proposes that every “person of legal age may request the registration adjustment of their identification documents (image, pronouns and sex) in an administrative office through a simple and free process before the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (RENIEC)”.

It will also allow minors to have their identity ratified through their legal representatives. Among its key regulations is the prohibition of surgical intervention on newborns with ambiguous genitalia, that is, on intersex individuals.

The trans network seeks to turn the draft bill into a framework law: one that can design and implement policies for the better social integration of trans people in other areas such as health, political participation and decent work without the need for other laws.

For Luzquiños, the gender identity law is not just about giving trans people ID cards. It's about recognizing people as human beings. "The law is an instrument that will serve to promote human rights."

The draft bill will become a formal bill in the coming days and will be presented to Congress. It will then have to go through various committees (health, labor, justice, and human rights). The date of the debate in Congress will depend on many factors, and above all, on the political will of the members of Congress who were sworn in in July of this year. Miluzca Luzquiños remains hopeful and asks all young trans people to never stop dreaming of a Peru with more opportunities.

The emergency data

According to the report "Registry of Violence against LGBT People in America" ​​published by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), between January 2013 and March 2014, 282 people perceived as trans died.

In Peru, deaths are recorded thanks to the annual reports produced by the Center for the Promotion and Defense of Sexual and Reproductive Rights and the Peruvian LGBTI Network. From 2008 to 2015, a total of 32 trans people died: 31 women and one man.

Murders are not the only ways in which this community is harmed. It is estimated approximately 22,500 transgender women live in Lima, the capital of Peru, alone. Of these, 89% lack health insurance, and 70% are forced into prostitution due to a lack of other employment opportunities.

“It’s a human problem. We’re not talking in the abstract. These are people who have very hard lives. Situations that occur in urban areas,” Alfonso Silva Santisteban, a doctor and researcher at the Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, Presentes

Silva Santisteban acknowledges that gender identity for trans people will not be a topic of everyday discussion for the majority of the population (as was the case when civil unions were proposed), but she asserts that humanizing the issue is fundamental to creating empathy and, subsequently, progress.

Another of the parliamentarians promoting the draft bill is Indira Huilca, from the Broad Front, the only political party that included the gender identity law in its government plan.

“Access to healthcare and employment is almost nonexistent for these people, and this begins because the State does not recognize their own identity,” Huilca told Presentes. Her fellow party member, Marisa Glave, is also one of the parliamentarians who joined the initiative.

According to figures compiled by the Institute for Studies on Health, Sexuality and Human Development (IESSDEH), approximately 10% to 20% of the trans population does not have a national identity document (DNI). This figure is only 1% in the general population.

A step forward through legal channels

Just days after the draft bill was presented, on November 8, the Peruvian Constitutional Court recognized the right to gender identity through ruling 6040-2015 . This does not mean that all transgender people in Peru can now change their names and genders on their documents, but it is good news.

“From now on, identity changes will be referred to the summary civil process. Previously, they were processed through the constitutional route,” Juan Manuel Castillo, lawyer and legal advisor for the Únicxs Presentes .

Castillo indicates that ideally these processes should be administrative and not require judicial proceedings. However, this ruling modifies the criteria of the previous ruling (0139-2013-PA/TC) , which was highly transphobic.

The ruling establishes that transsexuality is not an illness, recognizes the right to request a name change, and indicates that “biological reality […] should not be the sole determining factor for sex assignment”.

According to the lawyer, this is a very positive thing, but since it is not a simple administrative process, trans people "are treated as just another procedural object, when it is a matter of the right of people to have a social and legal name that identifies them."