Yuliana Aguilar is the first trans woman in the country to access public employment through the trans job quota. As of yesterday, she is working at the Day Center for the LGBTI Community in Venado Tuerto, the second city in the province of Santa Fe to approve the project, after Rosario. Yesterday at 6:30 a.m., a different day and a different life began for Yuliana Aguilar. “Those of us who live in prostitution are used to going to sleep at that hour, not getting up,” she told Presentes. After getting dressed, she drank some mate, put on a coat, and left on her motorcycle from her home—on the outskirts of Venado Tuerto (province of Santa Fe)—for her first day of work at the Day Center for the LGBTI Community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex people). This 40-year-old nurse became the first trans woman hired for a public position through the trans job quota. “It was a busy and formal day, but very exciting. I work the morning shift and was in charge of making sure everything was ready for the event. Many people came, including Mayor José Luis Freyre, the minister, the secretaries, and representatives from various organizations,” she told Presentes . In her new job, she works six-hour shifts. Among her responsibilities is continuing to register her colleagues on the job application list, as well as “encouraging them to study and get training,” she said. Her workplace is also innovative: “La Casita”—as the center is called—was created as a meeting place and support center, both for the LGBTI community “and for addressing individual issues, operating as a day center,” the Municipality reported. Among the services offered will be a doctor to provide guidance on hormone therapy. On March 29, Venado Tuerto unanimously approved a trans employment quota. It was the second city in Santa Fe province to implement one, after Rosario . It anticipates the incorporation of five trans people into the municipal staff to perform various tasks.

READ MORE: [Registration for the trans job quota in Rosario closed; 62 people signed up] 

The project was presented by the organizations Alma del Sur - led by Yuliana -, Acción Sin Fronteras, Las Safinas Venado Tuerto and Amor Libre de Prejuicios, through citizen banking and supported by the teams of the Sexual Diversity Area of ​​the Municipality of Venado Tuerto and the Undersecretariat of Sexual Diversity Policies of Santa Fe.

The Transgender Employment Quota and Municipal Lesbian Visibility Day in Venado Tuerto are now a reality. Presented by Yuliana Aguilar, Coordinator of the Alma del Sur Group, and unanimously approved by the Municipal Council. Pure joy.

A post shared by sebas (@sebenmvt) on Mar 29, 2017 at 10:13am PDT

"Those girls who are no longer with us gave us the push we needed."

“In the session where we presented the project, we explained our situation, the dangers we face, the mistreatment and exclusion. They liked our proposal, voted for it, and it was approved. For us, it was historic,” said Yuliana. She added: “Today I was talking to a friend about this:What would have been so much better if we had done this sooner? How many girls died from murder, disease, or hate crimes? If we had had this opportunity earlier, everything would have been different. But those girls who are no longer with us gave us the push to achieve what we have today.”  

The city of Venado Tuerto now has a trans job quota ➡️ https://t.co/HypKOnqpBN pic.twitter.com/3W0UMgheZD

— El Ciudadano Newspaper (@elciudadanoweb) March 30, 2017

Yiuliana studied nursing in Rosario but spent many years working as a prostitute. She says she experiences discrimination from her own family, who don't accept her. "They are evangelical Christians and very conservative," she added. She lives with her dog and cat. In 2003, she was fired from a health center where she worked as a nurse. "My boss never showed his face, but the person who told me I was losing my job said he didn't want a homosexual working with people." "At the time, I didn't do anything, but today I would have gone to court to file a discrimination complaint. Now we are empowered," she stated.

“A city that struggled to accept sexual diversity”

Venado Tuerto is an agricultural city in the south of Santa Fe province. It has a population of almost 100,000. “It’s a society that, five years ago, had a lot of trouble accepting sexual diversity,” said councilwoman Griselda Vaccarini (FPV), one of the driving forces behind the trans employment quota project. “These are issues related to cultural patterns deeply ingrained in older generations. I’m 52 years old and I’m at that breaking point. It’s more difficult for older people to accept it. But for young people the age of my children, who are 17 and 21, it’s natural,” the councilwoman says.

[READ MORE: This is the map of trans employment quotas in Argentina]

“We all have to come together to assert our rights and have a dignified life. There can’t be another Vanesa Zabala. Everything is possible. People today are more open-minded, they think differently, and that helps us. We have a mayor who supports us and a young government in the municipality. We have to take advantage of this context,” Yuliana urges. The councilwoman highlights the strength of LGBTI organizations: “Although it may seem small, What the LGBTI community has achieved in this city is enormous: to be absolutely visible and represented. What's happening socially is wonderful. It's the first city to implement a trans quota.