By Tom Máscolo. As a trans man, I had the experience of having an abortion, as did many other trans men. At that time, many doubts flooded my mind, from how much it would cost, to where to go, and how I would be treated. I've had two abortions in my life. The first time, I did it alone, in a "clinic" that was a garage in the southern part of Rosario. I scraped together the money however I could. I still remember the wooden plank across the examination table and the diapers they gave me 30 minutes after the procedure. The second time, I used Misoprostol. I still remember the labor pains at home. Far from trying to portray this as victimizing, it's important to clarify that abortion is the final consequence of a chain of violence. The Comprehensive Sex Education Law doesn't take into account that trans men's bodies are often fertile. Added to this is the disdain of doctors who choose violence and discrimination against a body that "isn't normal."

"I decide what happens to my body"

The second time I had a testosterone injection, the nurse's mistreatment led to an infection that three public hospitals refused to treat because they "didn't know how to handle a trans body." This experience wasn't isolated. Added to this were all the psychiatrists and psychologists who tried to convince me that I was either "crazy" or had "gender dysphoria." It took me a long time to realize that I am a subject and that I make my own decisions about my body. The fear in every situation is palpable. So is the uncertainty about whether everything will turn out alright. But beyond the bad memories and the feeling of powerlessness in confronting the clerical common sense imposed on me by my family, I was able to survive, and here I am telling my story. I tell it as an activist, a fighter, and a candidate in a party, the PTS. There I learned to be a subject, and I fight every day so that no one has to go through what I went through.

Earned rights

Trans identities, like any self-perceived identity, are constructed within the possibilities and limitations of the socio-economic model that surrounds us. Under the capitalist system, different eras have shaped different subjectivities. Particularly within the realm of sexual diversity, the militancy of thousands of activists who put their ideas and bodies on the line sparked the fight against pathologization and discrimination, from Stonewall to the present day.. In Argentina, activists and advocates for sexual diversity achieved groundbreaking legislation: the comprehensive sex education laws and marriage equality enjoyed broad support from sectors of society that challenge homophobia, lesbophobia, transphobia, and misogyny. Furthermore, the Gender Identity Law, passed in 2012, recognizes individual autonomy regarding their bodies. It granted an "expansion of citizenship," recognizing LGBTQ+ individuals as subjects of rights.

The desire

Comprehensive health is understood as "a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" according to The Trans Health Guide. Currently, the variety of human genital systems leads to people being categorized into only two groups: male and female. But the reality is that there are as many genital systems as there are human beings. However, the medical classification of a clitoris as "too large" or a penis as "too small" is used as justification for performing surgical interventions. Not for health reasons, but simply to "conform" their bodies to the parameters imposed by medicine. It must be made clear that desire is what determines sexual orientation, and identity is the subjective construction of each person about themselves, beyond the body or "container" they happen to have been given. The body is constructed.

Equality before the law is not equality before life

When we talk about gender binarism, the concept of "family" comes into play, so strongly defended by the Catholic Church, which is the quintessential institution of patriarchy. Trans people are mostly young women in prostitution. 85% of trans women are or have been in prostitution, and 63% in the case of trans men. The average life expectancy for trans people is 35-40 years. According to research conducted by ALITT, the leading cause of death is AIDS; other terrible causes include police brutality, as well as transphobic murders. Abortion in trans men is an issue that is still being addressed in a very incipient way in public health. Statistics are almost nonexistent with respect to this populationBut the obstacles we face are the same as those women face when seeking abortions, with the particularities I explained earlier, because we… are not talked about. According to [source missing], 42 million induced abortions are performed annually worldwide. data from the World Health Organization (WHO). Half of these abortions were unsafe. As a result, nearly 70,000 women (and trans men) died from widespread infections, injuries and hemorrhaging, and uterine perforations or tears.

Underground business

In Argentina, discrimination against transgender people persists not only in the public health system, but also in the clandestine abortion industry. This clandestine practice claims more than one life per day and is the leading cause of death for pregnant transgender women and men; the vast majority of whom are working-class, young, and poor, lacking the financial means to terminate a pregnancy in a private clinic. The issue of abortion cannot be considered in isolation; half of all wage earners receive a salary of 15,000 pesos or less, less than half the cost of a basic family food basket. For young people, it is commonplace to find work in the informal economy or to have no access to employment at all. Furthermore, the state withholds a portion of the wages of some workers through the misnamed income tax.

Go out into the streets

Macri's neoliberal right wing and his cronies are the ones promoting Argentina and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires as the gay tourism capital, officially incentivizing and financing what is known as the "pink market": hotels, bars, nightclubs, and cruises, all aimed at a wealthy minority who can afford it, never at the working-class dissidents. They deny and restrict our right to work, and they profit from our desires, offering nothing but ignorance and disdain for our health. Only by fighting independently in the streets can we win all democratic rights and freedoms, improve living conditions, and gain access to work, education, health, and housing. This Friday, let the cry resound louder than ever: legal, safe, and free abortion.