By Luli Sánchez* What is the impact of a protocol that once again identifies the LGBTIQ community as a dangerous, criminal subject ? These kinds of tools are undoubtedly part of the culture war. In this case, it is a device that directly aims to counteract the symbolic, cultural, and material effects—the social imaginary—constructed from the enactment of the laws on same-sex marriage, gender identity, and the reform of the nation's Civil and Commercial Code.

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And why not, if Mauricio Macri was against such recognitions? I remember the absurd taxi-colored poster plastered all over the blocks around Congress, showing two sperm cells bumping their "heads," expressing on behalf of the PRO party that love between two men "is not natural."

To endorse the repression of sexual dissidence

This protocol, which, despite repeating familiar formulas, is aimed at endorsing the repression of sexual dissidence and normatively equating it with crime, also forcefully reinstates the "they must have done something" mentality within the LGBT community. There will be no shortage of leaders who assert that "if you don't commit crimes, there's nothing to fear." But when are we not committing a crime? One only needs to look at the prison population and police statistics, along with the news of recent months, to understand that, for this administration, the LGBTIQ community is the crime itself.

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All our forms of survival are criminal. Our forms of recreation and sociability are criminal. Our kisses are criminal, and our resistance is criminal. Madam, where is your gay son now?

The public and the private

Not being heterosexual in private is not the same as not being heterosexual in public. In this sense, the line of repression most strongly enabled by the protocol is the repression of sexual dissident visibility and its expressions. This becomes clear when we analyze who has been repressed in these two years, under what circumstances, and why. It is possible to identify three scenarios where police repression occurs most frequently: survival (criminalization of prostitution and drug use and dealing), protest (repression on March 8th, the National Women's Meetings, which are concerning in light of the LGBTIQ marches in November), and sociability (closure of LGBT spaces, repression of public displays of affection). All of these scenarios take place in public spaces.

victimized state

Another common denominator is that the alleged crimes involve the State as the victim, and the protected legal interest affected is a mere abstraction: “public health,” “authority,” or “public morality.” These crimes do not infringe upon the human rights of specific individuals, a fundamental principle of democratic criminal law.

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Regarding those who have been repressed: transvestites and trans women, mostly Peruvian and Ecuadorian, lesbians, particularly trans women, trans men, and people who do not conform to the gender binary. The meticulousness of the protocol regarding this group is surprising, as it is considered particularly suspicious. *Lawyer and lesbian feminist activist. Member of the Collective for Diversity (COPADI) ]]>