Illustration: Florencia Cappella for Presentes. Transgender people in Resistencia (Chaco) will occupy 1% of the municipality's jobs. Yesterday, Mayor Jorge Capitanich signed the resolution regulating Ordinance 11936, which approved the equal employment opportunity policy for transgender people. Ordinance 11936 was approved in September 2016. It was a project presented by councilwoman Nancy Sotelo of Libres del Sur, and supported by the organizations Identidades Diversas Chaco and Fundación Travesti Trans Chaco.

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“Formal employment is a fundamental tool for achieving a better quality of life. For us, it's a historic event, a historical redress that brings a glimmer of hope to Resistencia. Years ago, this wouldn't have been even considered. It's the State's responsibility to have these policies for vulnerable sectors, and it also encourages our fellow activists to see that there are other opportunities when struggles are collective,” activist Úrsula Sabarese of the Chaco Transvestite Foundation told Presentes.

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The activist added that at the provincial level there is a bill that was introduced in 2014. “Legislators had committed to working on its approval in 2017, but they didn't. Now, the regulations at the municipal level give us hope that they will revive it at the provincial level.”

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The Secretary General of the Municipality, Raúl Codutti, said that the purpose of the regulation is to ensure inclusive job promotion, which is part of the policy of the Municipality of Resistencia. The regulation falls under Ordinance 1719 of the Public Employee Statute. The official explained that since no new personnel are being hired, there is a category called "day laborers," where vacancies arise. This quota will be filled by people from the trans and gender-diverse community. The hiring process will be preceded by a pre-employment medical examination and verification of the applicants' suitability to refer them to the area that needs to be filled.