Yesterday, the bill seeking to establish a 1 percent quota for transgender, transsexual, and gender-diverse people and trans men was presented in the Argentine Congress. The event took place in the Annex of the Chamber of Deputies. Shortly after 6:00 p.m., activists from the Front began speaking about the need and urgency of debating and passing the transgender employment quota law. Nora Cortiñas, a member of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, was among the audience. Florencia Blasi, representing Infancias Libres (Free Childhoods), said that “six years after the approval of the Gender Identity Law, it is essential to support the rights that have been won with public policies.” Lourdes Arias of La Cámpora Diversia stated: “The right to dignified work is the great debt that society owes us, a society that has driven us to prostitution as our only means of survival.” Trans activist Pía Ceballos spoke about the living conditions of trans women in northern Argentina. “Our lives become more difficult in conservative provinces, where we are mired in extreme structural poverty, discriminated against by society, and raped by the security forces,” she said. She added, “Many of us are here hoping to find our first job and, why not, to be able to afford a coffin, because we are violated even in death. That is why Congress must strongly approve this law that will redress years of neglect. We will never go back to jail,” she declared.

Breaking social stigmas

“This law aims to break down the social stigmas that weigh on our bodies. We are not objects, we are subjects of rights. This law must be implemented so that prostitution stops claiming the lives of our sisters,” said trans activist Ivana Gutiérrez of Conurbanos por la Diversidad (Suburbanites for Diversity).

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Agustina, a representative of the Association for an Equal World in Mar del Plata, said: “Being a trans woman in Argentina is a death sentence due to the culture of patriarchy and heteronormativity.” Activists Martín Canevaro, from 100% Diversity and Rights, and Marcelo Suntheim, representing the Argentine Homosexual Community (CHA), also spoke. Sasha Sacayán, Diana's brother and an activist with MAL (Anti-Discrimination Liberation Movement), said that Diana was a victim of the hatred that is compounded by the violence that “trans and travesti people experience every day.” He added: “We give up our sisters and comrades to demonstrate the extreme vulnerability of the trans and travesti community.”

Background of the law

Congresswoman Mónica Macha, who sponsored the bill in the Lower House, explained that the national bill has as its precedent...The Diana Sacayán transvestite-trans quota law that was approved in the province of Buenos Aires in 2015 And since Governor María Eugenia Vidal has not yet implemented it, it is not being applied. This law was conceived by Diana to address the highly vulnerable situation of the trans and travesti population: more than 86% engage in prostitution as their sole means of survival, and their average life expectancy is less than 35 years. The majority face structural obstacles to accessing formal employment, such as a lack of real opportunities, stigmatization, and violence.

The support of the deputies

The Diana Sacayán National Law initiative was presented at the behest of National Deputy Mónica Macha (Citizen's Unity), but already has cross-party support from legislators of the Front for Victory (FPV), Cambiemos, Radical Evolution, Peronism for Victory, Protectora, and Radical Civic Union. “The employment quota is a necessity for the trans community due to the difficulties they face in finding work. The violence they are exposed to and their average life expectancy of less than 35 years are important factors to consider when approving it,” Deputy Agustín Rossi told Presentes. “The trans quota is a debt of democracy. The trans community has always fought for social causes throughout Argentine history, which is why we are committed to that struggle in the terms that Diana Sacayán envisioned,” Deputy Leonardo Grosso told Presentes.