READ ALSO Letter to Tiziana, the trans girl who made history in Salta It continues: “We are surprised by the torrent of symbolic violence from adults accusing and discrediting trans children through harassment on social media, with false messages pathologizing trans children. These attitudes of inciting social panic, which they promote through their fallacious 'gender ideology' in a war against acquired rights—in accordance with those upheld by the Catholic, Evangelical, and Pentecostal churches, and other oppressive groups—attempt to re-establish sexual difference and hierarchies among people.”

“This is an organized campaign”

Alba Rueda, a leading figure in the Trans Women of Argentina movement—who spearheaded the statement—emphasized their concern to Presentes: “We are certain that this is a campaign, and it is not the only attack happening in Salta against members of the LGBTIQ+ community. We are facing an onslaught, and no one is stopping them.” Ceballos added: “There are people who are not just citizens but hold fundamental positions as legislators at the national and provincial levels. And they are contributing to the violence against trans identities, gender identity, and human rights. So far this year…” In Salta there were 11 social transvesticides. But no one asks why the last woman who died committed suicide at 25. No one cares about the causes of that suicide, nor about the living conditions in a society that criminalizes us, insults us, points us out, and attacks us. The institutions reinforce this. There are legislators who are fueling this violence, when so much remains to be done to address our lives, with such indifference toward our identities.        

[READ ALSO: Lucas, the trans boy from Entre Ríos who asked to change his ID]

Similarly, the statement affirms: “These anti-rights groups reaffirm a series of assigned and naturalized roles, criminalizing and pathologizing trans, transvestite, transsexual, or any other gender identities that dissent from their oppressive binary.” It concludes: “These individuals, lacking any intellectual merit, adopt a surveillance approach rooted in compulsive heterosexuality, forced pregnancies, and the use of sexual distinction as a policy of the oppressive, macho, and repressive force. They attack with religious fundamentalism and attempt to argue, sometimes with faith in nature, or with pseudo-scientific, legal, or any other argument that suits them to hierarchize citizenships and restrict rights.”