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By LC

“The trans and travesti employment quota opens up a range of possibilities for trans and travesti people who live in this city,” says Victoria Juliette González, a trans leader from Fray Mamerto Esquiú (Catamarca), a town located 25 kilometers from the provincial capital. On Thursday, December 20, it became the first city in that province to have this law.

The City Council approved Ordinance No. 1247, which establishes that 2% of the total staff of the municipality must be occupied by transgender, transsexual, and transvestite people.

“This law is very important in symbolic terms, because it is being implemented in an ultra-conservative and religious province. Furthermore, it sets a precedent for similar measures in other municipalities,” says Miguel Tello, a local activist and member of the organization Diversidad Activa Catamarca.

[READ ALSO: Why a national transvestite and transgender employment quota law is urgent]

“Diversity issues are very difficult to address here. This is a province where there are more pulpits than public schools. This combination influences and delays the advancement of rights for LGBT people,” adds Jorge Oviedo, an activist with the organization Siempre Diversidad Activa (ASDA Catamarca), which promoted the ordinance.

In Fray Mamerto Esquiú, there are 16 transvestite and transgender people, out of a total population of 12,000. Most did not finish their studies and work in the sex industry, says Oviedo, who was in charge of the territorial survey.

[READ ALSO: MAP: This is the trans job quota in Argentina]

The kickoff

The history of the trans quota in this town in Catamarca province dates back to 2011. It began with a day of public policy discussions recognizing sexual diversity, in which several national LGBT leaders participated. The event was spearheaded by Diana Sacayán, a trans activist and historical advocate for the employment quota in Argentina, who was murdered in 2015. This occurred months after the law bearing her name was passed in the province of Buenos Aires, a law that Governor María Eugenia Vidal has yet to implement. “That day served as a platform for establishing a sexual diversity agenda in the province,” Tello recalls. Among other achievements, from that moment on, several trans and travesti people were able to complete high school and have their names legally changed on their diplomas.

[READ ALSO: #TransQuota National Bill Presented by Diana Sacayán]

The draft ordinance was presented in June of this year at the request of councilwoman Susana Acosta (Front for Victory). The legislation also includes provisions for promoting employment quotas for transgender and transvestite individuals in the private sector. To this end, it establishes a 10% tax credit on municipal contributions for businesses and industries that employ transgender and transvestite people. It also proposes the creation of a registry of job applicants.

At the provincial level, the transvestite trans job quota bill lost its parliamentary status this year, but it will be reintroduced next year, says Ovejero.

The transvestite trans job quota responds to the context of high vulnerability of the transvestite trans population in Argentina, where more than 86% practice prostitution as the only means of survival, with a life expectancy that does not exceed 35 years and they face structural obstacles to accessing formal work, such as the lack of real opportunities, stigmatization and violence.