For the first time, an identity document will say "transvestite femininity"

The protagonist of this unprecedented event is the trans activist Lara Bertolini, a law student and judicial official

March 1, 2019

Photo: Ariel Gutraich

Argentina will have its first national identity document (DNI) with the expression "transvestite femininity" in the field assigned to "sex". This was established in a ruling by the 7th Civil Court of the City of Buenos Aires.

The protagonist of this unprecedented event is the trans activist Lara Bertolini, a law student and employee of the Public Prosecutor's Office, who made the request months ago because she does not feel identified with the binary gender category "female".

[READALSO: What is it to be a transvestite?

"The important thing is that this ruling isn't just about trans identities, but about all identities that have been established since 2012. This ruling challenges the political parties and organizations that have done nothing since then. For Lohana, for Diana, for Maite Amaya, and for all those who have died at the hands of the murderous patriarchy, we now establish ourselves as a gender identity within human identity," Lara Bertolini told Presentes.

In 12 pages, the ruling reviews local and international jurisprudence, placing special emphasis on Argentina's Gender Identity Law 26.743, which "recognizes every person's right to the recognition of their gender identity; to the free development of their personality in accordance with their gender identity; to be treated in accordance with their gender identity and, in particular, to be identified as such in the instruments that certify their identity with respect to the first name(s), image, and sex with which they are registered therein." Likewise, the law defines gender identity as "...the internal and individual experience of gender as each person feels it, which may or may not correspond to the sex assigned at birth, including the personal experience of the body."

[READ ALSO: Unprecedented in Latin America: Non-binary people obtained gender-neutral documents]

Lara María Bertolini's ruling on "Transvestite Femininity"

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