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By Lucas Gutiérrez 

Jessica Millamán, a young trans woman, was verbally assaulted on Thursday, May 23, at midday by an employee of the public transportation company Metrovías. The aggressor repeatedly called her "sir," even after she told him her name was Jessica. The video was shared on social media and went viral. The company suspended the employee.

“I was going through the turnstile. The same thing happened to a girl next to me. It marked us as having charged us, we both pushed, it let us both through, it wasn't like we went sideways or anything, and we stood there chatting for two minutes about what had happened. Then this man came out from behind, only yelling at me, saying to the girl: 'It's with the gentleman.' I said, 'Excuse me, but my name is Jesica Millaman, I don't know why you're calling me sir,' and he kept calling me kid,” Jessica told Presentes.

Jessica explains that she spent more than 30 minutes talking to the employee, telling him he couldn't treat her that way. “I left very indignant, and when I was on the platform, I thought this couldn't be left like this. So I went back and recorded him,” she explains. In the two videos Millamán uploaded to her social media, you can see how this employee, without any identification stating his name or position, continued to call her “sir” and even threatened to film her himself.

 

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I relived something I never thought would happen to me again. It was because of someone who represents not only a segment of society but also a public company like Metrovías. You can hear my voice trembling and breaking as so many memories resurface. This situation, in another era, could have driven me, or someone else in a vulnerable state, to suicide. We cannot allow people like this to express themselves freely without facing any consequences. @metrovias_arg #transphobia #homophobia #metrovia #discrimination #station #Echeverría This can't keep happening to us 😠😠😠. Tomorrow I will take action, and this will not go unpunished. Help me spread the word so that these kinds of people no longer exist. #stopdiscrimination #stophate

A post shared by Jessica Millaman (@jessicamillaman) on May 26, 2019 at 2:44am PDT

[READ ALSO: What is sexual orientation? And gender identity?]

“If he was saying all that to me while I was recording, imagine what it was like 40 minutes before we were recorded.
He was saying all sorts of things to me, and he seemed to enjoy it: ‘kid,’ ‘man,’ ‘sir,’” Jessica adds, explaining that people walked by, looked, but no one stopped. “When this started going viral, a lot of people who knew the man came forward to report the abuse, all of them from the LGBT community,” she says.

Presentes News Agency contacted Metrovías, who reported that the employee had been assigned to retraining. They explained that, given his role as an assistant and his contact with the public, he will receive training emphasizing best practices in customer service policies. Once the retraining is complete, it will be determined whether he is fit to return to his duties. The company did not confirm whether the training will be conducted in conjunction with other organizations that serve the LGBT+ community. The National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism (INADI) has yet to contact Metrovías to determine how they will proceed regarding this complaint.

Gonzalo Goberna, secretary of the organization 100% Diversity, told Presentes: “We do not intend for this person to lose their job, but rather to demand that a company that provides a public service ensures that the people who work there are trained to avoid repeating these acts of discrimination.”

[READ ALSO: The story of Tito, the trans boy from Mar del Plata who rectified his birth certificate]

The video Jessica shared went viral, and several media outlets reported on the incident. Jessica was even invited to appear on TV host Moria Casán's show to explain what happened. On Monday, she filed a complaint with INADI (National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism), and she says she is considering filing complaints with other organizations. Jessica says she has not been contacted by the company.

Solidarity with Jessica Millaman
👉 #StopTransphobia
👉 #StopDiscrimination pic.twitter.com/O0neJDeuVR

— AGTSyP Press (@prensadelsubte) May 28, 2019

The Subway and Premetro Workers' Union (AGTSyP) issued a statement condemning the incident and committing to take the necessary actions to discuss the matter with all sectors, especially with the person responsible.

This isn't the first time Jessica Millamán has faced transphobic incidents. When she lived in Chubut, she wasn't allowed to participate in the province's women's hockey league . Now living in Buenos Aires, she also faces violence and violations of the Gender Identity Law. The government is drawing attention to the increase in attacks against the trans community: "Compared to three or four years ago, we've received three or four times more reports."