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By GR and LG

On the morning of June 27th in Paraná, Entre Ríos, the Honorable Deliberative Council unanimously approved a trans employment quota for the city. Two percent of the municipality's employees must be transgender.

“This is what we’ve been asking for and demanding for a long time,” Agostina Solange Bursten, a trans woman working with the Sexual and Reproductive Health Program of the Entre Ríos Provincial Ministry of Health, told Presentes. “I was one of the first to join the effort to draft the ordinance, which isn’t the one that was approved today. We submitted the first draft with Councilor Stefanía Cora, and we had been working on this for three years. At that time, it wasn’t approved due to a lack of quorum, and now this new ordinance has been presented and approved,” she added.

A comprehensive plan and training 

Stefanía Cora, a councilwoman in Paraná representing the Frente para la Victoria bloc, was part of the project that was in committee two years ago but failed to reach a quorum. “The strategy adopted by activists and supporters was to contribute a comprehensive plan to the project we had developed, thus securing the necessary votes from the Cambiemos coalition to pass the ordinance. From there, they spearheaded the effort to build consensus among the different blocs,” she said.

[READ ALSO: #1M Map of the transvestite-trans job quota in Argentina]

The project envisions that individuals will receive training and education to fill the assigned job positions. A statement issued by the Dissident Sexualities group of Paraná explained that the ordinance, in addition to approving the Trans Employment Quota, also promotes the development of programs addressing issues related to health, education, housing, access to and exercise of civic rights, assistance for trans victims of violence, and support for trans children, adolescents, and young adults and their families. The statement also announces the creation of the Directorate of Sexual and Gender Diversity within the General Secretariat and Human Rights Department of the Municipality of Paraná.

Progress at the provincial level

At the provincial level, in May of this year, the Chamber of Deputies gave preliminary approval to the bill promoting labor rights for the trans and travesti community. With the ordinance now passed by the City Council of the provincial capital, the LGBTQ+ movement hopes that the bill—authored by Representative Emilce Pross—will move forward in the Senate.

“This is an achievement, a source of immense joy, because this ordinance was approved in the municipality of Paraná, and when it is approved in the province, we will have a trans job quota throughout the entire province. With the steps we are taking, we are very close to achieving these goals. And this motivates us to continue fighting to obtain more things for our community,” Bursten told this publication.

[READ ALSO: The Buenos Aires Court ruled in favor of a trans municipal worker]

Councilwoman Stefanía Cora added: “From our position, we will present an Observatory project so that once the ordinance is enacted, the comprehensive action and reparation plan for transvestite and trans people in Paraná can be fulfilled in the months remaining in the current administration.”

In their statement, the Dissident Sexualities group also emphasized: “Regulations with a budget that allows us to carry out what was sanctioned today in the HCD!”