Gender Identity Law: "We will continue to fight for what is denied to us."

By Keili González* The Gender Identity Law was passed on May 9, 2012, in Argentina. It was groundbreaking because it was designed and achieved by transvestites and trans people who not only gave their all but also laid its foundations. It is important to recognize its value and, therefore, to understand the coexistence of…

May 9, 2020

By Keili González*

The Gender Identity Law was passed on May 9, 2012, in Argentina. It was groundbreaking because it was designed and achieved by transvestites and trans people who not only gave their all but also laid its foundations. It is important to recognize its value and, within that framework, to understand the coexistence of our bodies, knowing that the full implementation of the Law is neither the first nor the only one of our demands.

Its enactment brought about changes within the trans community whose dimensions are difficult to measure. But eight years later, we face significant challenges to overcome. This is especially true given the presence of a capitalist, bourgeois, patriarchal, and heteronormative state that renders our demands invisible, implementing every strategy to contain the rise of a movement built on discontent and weariness.
Organized, we will dismantle all the institutions that have placed us in a position of structural vulnerability through multiple forms of exclusion and discrimination. We will not compromise our rights with the state, particularly if its proposal is a "politics of misery," without reorienting economic and social policies to address the root causes of the problem and truly serve our community.

The visibility gained is significant. But this is not enough, because equality before the law is not equality in life. The brutal austerity measures being implemented by Alberto Fernández and the governors are inexorably leading to increased poverty. Faced with this, organization is essential to fight back in the same way as when the Identity Law was enacted, but this time: to turn everything around.

The economic crisis and the current pandemic are hitting trans women and trans people particularly hard, as their only means of survival is now impossible. They can no longer stand on the side of roads and avenues, and trans men with children to feed have to drop out of school to find ways to put food on the table. But there's something important to clarify today: no one will dare to decide our lives based on compassion and tolerance. Instead, we will demand the fulfillment of our rights, and more than ever, we shout: Trans and trans job quotas! Stop the genocide against our community! Stop the discrimination! We demand equal opportunities and access!

*Activist and member of the MST/Libre Diversidad.

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