Historical reparation for transvestites and trans people: Second march to Congress for the law for a dignified old age
The Second Plurinational March for Historical Reparations for transvestites and trans people will march from Congress to Plaza de Mayo. It hasn't made any progress for a year. Meanwhile, the layoffs of people who were admitted under the quota law continue.
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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. “Historical Reparation Law Now” is the demand that the surviving transvestite and trans collective will take to the streets this Friday, May 24th. The Second Plurinational March for a Historical Reparation Law is scheduled to begin at 2:00 PM in Plaza de Mayo, heading to Congress around 5:30 PM. There, a document will be read, and a festival will continue into the evening.
A restorative pension. Comprehensive healthcare for a dignified old age. National employment quota for transvestites and trans people. Access to housing. Effective implementation of Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE). Visibility for trans male partners. Implementation of the Transvestite Empowerment Program. Opening of police files and criminal records. These are the strongest demands for a population with a life expectancy of 35 years.
A law that was debated but not addressed
In 2023, hours before the first plurinational march for historical reparations, a committee meeting was held in the Chamber of Deputies. It was convened by the Women and Diversity Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, and representatives from the transvestite and trans community were key voices. Despite the presentation of three bills (one by Mónica Macha, another by Gabriela Estévez, and another by Mara Brawer, all from the Frente de Todxs party), no progress was made.
Congress confirmed to Agencia Presentes that the bill is currently in parliament, but no agreements have been reached to move it forward. They also stated that there may be some news on the matter in the coming weeks.
In December, the province of Santa Fe became the first to approve the law on historical reparations for transvestites . Meanwhile, in the province of Buenos Aires, the bill was removed from parliamentary debate.
"The State must recognize that there was a genocide against the trans population."
Patricia Alexandra Rivas is part of a self-organized collective. “We demand that the State recognize that it persecuted us, that it attempted to exterminate the trans population—whether men or women—that what they committed against us was genocide,” she explains. “At the same time, we adults want financial compensation for what they made us suffer: the persecution, the rape, the torture, the murder of many of our classmates simply for being trans people,” she adds.
Why a historical reparation law is needed
The Gender Identity Law created a new outlook for transvestite trans people, but it failed to significantly improve their structural living conditions. Life expectancy for people living beyond 40 did not increase.
“ We're young enough to retire, but too old to work, and in a lamentable state of health ,” Patricia describes. “We, as adult trans people, were never allowed to work. So, we couldn't contribute.” She also explains that many of her colleagues are sick and receive minimal non-contributory pensions. “Many became ill because of sex work, and others because of the industrial silicone implants we instilled in our bodies, because society itself demanded 'curves,' and they decalcified our bones. And so many years of imprisonment and torture,” she explains.
Marcela Tobaldi, from the transvestite organization La Rosa Naranja, states: “Historical reparations are so necessary for our community. Older people suffer from many health, economic, financial, and poverty problems. We older Argentine transvestites go through all of this. There aren't many of us. The National Government must react and urgently decide on funding to make life easier for all of these women.”
Dismissals do not respect the Transvestite Quota Law
The layoffs by Javier Milei's government left at least 115 trans people unemployed who had entered the workforce thanks to the Transvestite Labor Quota Law approved in 2021. The State's Transvestite, Trans and Non-Binary Workers Front will participate in Friday's march to add their demand for compliance with this law. At INADI alone, where at least 120 people were laid off this week, eight colleagues who were hired through the transvestite quota have already been identified among the total number of employees laid off this year.
According to a report by the Front regarding access to formal employment, they estimate that there were fewer than 1,000 workers in total. Eighty-six percent of those hired are between 18 and 39 years old. And "the few people over 40 who joined, either due to living and health conditions or the unemployment this new administration is attacking, may not make it to retirement."
Representative Macha, president of the Women and Diversity Commission, joins the call. “It's important to support this demand, as important as the labor quota law,” said Macha, who sponsored one of the bills introduced in 2023. “It's also important to defend the Quota Law. We know that transvestite and trans colleagues who entered the workforce under the law are being fired. We must defend that right and the historic reparations.”
Against hate crimes
The march to Congress will conclude around 6:00 PM with the reading of the document containing the demands. A festival is planned for 7:00 PM with participation from Tía Marilú, Malicia, and Momento Kiki from the Ballroom Community.
“In front of the National Congress, we will read the document on the hate messages, the hate crimes that are happening, because they come from the State,” Patricia says. “They haven't acknowledged that they burned four lesbians alive; three died. It was a hate crime,” she says. “For all of this, you have to support us. We ask that they not leave us alone again, because society was also complicit in everything that happened to us.”
The second march for the Historical Reparations Law will gather at 2 p.m. in Plaza de Mayo.
March to the National Congress at 5:30 p.m. to read the document at 6 p.m.
The Festival for Historical Repair will begin at 7 p.m.
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