Cabildo Trava, an action to stop the anti-rights advance against the Gender Identity Law
Trans, transvestite, and non-binary people organized a Trava Council in front of the National Congress to make their voices heard in response to the official call for a seminar on the Gender Identity Law with an anti-rights perspective.
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CITY OF BUENOS AIRES. The official call for the seminar "Gender Identity Law: Testimonies on its Consequences" was held in Congress, with the approval of the Senate. The event reached many trans and non-binary people in Argentina. They registered to have their voices heard, but they never received confirmation of their registration or permission to participate in the event.
That seminar was a new attempt by Javier Milei's government to push back against the Gender Identity Law. "We don't know if it was held or not, but the fact that it wasn't held in the Senate is already a big deal for us," says Kei, president of the Sports League for Transvestite, Trans, and Non-Binary People . Kei was one of the driving forces behind Cabildo Trava , the action that took place on Wednesday, August 20, outside the National Congress. It was part of a hectic day with retirees and people with disabilities .
“It went well because a lot of people came forward to support us. We weren't saying 'Don't give your opinion on us,' or ' You don't have a vote ,' you can't be against the law .' We're saying, ' If we're going to give our opinion, let's all give our opinion .'”
How the Gender Identity Law changed your life
When many didn't receive confirmation or the link to participate in the anti-rights activity, they realized: those who had a different perspective on the Gender Identity Law weren't accepted. "We were frustrated and upset. But we thought that if the idea was for all voices to be heard, let's be serious. Let's make this more democratic," Kei says.
Since the seminar call addressed the "consequences of the Gender Identity Law," trans and non-binary activists created a Google Form with the question: "How did gender identity change your life?" Around 300 testimonials of experiences arrived, all of them positive. Kei says they were struck by the rapid response rate.
Once the testimonies were collected, they were printed and distributed to those who could attend the seminar, so they could also be read there. But there was another surprise: the event was announced to be canceled.
A mother of a transgender child approached to inquire and was told the location had changed. However, upon arriving at the new address, no one knew anything about the seminar or its holding. The Senate's official website posted the sign "activity suspended."
Two anti-rights meetings in legislative spaces
The call for applications came from the organization Manada, which is made up of mothers and fathers of adolescent children with "accelerated-onset gender dysphoria ."
Gabriela Ivy, a transvestite activist and communicator, clarifies: “Dysphoria is a term that doesn't exist.” In a video she made from outside a fenced-off Senate, she explained that the groups that organized the seminar are part of a systemic conservative agenda that presents itself as the mother and father of trans people (whom they don't recognize as such) to legitimize a hateful stance.
Ivy was one of the people who signed up to participate in the seminar. “It's censorship. They lied to me. First they said there was a quota issue, and then they said it had been canceled.”
The only trans people allowed to attend and speak were those brought in by the same organizations from other countries to justify their attacks on the law and "legitimize these discourses. These people are full of contradictions between what they say and how they live it. At the same time, they deny the participation of trans people who support the advancement of rights because you are effectively destroying the entire discussion, the entire debate."
That same week, another meeting challenging trans rights was held in a legislative building. Another meeting took place in the Buenos Aires City Legislature on August 18th.
"We have a conservative government with a guiding principle coming from spaces like VOX (Spain) that cedes power to these voices," Ivy said. She added that in the context of an anti-rights government, these groups are given every tool available to spread misinformation. This is happening in a country that is a pioneer in the fight for the human rights of diverse people.
“We will not allow any regression”
What happened with the Cabildo Trava meant reaching out to other groups harmed by current policies. Kei experienced it as a small victory. “There were debates within the trans community itself that advocated against giving the seminary any status, but how long are we going to allow that?” she wonders.
Kei is 32 years old and remembers what her life was like before the law was passed. “I'm 32. I experienced conversion therapy, not having an ID at school. And also the change to having a job quota, access to the basic rights of a human being. This leads you to live in peace. I think we need to create spaces for debate again, always based on consensus. The right doesn't let you live in peace. That's why, when these times come, I think society has to be a little more forceful against these advances and occupy these spaces. We're not going to allow any regression, nor will we allow these spaces of hatred to continue to be generated so that they eventually repeal the law.”
“We have to build a network”
“The right is overwhelmed by contradictions,” says Gabriela Ivy. These events amid the current political climate can also be read as provocations. For her, the best way to respond is to provide direct information: “What they want is to provoke. To make you angry and appear violent. So in that case, what we can do is respond with facts. And since we don't have the space in the mainstream media to talk about this, we have to build a network.”
“On Wednesday, for example, when we posted posters of testimonies, a lot of people came. People with disabilities, their families, and retirees read the posters and took photos. It's a way to spread the word not only at the regional level but also on social media,” says Gabriela, who has a strong presence in the digital space with her news reels.
This weekend, a young man was the victim of a hate crime. Ivy explains that with the rise of the right and these attacks, they seek to "make you afraid to express yourself as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Because by expressing yourself, you inform yourself, dismantling the lies they spread to maintain traditional values: God, Country, Family, etc." In this threatening strategy, Gabriela recognizes that there is nothing accidental but a perverse construction, "that's why we have to inform about what they constantly misinform."
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