Share

Share this

Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Tweet Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on WhatsApp

SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina. Activists and families of transvestite and transgender adolescents held an action yesterday to ask Congress to reject Javier Milei's decrees of necessity and urgency (DNU 61 and 62/25) on Wednesday, which restrict the Gender Identity Law .

Working with the four blocs, activists succeeded in getting the discussion of Decree 62 included in the session this Wednesday, the 17th. The Chamber of Deputies will address it in a marathon session. A massive mobilization is expected, as the third Federal University March will also take place in protest against Milei's veto. Among other topics, legislators will discuss the President's vetoes of the Pediatric Emergency and University Financing laws. 

The action, organized by the Pride and Struggle Front and the Pride March Organizing Committee – Historic Line, featured a large banner reading “Reject DNU 62/25” on the facade of the National Congress, in addition to posters denouncing the following: “Your DNU affects my health.” People on motorcycles, buses, and cars supported the initiative and honked their horns.

"We succeeded in getting the DNUs included in the agenda. We're here to celebrate this first step and call for a mobilization on Wednesday, September 17, to demand the rejection of these decrees," shared Martín Canevaro, microphone in hand, of 100% Diversity and Rights and the Pride and Struggle Front .

What changed by decree

Following the massive Anti-Fascist and Anti-Racist Federal Pride March on February 6, the national government published DNU 61 and 62/25 in the Official Gazette. The decree modified article 11 of Law No. 26,743 , which expresses the right to free personal development, and replaced it with a text that prohibits gender-affirming treatments for persons under 18 years of age. “Persons under EIGHTEEN (18) years of age may not access the interventions and treatments referred to in this article,” says one of its paragraphs.

Before the MIlei decree, Article 11 required that for minors seeking treatment, "the principles and requirements established in Article 5 for obtaining informed consent" apply. That is, it must be carried out "through their legal representatives and with the express consent of the minor, taking into account the principles of progressive capacity and the best interests of the child in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Law 26.061 on the comprehensive protection of the rights of children and adolescents ." Meanwhile, for interventions, they must "also have the consent of the competent judicial authority in each jurisdiction."

For various lawyers and constitutionalists, the decree "violates the basic rules of the legal system" and "is void" because it "does not meet the requirements set forth in the Argentine Constitution."

“He saved our lives”: against Milei’s DNU

Verónica, Natalia, and Andrea are over 50 years old and mothers of transgender adolescents. They are members of the Munay Group and were with several families yesterday. “Our daughter, from the age of 3, began to express her disagreement with the gender she was assigned at birth. I was a deeply binary and heteronormative mother, and from that moment on, I began to understand what was happening to her. We understood that we needed to be on the streets, to fight,” recalled Verónica, the mother of a 14-year-old adolescent, in an interview with Presentes.

Natalia and I met so their daughters, both trans, could share the game and experience. Then they took to the streets. “Children's rights are being trampled on. They're criminalizing us, prohibiting our adolescents from starting or continuing treatment,” Natalia shared.

As family members committed to their children's well-being, they researched and supported their journeys. "He told me he didn't want to live anymore," recalled Andrea, a 52-year-old mother of a 16-year-old boy. "I'm an older woman, from another generation, but I started, and we began researching. We were fortunate to fall into the right hands and impeccable healthcare teams. They offered us to start hormone therapy, always with medical checkups every three months. He had to go through several steps and tests before starting. Fortunately, he was able to start because starting hormone therapy saved my son's life. It's not invasive at all; it's progressive; you see the changes little by little. They're gaining confidence in themselves. Today, he's a studious, happy boy."

Andre explains that since the DNU (Decree of the Unified State), at the Pacheco Hospital where his son is being treated, "they told us in a meeting that the treatments were ending. They're inviting you to go illegal. To buy medication anywhere, to do it without a monitoring team." 

Also present at yesterday's action was Mónica Macha, a national representative for Union for the Homeland. Wednesday's session, she announced, will be "very long" as many issues will be addressed. "The greatest challenge we face is uniting the struggles. Milei's advance against public policies, against the people and humanity, is occurring in all areas. Having achieved the rejection of the DNU on this agenda is very important. They know they can count on each and every one of us. We'll be there," said the representative for the province of Buenos Aires.