Status: 08/21/2021 11:36 a.m.
A trans quota of one percent is effective immediately in Argentina’s authorities. The LGBTIQ community cheers. In the midst of the pandemic, the Catholic country is playing a pioneering role in gender justice.
The pride is Luana Lopez Reta written on her face as she walks to her new job in downtown Buenos Aires. Luana is one of the first trans women to benefit from Argentina’s new transgender law. The systems analyst specializing in Linux software had previously accepted various freelance jobs.
Now, for the first time since her outing as a trans person, she is working permanently in an office. “I never thought that I would be able to do a regular job as a trans woman, precisely because I have this orientation. Now I am happy.”
The 55-year-old Luana was born a man, but felt strange in her body from an early age. As long as her mother was alive, she didn’t want to come out. It was only after her death that Luana let her hair grow, changed her dress style and married a man. Luana knew that this involved a blatant lifestyle.
Trans people still encounter major reservations in Catholic Argentina. Especially in rural provinces. Often enough, they cannot find work outside of prostitution. According to studies, 95 percent of transgender people are not formally employed.
A piece of security and normalcy that she no longer expected: Luana Lopez Reta will benefit from the new quota.
Image: ARD Rio de Janeiro
The law finds a large majority
Argentina’s new law now stipulates that one percent of all public service jobs are reserved for trans people. In total there should be 2500 jobs nationwide. Private companies that employ transgender people should be given preference when awarding public contracts. Congress recently passed the law with a large majority.
Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández then invited to a large press conference and presented another project of his government: the new ID card for non-binary people. In the future, every Argentine can have an “x” noted there next to “male” or “female” if it is not intended to be assigned to any gender.
Argentina is thus implementing what is probably the most progressive social legislation in South America in the middle of the pandemic. That was what President Fernández had strived for since he took office. There is probably also a personal background: Fernández’s son has just come out as non-binary and wants to make this recognizable in the new identity card.
For him, advocating a trans quota also has a personal dimension: Argentina’s President Fernandez (center)
Image: EPA
Reform in a time of crisis
What the LGBTIQ community welcomes currently only plays a subordinate role for many Argentines. Because the corona pandemic is still having an enormous impact on everyday life on the Rio de la Plata: The borders with neighboring countries have been tight for months, inflation continues to rise and the economic crisis has worsened due to the pandemic. A way out of the misery is not foreseeable for the time being.
For Luana Lopez Reta, however, the joy of the new job currently predominates. Together with other trans activists, she sits in her garden and toasts the new legislation. Almost everyone has suffered from stigmatization so far. “For years I had to pretend to adapt to the majority society,” says Alexia Segovia. “The new laws are helping now and will bring about change.”
Luana’s lifestyle is just beginning. An “F” for woman is already noted on her ID card. She wants to start hormone therapy soon in order to have a more feminine body in the future. Because she has opted for a process of transsexuality. The fact that she now has a permanent job in the Ministry of the Interior encourages her to go her own way.