You're Either A Poet Or You're Dead

genderqueer:

cassket:

The 15 July last year was a historic day for equality in Latin America. Argentina was the first country in the region to legalise same-sex marriage. People took to the streets in celebration after a long vigil in front of congress. The law, sponsored by the government of the president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, was the result of a long and arduous campaign by LGBTQ organisations and allies against conservative sectors led by the Catholic church.

Although it has not drawn as many international headlines, 18 August 2011 was yet another historic day for equality. The Argentinian congress began the debates for a proposed gender identity law. If passed, this law would allow transgender people to correct their names and gender on all legal documents, including birth certificates, IDs and passports through a quick procedure.

According to first-hand accounts in local media, never before have there been so many trans activists in a congressional debate session. The debates have been set in motion by four different projects, each supported by a group of legislators and NGOs, each of them with a slightly different approach to providing a legal framework for identity issues that are currently addressed through court procedures that leave the final decision in the hands of judges and magistrates. The main differences between projects are based on healthcare services for those who wish to undertake hormone and/or surgeries as part of the transition processes.

If congress approves one of these four projects, the gender identity law would be another landmark in Argentina’s efforts for LGBTQ equality. This path was initiated in 2007, when, in a meeting sponsored by Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, the Yogyakarta Principles were launched as a global charter for gay rights at the United Nations human rights council. Due to resistance of several member states where homosexuality and gender identity are penalised, the principles have not yet been adopted worldwide. However, those initial accomplishments paved the way for Argentina’s deep social changes, which resulted in same sex marriage and could possibly grant trans people the right to recognition of their identities.

Argentinian LGBT Federation (FALGBT), together with ATTA (Asociación de Travestis, Transexuales y Transgéneros de Argentina), launched a media campaign to raise awareness of the proposed law and garner public support. The campaign, which includes videos and brochures, emphasises the recognition of gender identity without the need of medicalisation and the subsequent involvement of psychiatric or surgical procedures. Instead, their aim is the depathologisation of trans identities and the elimination of gender-related matters from the realm of psychiatry and the legal system. This campaign has also benefited from the recent high-profile case of Florencia Trinidad, a popular comedian who not only successfully exercised her right to identity through a verypublicised court case but also married her long-term partner and became a mother of twins through surrogacy last week.

(read on)