Beyond Identity: Redistributive Transgender Rights in Argentina

Abstract

Public policies such as the Gender Identity Law and the national and provincial laws promoting formal employment are examples of how Argentina’s trans politics go beyond calls for identity-based non-discrimination policies. U.S. trans legal scholars have already shown how these kinds of regulations would be insufficient to improve the actual, material life chances for most of the trans population: anti-discrimination laws are difficult to enforce –especially when discrimination is enacted by corporations, state agencies or powerful individuals. These regulations can also be used to strengthen the same police force which targets this community. In contrast, scholars have pointed out that Argentine trans and travesti activists have focused on—and achieved—regulations which imply a redistribution of resources and life opportunities.