South America
First transgender congresswoman in Chile details legislative agenda
Emilia Schneider was student protest leader before election
VALPARAÍSO, Chile — Emilia Schneider, a well-known activist and student leader, on March 11 became Chile’s first transgender congresswoman. Her path to politics, however, began years earlier.
Schneider gained public notoriety in 2018 through her role as spokesperson for the Chilean 8M Feminist Coordinating Committee during the feminist demonstrations that took place in the country that year. She became the first trans president of the University of Chile Student Federation in 2019.
Schneider’s great-grandfather was Gen. René Schneider, who commanded the Chilean Army from 1969 until his assassination the following year.
Before her election, Schneider was a candidate for the Constitutional Convention, the body in charge of drafting Chile’s new constitution. She lost that election, but she won a seat in Congress a few months later.
For her, being the first trans woman in the Chamber of Deputies is “a great joy.”
“It gives a sense and a projection to the social struggles in which I have had to participate: The student struggle, the feminist struggle, the struggle of sexual dissidence,” Schneider told the Washington Blade. “So, I think for me it was like feeling a recognition for the work I have done and also in collective terms the responsibility of representing a community that had never had representation in a space like this.”
“It is an honor for me, it is a pleasure to represent our community, but a great challenge,” added Schneider. “I know that there are many demands, many issues, because there are many years, decades, centuries of exclusion, discrimination and violence through which the trans community has lived. It’s a very structural issue, so it is a challenge, but I am also very grateful because the (LGBTQ) organizations that worked before me made it possible and paved the way for (me.) It’s a very, very big joy in personal and collective terms.”
Schneider is a member of Comunes, a leftist political party that is part of the Frente Amplio coalition whose candidate, Gabriel Boric, won the presidential election.
She told the Blade she has “felt comfortable because we have been able to put our stamp on the deputy’s office.”
“I am also very grateful for the team we have formed, which has worked very well with the Congress’ workers and also with the trust we have developed with our Frente Amplio and Apruebo Dignidad (a political party aligned with Boric) benches and some of the pro-government benches and well,” said Schneider. “The biggest challenge has been to learn to be part of a Congress that is part of a government, that is pro-government.”
When asked if she had experienced transphobia inside the Congress, the congresswoman said “not on the part of the officials of the Congress, to the contrary.”
“They have received my team very well; which is a team composed mainly of women, people of sexual diversity,” said Schneider. “But undoubtedly there is a far-right bench in Congress that constantly tries to provoke fictitious discussions that question the rights of trans people.”
“We have had to listen to several hate speeches coming from the ultra-right wing bench, but it is also very interesting to see how the struggle of (people of) diverse sexualities has also advanced in Congress,” she added. “Before they were small groups of deputies fighting for our rights and today I think it is something much more transversal. In fact, we recently presented a bill to improve the Gender Identity Law, to include trans children and non-binary identities, among other issues, to improve it and it has the signature of different benches, something very transversal and also of Erika Olivera, who is a right-wing congresswoman.”
Schneider added she believes “this also shows that if there is a will, it is possible to build these dialogues despite the differences.”
A law that recognized the right to identity and allows trans people to amend their birth certificates administratively took effect in 2018. Some of the LGBTQ organizations that celebrated the advance, however, have said it is insufficient and must be reformed. They have called for public policies that will benefit trans people who have been historically discriminated against by the State and society.
“I would say that there is a radical absence of public policies, and therefore a tremendous abandonment that is evident not only in those who have not managed to access education and do not find a job, but also to the large population of trans women who are engaged in sex work,” said Schneider. “The economic precariousness, the mental health problems, the lack of access to education and continuity of studies, the lack of access to health care, the number of trans people living on the streets.”
“I would speak of a tremendous lack of public policies and a very radical abandonment of the trans population in Chile, in spite of the fact that in the last time we have obtained symbolic advances and in very big cultural terms,” lamented the congresswoman. “I believe that today there is a common sense of the majority citizenship that it is important to recognize the rights and equality of trans people and to make a reparation also for the bad things that have happened to our community.”
Schneider said Boric’s presidency could mean an improvement in trans people’s life.
La Moneda, the Chilean presidential palace, on March 31 hosted an event that commemorated the International Transgender Day of Visibility. Schneider participated in the ceremony during which the trans Pride flag was raised.
“We are on the right track because the government has already announced a working group that has begun to operate in various ministries and also with the sexual diversity bench in Congress,” she said. “I believe that this situation of neglect and lack of public policies will change. This government has had a very clear commitment with the community and sexual diversities in general.”
Schneider is one of four out LGBTQ women in Congress.
She told the Blade they will work to reform Chile’s anti-discrimination law and include non-binary and intersex people and children in the Gender Identity Law. Schneider also said they support a trans labor quota in the public and private sector.
Bolivia
Casa Trans Pamela Valenzuela is beacon of hope for LGBTQ Bolivians
Refuge, community center opened in La Paz in 2022
In a context where discrimination and exclusion continue to be a reality for Bolivia’s LGBTQ community, Casa Trans Pamela Valenzuela stands as a refuge and comprehensive support center for transgender people.
Casa Trans since it opened in 2022 has provided essential services that go beyond simple housing, offering legal, medical, psychological, and food assistance.
Located in the San Pedro neighborhood of La Paz, the national capital, Casa Trans opens each day, offering a soup kitchen where clients can prepare their own food. Anyone in need of a meal is welcome, although its main objective is to assist trans women and men.
Luna Humérez, president of the Organización de Travestis, Transgéneros y Transexuales Femeninas (Otraf) in Bolivia and director of Casa Trans, told the Washington Blade the project began to address needs the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated. Many trans people found themselves homeless and without means to support themselves because of the loss of informal jobs or sex work.
Support from the Global Fund allowed Humérez and other activists to create a space that offers free food and shelter.
“What inspired the creation of the Casa Trans was post-COVID,” explained Humérez. “You know that in COVID there were many problems with the trans community, especially the Latino trans community, because they were doing sex work, they lived on a daily basis, they lived in rents, they could not go out to work. So, many suffered from housing and food issues. So, the creation of the Casa Trans was to mitigate a little and help the trans population with free food from Monday to Friday.”
The activist said the assistance that Casa Trans has been able to offer has expanded.
“The spaces have been expanded, a multidisciplinary care team has been expanded, from a social worker, a psychologist, an endocrinologist, a general practitioner, a legal advisor, a lawyer and the peer-to-peer work that we do,” said Humérez.
“The space has evolved too much and we are attending more and more cases and helping more and more people. And not only LGBT people, but also people in vulnerable situations,” she added.
LGBTQ people in Bolivia continue to face significant challenges in health, education, employment, and housing, despite some legal and social advances.
The First Virtual Survey of the country’s LGBTQ community, which the Ombudsman’s Office and the National Institute of Statistics conducted, found more than 60 percent of respondents said they have faced discrimination at some point in their lives. This mistreatment includes verbal and physical violence and exclusion in the workforce and the education system.
Thirty-three percent of respondents also said they do not have any type of health care; with sexual minorities and trans women the most vulnerable. Sixty-five percent of respondents said they do not know how to access Bolivia’s Unified Health System.
Humérez pointed out that “legislation in Bolivia and the rights of trans people have been improving over the years.”
“We have had a leftist government that, although it has done some things such as the Gender Identity Law and the Anti-discrimination Law, they have not been enough,” Humérez told the Blade. “At the moment the trans population in Bolivia does not have all the rights as the cisgender population. So, at this moment we are cut off from many things and we think it is important that we must keep fighting and fighting so that the state can recognize our full rights without any restrictions.”
Humérez said it is important for LGBTQ activists to participate in elections that will take place this year.
“I think it is important that we must be political actors in these new elections that are coming this year,” she said.
Casa Trans struggles to secure funding
Casa Trans not only offers a roof and food; but legal advice, specialized medical care in the transition process, psychological support, and job training opportunities. A multidisciplinary team — a lawyer, a social worker, a psychologist, and an endocrinologist — works to provide these services. Casa Trans also arranges scholarships for colleagues who wish to study at a university or technical institute.
“The challenges are complicated because we do not have direct funding,” said Humérez, who noted those who work with Casa Trans are volunteers.
She said U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze nearly all American foreign aid will make efforts to secure enough funding for Casa Trans even more difficult.
“Now with Donald Trump becoming president of the United States, I believe that many things will become more difficult, not only in the United States, but this will also affect the countries of the region, Latin America, among others,” said Humérez. “So, for us it is important that we have financial support so that our work can continue because the work we do is very important.”
The existence and work of the Pamela Valenzuela Trans House highlights the urgency of addressing the inequalities and discrimination faced by the LGBTQ community in Bolivia.
Argentina
Argentine president restricts transgender minors access to hormone treatments, surgeries
Advocacy groups say they could challenge Javier Milei’s decree in court
Argentine President Javier Milei on Feb. 5 issued a decree that restricts minors’ access to gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments.
Human rights organizations and LGBTQ groups have condemned the edict that modifies Argentina’s landmark Gender Identity Law.
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association for Latin America and the Caribbean (ILGALAC) and ILGA World have condemned the decree, noting it “imposes severe restrictions on the right to gender identity of trans and non-binary people, particularly young people.” They further state the restriction “ignores scientific evidence and the recommendations of international bodies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).”
The Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans (FALGBT), meanwhile, has announced it will go to court to stop the modification of the Gender Identity Law and, if necessary, will turn to international organizations. Legal experts have argued the decree is illegal and unconstitutional, and Argentina’s Supreme Court should intervene.
FALGBT President María Rachid, told the Washington Blade that “from the Argentine LGBT Federation we are filing a declaration of unconstitutionality for this DNU (the Spanish acronym for Necessary and Urgent Decree), because we consider that the president is begging for legislative powers that do not correspond to him. That law was approved by a wide majority in both chambers, where specialists of medicine, of law went to expose concrete research on these issues.”
“On the other hand, we are also going to file injunctions, both collective and individual, to defend the rights of trans children and adolescents, mainly,” said Rachid. “It is not true what he (Milei) says to justify this absolute intrusion to legislative powers, saying that 5-year-old children are mutilated. This is not true. Genital reassignment operations are performed after the age of 18, even by medical indication.”
This decree is in addition to other measures of Milei’s government that affect the LGBTQ community, such as the prohibition of gender-affirming treatments and surgeries for minors and limits on housing transgender women in female prisons.These actions have generated controversy and concern among human rights advocates and international organizations.
“President Javier Milei, since he took office, has been carrying out a series of measures that directly affect the vast majority of formal and informal workers in Argentina, and the LGBTIQNB population is no exception,” said Ornella Infante, a trans woman who is a national leader of the leftist Evita Movement. “In addition to the hate speeches that multiply violence; it is a class hatred to sectors with organizational and mobilization capacity such as women, unions, social movements, and sexual diversity.”
“It is exposed with the dismissals of LGBT people from national agencies, the definition of gender policies, the closure of INADI, a state agency that worked to eradicate discrimination in the country,” added Infante. “All of this directly affects vulnerable populations and painfully shows that it is part of their government’s ideals to end human rights policies.”
ILGA World has urged the international community, human rights organizations and democratic institutions to speak out against these measures and to demand the repeal of the decree, calling it “an abuse of executive power and a blow to democratic institutionality.”
Argentina
Millions march against Javier Milei in Argentina
Protests took place after president’s comments at World Economic Forum
Millions of people in Buenos Aires and across Argentina participated in marches against President Javier Milei in response to his controversial comments at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The Buenos Aires march, led by LGBTQ, women’s and human rights organizations in Argentina, shaped up to be one of the largest demonstrations against Milei since he became president in December 2023. The mobilization is a direct response to Milei’s disparaging comments about feminism, LGBTQ rights, and other progressive movements.
Milei called “wokism” and “gender ideology” harmful during his Jan. 23 speech at the World Economic Forum, even comparing them to pedophilia. These statements sparked outrage across Argentina with protesters demanding the defense of human rights and equality.
María Rachid, president of the Argentine LGBT+ Federation, told the Washington Blade on Sunday “the march was massive, a strong message to President Milei putting a limit to hatred, discrimination and violence.”
“Argentine society built the values of respect for diversity, equality, and true freedom and yesterday it came out to defend them with massive demonstrations throughout the country and in many cities around the world,” said Rachid. “We are proud of what we were able to build because although they want to destroy it, it is already part of the heart of Argentine society.”
The Buenos Aires march began at the National Congress and ended at the Casa Rosada, the seat of the country’s presidency. Thousands of demonstrators, many with rainbow flags and banners that read “rights are not negotiable,” expressed their strong rejection of Milei’s policies.
Gay Congressman Esteban Paulón highlighted to the Blade “the call for the march was impressive.”
“I think it exceeded any forecast, not only because of the massiveness in the City of Buenos Aires, where it is estimated more than a million people, but also because of the massiveness in the 150 cities in which it was held throughout the country,” he said. “The truth is that it was a very, very big march in Rosario, in Córdoba, in Santa Fe, in Mar del Plata, in Bariloche, in the north, in Salta.”
“There was no expectation that it would be so, so massive, beyond the one in Buenos Aires, which had had an important call, an important visibility, which had added several actors,” added Paulón.
Sofía Díaz, a transgender woman who worked as a civil servant before Milei’s administration fired her, marched in Corrientes, a city in Chaco province.
“After President Milei’s speeches in Davos, the next day we started texting each other on WhatsApp,” she said, referring to public employees at the national level. “We were really afraid of what he had said.”
Activists around the world expressed solidarity with their Argentine counterparts.
Marches took place in cities around the world — including in Santiago, Chile; Montevideo, Uruguay; Rio de Janeiro; São Paulo; Mexico City; London; Madrid; Amsterdam; Berlin; Geneva; Paris; New York; Lisbon, Portugal; and the Spanish cities of Barcelona and Granada.
The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, a Chilean LGBTQ rights group, on Feb. 1 organized a march to the Argentine Embassy. Activists delivered a letter that expressed solidarity with the LGBTQ community and repudiated Milei’s policies against it.
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