Los cuerpos desde ese otro lado: la ley de identidad de género en Argentina

Abstract

This article discusses the recognition landmarks that enabled the sanction of Argentina’s gender identity law. It describes the situation of the political/legal constitution of transvestites and transsexuals before the rule of law and the paradigm shift provided by the new law. The legal norm establishes anti-discriminatory mechanisms for the Government to legally and politically recognize transvestite and transgender corporealities and identities. The implications of this norm have a far-reaching effect on disarming the institutional violence this population has suffered when it comes to their rights to citizenship. The articulation between the transvestite and transsexual movement and their alliances within a particular political context succeeded in having the approved act to pave the way for dejudicialization and depathologization in public acknowledgment circles. This is a significant breakthrough as this public policy allowed the theoretical and political demands of this group to be incorporated into the law of the land