Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona dismissed women’s and LGBTQIA+ rights as “gender ideology” and called diverse sexual identities a “subjective fabrication” during a meeting of the Women and Diversity Commission in the Lower House on Tuesday.
“We reject diversity of sexual identities that don’t align with biology,” Cúneo Libarona said.
He appeared to minimize the importance of gender-based violence, stating that violence should be punished “regardless of gender” and stated that the “real problem in Argentina” is poverty, arguing that the government aims to focus on prevention, rather than solving ongoing cases of violence.
“[President Javier] Milei’s solution is a battle in terms of economy,” said Cúneo Libarona, adding that “a lot of collateral problems” will be solved through this course of action.
His comments mark a significant change in direction in a country that has been known for progressive gender policy in recent years. They were roundly rejected by feminist and LGBTQIA+ campaigners. In Argentina, one woman was killed because of her gender every 35 hours in 2023, according to the Supreme Court’s department for women.
He was then interrupted by deputy Carla Carrizo while a group of supporters invited by members of ruling coalition La Libertad Avanza applauded him.
“Your personal opinions are one thing, and the law is another,” Carrizo said, as other deputies complained. “You are the justice minister. You are obliged to respect Argentine law no matter what you believe.”
As deputies from the opposition and ruling coalition La Libertad Avanza started raising their voices, Cúneo Libarona’s microphone remained open. He was caught murmuring to his advisor: “Boludo, this was taken straight out of Milei’s speech,” referring to the president’s previous comments on the subject.
“This is in the Constitution, the Bible, the Koran, science and human nature,” the minister went on to say. “We stand for equality, we need to punish violence regardless of gender.”
Cúneo Libarona was called to attend the commission to explain the closure of the undersecretary for protection against gender-based violence, which is what remained of the Women, Genders and Diversity Ministry created in 2019 by Alberto Fernández’s administration.
Cuts to victim support
As promised during his campaign, Milei shut down the ministry as soon as he took office last December, demoting it to a sub-secretariat within the Human Capital Ministry. It was transferred to the Justice Ministry in May. Two weeks later, Cúneo Libarona decided to shut it down completely. Almost all of the former ministry’s employees, whom the minister said numbered around 1,000, were laid off during the first six months of Milei’s government.
The government has also shut down the INADI anti-discrimination institute and cut back Acompañar, a state program to support survivors of domestic violence. The program used to consist of six months of economic, psychological and legal assistance, aimed at helping victims to leave violent homes. However, on Monday, Cúneo Libarona reduced it to just three months. Victims will also have to report the perpetrator formally in order to access the program.
Cúneo Libarona said that, unlike the previous administration, the government will not focus on gender, but rather on “traditional family values” such as “love, unity, work, study, solidarity, equality before the law, and promoting patriotic symbols.” He did not explain how the government will comply with international treaties Argentina has committed to regarding the battle against gender-based violence and discrimination.
Living in the stone age
“Are the dinosaurs back? Oh, no, it’s Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona, who’s proposing that we live in the stone age, or at least that we live with fewer rights,” wrote Mariela Belski, executive director of Amnesty Argentina, in an Instagram post.
She noted that the international treaties Argentina has signed hold the same rank as the Constitution, and pointed out that Argentine law establishes that people have the right for their gender identity to be recognized.
“For a public official like the justice minister to express himself in these terms is extremely serious in institutional terms, and a warming in light of speech that promotes violence and hatred towards people from the LGBTIQ+ community,” she wrote.