Today is the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, celebrated worldwide as International Pride Day. Although the Argentine pride march is in November, there is a march today spearheaded by the trans-travesti community: the 8th annual Plurinational Federal Anti-racist March against Travesticides, Transfemicides, and Transhomicides (referring to the murder of travestis, trans women, and trans men respectively). 

“This march has gained a political character over the years and created a human rights agenda for the trans-travesti population specifically,” Sai Sacayán told Télam. 

“Let’s not forget that this march began with the travesticide of Diana Sacayán to revindicate her legacy and demand justice. Until then, we did not talk about the deaths of trans people and travestis.” 

Unlike its direct English translation, travesti in Argentina is a gender identity with deep political roots worn with pride.

Sacayán highlighted that the march called for an end to anti-trans violence, specifically police violence, as well as a travestis reparations law for what the community suffered during the last military dictatorship and beyond. Protesters are also demanding answers to the disappearance of Tehuel de la Torre, a trans man who went missing in March 2021 after going to an interview in a case that highlights state failings and brutal social discrimination,

“This march is more than a celebration, today is a day to reflect, to demand an end to hate crimes,” said Diana Zoé López García from the Hotel Gondolín civil association.

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29 trans people have been killed so far in 2023  —26 trans women and three trans men— according to a report by Mónica Astorga Cremona, a nun who is an authority on this kind of investigation and who has worked closely with the community for years.  Two of the deaths were murders while the rest were due to structural violence, i.e. the systematic and historical rights violations that generate the precarious conditions under which those preventable deaths occur.

In 2022, at least 12 trans people and travestis were killed due to their gender identity while another 71 died prematurely due to structural violence, according to a report from the LGBT Ombudsman’s Office for Buenos Aires City. 

“These numbers aren’t exact because they only include the cases that were raised by the media or came into the Office or organizations from the Argentine LGBT+ Federation,” the report said.

The report highlights that there were a total of 89 hate crimes targeting the LGBTQIA+ community — 20% (18) were murders and 80% (71) were so-called deaths by structural violence. Of those 18 murders, 92% of the victims were trans women, 7% gay men, and 1% trans men.

“These alarming numbers show how the violence against the LGBT+ community is particularly targeted: the hate manifests especially against trans women with the most brutal expressions of discrimination which in many cases leads to them ending their lives,” the report highlights. 

Meanwhile, a report from the National Registry of Femicides from the Supreme Court’s Women’s Office indicates that seven legal travesticide/transfemicide cases were opened — a total of 32 were opened between 2017 and 2021. 

The average age of the victims was 32, five years younger than the age of femicide victims (i.e. cisgender women who were killed due to their gender identity) in that period. Another difference between trans and cis victims is that 33% of trans-travesticide victims were from another country compared to only 5% of femicide victims.

In honor of the Stonewall anniversary, the Congress building lit up tonight in rainbow colors.

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—Herald/Télam