Hope and Fury vs. the Chainsaw: Setbacks and Challenges for the Trans Community in Argentina

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Marce Butierrez
June 14, 2025

Javier Milei began his public career as an eccentric guest on TV shows about politics and economics. Previously, he was one of more than 30,000 employees at Corporacion América, led by mega-millionaire and media businessman Eduardo Eurnekian. Despite the official story, Milei was an ordinary employee who was only relevant because of his controversial statements about economic liberalism. During his career as an economist, he was rejected by banks and universities due to his mental instability and misconduct. However, his bizarre appearance, controversial statements, and radical political perspective were perfect for TV. Surrounded by controversy, public debates with journalists (especially women), and with support from conservative groups, Milei captured the attention of young voters. The debates on the Abortion Law [1] in 2018 and 2020 brought him closer to José Luis Espert, the leader of the pro-life movement linked with the Catholic Church. In 2020, Milei joined the broad coalition against vaccines, quarantine, and other health policies adopted by Alberto Fernández's government. As the pandemic ended, conservative and right-wing proposals gained prominence in the media. Milei rode this wave to a position as deputy in the National Congress in 2021. He used a chainsaw as a symbol of his fight against unnecessary spending in populist policies, and he won the presidential election in 2024 with a large majority. Milei's rise is the long story of the sudden descent into madness for the Argentine political landscape.

Since Javier Milei took office, gender politics have been attacked. Two main offices dedicated to gender politics were immediately dismantled: the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism, and the Diversity, Gender, and Women's Department. Without these offices, many programs, budgets, and initiatives ended suddenly, leaving a large part of society unprotected, particularly women who are victims of gender-based violence, LGBT individuals, and people of color. In 2024, each state assumed responsibility for continuing gender policies within their territories. However, the reduction in the federal budget, the decline in tax collection, and the increase in the poverty index are undermining the economies of the states, particularly those outside the economic hubs of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, and Córdoba. Even Buenos Aires, the most powerful state, is experiencing a reduction in its budget for gender-based policies.

Under this new government's "chainsaw" paradigm, all expenses related to community protection are considered unnecessary. During the presidential campaign the chainsaw was used as a symbol about the urgent necessity to change the economical course in the country, especially due the growing inflation. The economic crisis worked as a good justification to cut many governmental programs, but these cutbacks were mainly focused in diversity, equality and inclusion policies, uncovered the real intentions of Milei’s government: exterminate LGBT and women rights, dismantle communitarian policies, and reinstall the conservative and patriarchal order. For the new libertarian government, the target is not the budget deficit, but the rights of minorities. Imitating the US rhetoric of the MAGA leaders, Milei is developing a culture war against “wokeism”. Sadly, this battle is being waged on the bodies of marginalized people, in particular those who are migrants, brown, trans, and poor.

The Disappearance of Thirteen "Ideological Programs".

Argentina's Minister of Deregulation and State Transformation, Federico Sturzenegger, announced on his Twitter account the dismantlement of thirteen "ideological programs." This means the end of programs that the libertarian government considers an imposition of the "woke" ideology. Eleven of these programs were directly associated with the LGBT community. One of the programs focused on gender and diversity is the National Program of Rights Access for Transgender, Travesti, and Transsexual People. It is one of the key programs that ensures the Gender Identity Law is properly implemented. Approved in 2012, the Gender Identity Law is one of the world's most progressive legal frameworks, characterized by respect for self-perceived identity without medical or legal intervention. However, its implementation has been repeatedly interrupted by conservative individuals, particularly in rural areas and small towns outside Buenos Aires. In fact, implementation of Article 11, which focuses on trans health services, was delayed for many years, and it is still not fully implemented in many states. The Program of Rights Access's role was to receive reports of mismanagement, to control the application throughout the country, and to combat discriminatory practices in government offices. Using the rhetoric of modernization and efficiency, and imitating the DOGE office led by Elon Musk, the Javier Milei government is eliminating all traces of communitarian policies focused on women and LGBT people.

"Argentinians are saving six million pesos per year with the finalization of these policies," declared Mariano Cúneo Libarona, the Minister of Justice. However, under the pretext of economic necessity, the government is taking a new step in the culture war against left-wing, working-class, and marginalized sectors by closing Gender and Diversity programs. In fact, Cuneo Libarona declared that the Gender and Diversity offices were used "for political-partisan purposes, to propagate and impose an ideological agenda, recruit militants, and organize talks and events." [2] These statements make sense when considered alongside Javier Milei's recent speech at the World Economic Forum, in which he accused transgender people of using the "gender ideology" to commit crimes against "biological women" and gay people of being "all pederasts." [3]

Ironically, the Minister of Justice declared, “We are all equal before the law. There can be no judicial privileges or discriminatory policies disguised as inclusion. The state must protect everyone, regardless of sex, sexual orientation, or ideology.” At the same time, president Milei declared in his special address presented in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos: “I want to be clear: when I say 'abuse,' it is not a euphemism. In its most extreme forms, gender ideology is outright child abuse. They are pedophiles. I want to know who would support that kind of behavior.” These statements are particularly concerning when made at one of the most significant meetings of international leaders.

Returning to the '90s.

During Argentina's 1990s, the country lived under the neoliberal economic policies of Carlos Menem and Domingo Cavallo, loyal disciples of the Chicago School of Economics. The 90s were a time of great contradictions for the Argentine people: while the professional middle class traveled to Miami and Brazil thanks to the favorable exchange rate, the working class lost their jobs due to the influx of imported goods and the privatization of public services. The '90s were a time of bizarre luxury and extreme poverty, epitomized by the metaphor of "pizza and champagne." Menem ascended to the presidency as a popular leader but suddenly became a grotesque aristocrat surrounded by supermodels, Ferraris, and controversies. Although Javier Milei does not directly identify with Menem, many aspects of his personality evoke the '90s leader. Because of this, Argentine society considers this government a revival of the '90s, but with extremely conservative tendencies.

For the trans community, returning to the '90s is not synonymous with economic prosperity. On the contrary, it is a return to a darker era in the region's history for travestis. During the '90s, Buenos Aires was the epicenter of a long series of violent episodes against trans sex workers, who were marginalized under state statutes mostly created during the last dictatorship. In Buenos Aires, these statutes criminalized the solicitation of sex work in public spaces and the wearing of clothes of the opposite sex. The police used this legal framework to create red-light districts in some neighborhoods where they collected bribes from travesti sex workers [4]. Similarly to general society, the '90s were a period full of violence and glamour for the travesti population. Travestis confronted the police in several demonstrations and increased their public visibility in the media through non-profit associations as a strategy to expose the conflicts experienced in Buenos Aires and other major cities. While the first travesti organizations were forming, the HIV epidemic, silicone injections, substandard hormone treatments, and police violence were destroying travestis' lives [5].

“Thanks to the Gender Identity Law, we have been able to prevent self-medication, which used to be common and cause serious health problems, such as hepatitis. Before, we would inject hormones without supervision, following the advice of people without medical knowledge. This could happen again if the necessary supplies are not guaranteed.” 

Marcela Romero, president of the Association of Transgender, Travesti, and Transsexual People of Argentina. [6]

In 2025, the state budget for trans health services was reduced due to the economic and political crisis, and the federal government stopped distributing pills and resources and ensuring surgeries. In Argentina, only 13% of the population has private health insurance [7]. Most people depend on public health services, especially those in the lower class. Trans people, who are mostly unemployed, visit public hospitals to receive hormonal treatments and surgeries [8]. During the second half of 2024 and especially in 2025, the provision of hormones suffered monthly interruptions, forcing trans people to interrupt their treatments and face health risks. Surgery is not available at 95% of public services and is only possible at a few hospitals in Buenos Aires and Santa Fe, although there is a long waiting list of three or four years.

“I'm 37 years old, and I've been on hormone therapy since I was 24. There are shortages every year, but in 2024, I had to pause treatment five times. For trans people who are unemployed or working in the sex industry, accessing safe options becomes impossible”

Tom Mascolo, a trans man and leftist activist [9]

The cost of treatment outside public pharmacies is around $200 per month, an exorbitant price considering the average monthly salary in Argentina is $475. According to official statistics, which have been questioned to favor the government, over 40% of the population lives below the poverty guideline [10]. The situation is even worse for trans people, only 9% of whom have a formal job [11].

Quota and Reparations, We Want Redistribution.

In 2021, the Argentine government approved the Trans Labor Quota Law [12], which established a mandatory 1% quota for trans workers in official institutions. Despite the law and the Peronist government's public statements in favor of trans people and gender policies, the quota was never fully met. According to research by Patricio Laterra and Francisco Fernández Romero [13], in collaboration with the Trans Workers Union "Zaguán Transindical," the Argentine government hired only 955 trans and non-binary workers under precarious conditions, representing 0.17% of the quota. With the rise of Javier Milei, this percentage has decreased drastically, and more people are still being fired [14].

In December 2023, just a few days after Milei's presidency began, the government announced it was ending a large number of employment contracts signed during the previous administration. They argued that these jobs were for "partisan workers.” Under this label, the jobs of 100 transgender and non-binary individuals were cut. The number of trans people fired increased in 2024, especially due to the termination of programs associated with the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism, and the Diversity, Gender, and Women's Department. Most of the trans people hired in the previous administration worked in offices related to gender policies, culture, arts, disability, education, and social services. The new government targeted all these as unnecessary and expensive "populist" policies.

The Trans Workers Union, "Zaguán Transindical," is the only political organization engaged in protecting trans workers. However, this organization is not recognized as an official labor union and therefore not able to advocate directly for fired workers rights with their employers. Most trans workers join other unions that do not offer answers or protection focused specifically on trans and non-binary situations. 

"When we ask the union for help, they tell us that the state has up to ninety days to respond to our telegrams. They answer calmly because, ultimately, cisgender people who become unemployed can look for a job elsewhere, but we can't!" [15]

Luz Achaval, fired worker of the Social Security Administration. 

Although labor unions have managed the rehiring of some trans workers through judicial trials, this process is slow, expensive, and limited. For most trans workers, especially travestis and trans women, returning to the '90s means going back in time when sex work was the only way to make money.

Meanwhile, trans older women in Argentina are fighting for historical reparations for violence, murder, and sexual abuse committed by the Argentine government in the recent past under military dictatorship and during the early years of democracy [16]. Since 2022, a large group of older trans women, considered transcestors of the current trans community, have protested on May 24th each year in the main square of Buenos Aires, demanding a law that would establish a lifelong pension for older trans sex workers who were victims of police violence and discrimination in jobs, schools, and the healthcare system. While this law seemed difficult to obtain during the previous administration, it has become nearly impossible under the libertarian government's "chainsaw" approach.

“After a quarter of a century of ‘freedom,’ vast numbers of Black women were still working in the fields. Those who had made it into the ‘big house’ found the door toward new opportunities sealed shut unless they preferred, for example, to wash clothes at home for a medley of white families as opposed to performing a medley of household jobs for a single white family. Only an infinitesimal number of Black women had managed to escape from the fields, from the kitchen or from the washroom.” [17]

Angela Davis, Women, Race & Class.

Thus, Angela Davis discusses the material living conditions of Black women after the abolition of slavery in the United States. A similar situation is experienced by trans women and travestis today in relation to the complex worlds of work, health, and education. Although trans people have had legal equality before the Argentine state since 2012 with the promulgation of Gender Identity Law [18], only a small portion of the trans community has managed to translate this into material improvements in their living conditions. Even before Milei's inauguration, the gap between the laws achieved by the travesti-trans struggle and their actual impact on living conditions was significant. After two years of a libertarian government, one of the most progressive legal frameworks regarding trans people has nearly been destroyed. The only things left are the hope and fury of the Argentine travesti, trans, and non-binary community, like burning embers of desire for a world where we all fit.

[1] “Argentina: Legalization of abortion is an historic victory.” December 30, 2025. Amnesty International: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2020/12/argentina-legalization-abortion-historic-victory/

[2]“El Gobierno de Milei eliminó 13 programas ideológicos creados por el kirchnerismo.” May 16, 2025. La Derecha Diario: https://derechadiario.com.ar/politica/gobierno-milei-elimino-13-programas-ideologicos-creados-por-kirchnerismo

[3] “Davos 2025: Special Address by Javier Milei, President of Argentina.” Jan 23, 2025. World Economic Forum: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/01/davos-2025-special-address-javier-milei-president-argentina/

[4] Alvarez, Ana G. “‘Walking Around Naked Sets Back Our Struggle’: Travesti Activism, Repression, and Public Space in Buenos Aires (1994–1998).” Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies 33, no. 2 (April 2, 2024): 241–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569325.2024.2352447.

[5] Simonetto, Patricio. “Silicone Agency and the Making of Female Trans Bodies in Argentina.” Journal of Gender Studies 0, no. 0 (n.d.): 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2025.2499544.

[6], [9] “Faltan hormonas, sobran discursos de odio: la salud trans en riesgo.” March 21, 2025. Latfem: https://latfem.org/faltan-hormonas-sobran-discursos-de-odio-la-salud-trans-en-riesgo/

[7] “Argentina - The health sector in Argentina : current situations and options for improvement.” July 2021. World Bank Report: https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/227331468768555246/261440ar

[8] “Con nombre propio. A diez años de la ley de identidad de género” Mayo 2023. Ministerio Público de la Defensa de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires: https://mochacelis.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Con-Nombre-Propio.pdf

[10] “Pobreza” Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos: https://www.indec.gob.ar/indec/web/Nivel3-Tema-4-46

[11] “Censo 2022. Resultados definitivos. Identidad de género” Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas y Censos  https://www.indec.gob.ar/ftp/cuadros/poblacion/censo2022_identidad_genero.pdf

[12] “Transgender job quota law seen 'changing lives' in Argentina.” June 25, 2021. Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/world/transgender-job-quota-law-seen-changing-lives-in-argentina-idUSKCN2E11QT/

[13] Romero, Francisco Fernández, Laterra ,Pato, and Víctor and Sánchez. “At the Thresholds: Labor Organizing as Travesti-Trans Formal Workers in Argentina: Travesti and Trans Workers in the Formal Sector Expand Imaginaries about the Relationship between TTNB People and Work, Contributing to Broader Labor Struggles for All of Society.” NACLA Report on the Americas 57, no. 1 (January 2, 2025): 27–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/10714839.2025.2473263.

[14] “Argentina government dismisses transgender public sector employees” April 25, 2024. Washington Blade: https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/04/25/argentina-government-dismisses-transgender-public-sector-employees/

[15] “La promesa del trabajo digno: despidos de trabajadorxs trans en la era Milei” May 15, 2025. Latfem:

https://latfem.org/la-promesa-del-trabajo-digno-despidos-de-trabajadorxs-trans-en-la-era-milei/

[16] Rizki, Cole. “Cuerpos Furiosos: Travesti-Trans Politics for Counterrevolutionary Times.” NACLA Report on the Americas 57, no. 1 (January 2, 2025): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/10714839.2025.2473259.

[17] Davis, Angela Y. Women, Race and Class. London: Women’s Press, 1994.

[18] “English Translation of Argentina’s Gender Identity Law.” March 2017. Institute on Inequalities in Global Health: https://globalhealth.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/english-translation-of-argentina_s-gender-identity-law-as-approved-by-the-senate-of-argentina-on-may-8-2012.pdf