Javier Milei rolls back LGBTQ rights in Argentina during first year in office
Javier Milei’s rise to power marked a sea change in Argentine politics that profoundly impacted the country’s LGBTQ community.
His first year in office has seen a combination of hostile rhetoric and concrete measures that have dismantled historic advances in human rights. “Javier Milei’s administration is fighting a two-way battle,” Congressman Esteban Paulón, a long-time LGBTQ activist, pointed out to the Washington Blade. “On the one hand, symbolically, with an openly homo, lesbo and transodiant discourse, and on the other, in concrete facts, such as the closure of the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity, and INADI (the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism).” The decision to eliminate these key institutions sent a clear message: Diversity policies are no longer a state priority.
This dismantling left LGBTQ Argentines without national advocacy tools. Some provinces have tried to fill this void, but many others have followed the national government’s lead.
This trend, according to Paulón and other activists, has left LGBTQ Argentines even more vulnerable. “What we are seeing is not only a setback in public policies, but also a direct attack on the dignity of thousands of people who, until recently, felt the support of the state,” said Paulón.
