4.1. The ideology of hatred, a key aspect of the regional context

“STOP KILLING US” 2019-2020 REGIONAL REPORT

We have learned from the NTRO of the increasing loss and lack of employment opportunities for transgender people, as well as the absence of employment legislation that promotes their inclusion. In this sense, a reform is necessary to grant access to the health care system, and provide greater support to trans people who are entitled to the same rights as any other citizen.

URUGUAY

In Uruguay, the situation of the transgender population has been dramatically affected by the change in administration between 2019 and 2020. For the Uruguayan transgender community, 2019 was marked by a strong government presence and opportunities to participate in government projects and public service exams. Trans people were included in public policies and received firm support to consolidate and promote the sustainability of the trans movement. With the change in administration in 2020, transgender people are once again victims of hate speech since the new agenda is pro-life; that is, it promotes the views held by fundamentalist religious sectors. There is a major cut in the budget allocated to social, education and health spending, and no more programs to include vulnerable populations were designed.

In 2019, the plebiscite for the Comprehensive Transgender Law passed in 2018 was rejected. The continuity in force of this law constitutes a milestone in the fight ensued in other countries in which it is still important to ensure trans people access to economic, social, cultural and environmental rights. We need to assert children and youth right protection and the right to have a decent adult life.

The progress and setbacks experienced in 2020 set the tone of what governments do and what type of governments they are. Marcela Romero, REDLACTRANS Regional Coordinator, asserts: “There are governments that buy weapons to kill instead of buying ventilators to save lives; this pandemic evidenced which governments provide an actual answers and which governments invest in health.”

4.1. The ideology of hatred, a key aspect of the regional context

“Governments need to understand that whenever a transgender person dies in a hospital or a hotel room, it is a hate crime because the state is absent. We also need judicial systems to understand what hate crimes against transgender women are.” Marcela Romero, REDLACTRANS Regional Coordinator.

“STOP KILLING US” 2019-2020 REGIONAL REPORT

Throughout the region, transgender persecution by the government and society is normalized. This is rooted in the society and folklore (REDLACTRANS, 2014) to such an extent that the abuses suffered by trans women are legitimized, and hinder their ability to live a full life, even in countries where there are no explicit regulations criminalizing transgender people.

Even though stigma and discrimination, as well as institutional and gender violence against the trans community is systematic and historical, some parameters directly affect human rights and give rise to pretexts based on religion, life protection and good customs. Some states insist on maintaining or applying laws against transgender rights.

During the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns established in Latin America and the Caribbean, gender-based violence and transfemicides have skyrocketed. Mandatory confinements and curfews have facilitated the extreme violence lived by women across the region, especially transgender women. An example is the transfemicide of Karla Valentina Camarena del Castillo, Coordinator of the Mexican Network of Trans Women in Guanajuato State, on March 29, 2021, in strict quarantine. The Mexican digital newspaper Periodismo y Opinión Pública reads as follows: “The shooting to death of a transgender activist evidences another sector that will be left defenseless when the streets are emptied due to the COVID-19 crisis.” Regarding Karla’s case, Rubí Suárez Araujo, the first transgender councilwoman in Mexico and Latin America, highlighted that the report of relevant facts drafted by Guanajuato State Attorney General described the deceased as “male” and insisted that the way of recognizing trans people must be changed and demanded the implementation of gender protocols: “Not even dead are we entitled to the right of being recognized, not even her who fought so bravely for gender identity.” In this context, REDLACTRANS has reported the extreme violence transgender women are exposed to, warning about the dangers faced by transgender people due to lockdowns and empty streets. We urge governments to adopt a gender-inclusive approach to all public actions and policies to address and provide relief to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this pandemic context, we condemn the Caribbean and Central America states that ignore the risks faced by key populations –trans persons, sex workers and HIV patients– across the region. These populations are in crisis within the crisis and such