Bill introduced in Argentine Congress would compensate jailed transsexuals

Last Updated on Tuesday, 11 November 2014, 21:44 by GxMedia

Buenos Aires, Nov 11 (EFE).- Argentine organizations that defend sexual diversity introduced Tuesday in the Chamber of Deputies a bill to provide economic compensation for transsexuals and transvestites who were jailed or were victims of institutional violence because of their gender identity.

The proposed law would compensate with a monthly pension of between 6,000 and 7,000 pesos ($705 and $823) those transsexuals and transvestites whose “fundamental rights were violated for reasons of their gender identity,” Emiliano Litardo, one of the promoters of the law, told Efe.

In cases where sexual violence can be proved, the bill would increase the pension by 30 percent.

“Acknowledging the wrong also implies making repairs, and the reparation today goes beyond the merely economic. It also means making it up to people who were physically tormented for choosing a gender other than what was expected at that time,” he said.

Litardo, a legal activist of the association for the Fight for Transvestite and Transsexual Identity, or ALITT, estimates that some 200 people will benefit from the law if it is passed by the Argentine Congress.

The bill, which was introduced Tuesday by ruling-party lawmaker Diana Conti, has as an antecedent in the pensions awarded by Argentina to former political prisoners, which took effect last month.

Among the promoters of the law are ALITT , Lawyers for Sexual Rights (Abosex), Transgender Future, and the Antidiscriminatory Liberation Movement.