Although it may not seem like it from afar, Argentina is quite an advanced and modern country when it comes to its legislation. It was the first latinoamerican country to legalize gay marriage (2015) and to adopt a legal document which allows people who do not identify as man or woman to utilize an “X” instead of “M” or “F”.
Regarding this, Alberto Fernández, the president, said “It will be ideal when she or him becomes them” (“El ideal va a ser cuando todos y todas seamos todes”). Also, he mentioned that the state should not be interested in the gender of its citizens. When he was faced with protestors claiming “they were not an X”, he said “We have to work to get to the best option, taking into account what is ideal and what is possible”.
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Although its legislation is advanced, as it happens in every country, the citizens are very much divided. There is a large portion of the population, mostly young people are very supportive of LGBT+ rights, but many people from different parts of the country continue to be bigoted and backwards about LGBT+ rights.
Regarding the community in Argentina, there are many safe spaces for the community, and they continue to grow in size and quantity as demand arises and more and more people feel comfortable with assisting. Gay clubs are also on the rise, exclusive parties for women and non binary people are becoming a large business, and also men-inclusive bars and parties continue to add up as more members of the LGBT+ community find themselves wanting to be part of those spaces.
Although its politics are progressive, as we said before, Argentina still has a big rate of hate crimes, mostly aimed at trans Women. According to the National Observatory of Hate Crimes against the LGBT Community of Argentina in the last semester of 2020, of the 152 cases reported, 84% were made against Trans Woman, 12% against gay men, 3% against lesbians and 1% against Trans men. Most of the hate crimes reported were perpetuated by a form of state abandonment, such as disrespecting their identities to the extent of denying medical assistance and such.
Even if hate crimes are rising, general acceptance seems to be rising in many social circles (mostly among young people). As it is normalized more and more (both because of rising global acceptance and the increase of the amount of people coming out compared to previous years), young people and every time more adult people embrace and accept the LGBT+ people around them.
All in all, Argentina is an accepting country in general. Both in its rights and its offers to the community, and even with instances of violence, this country isn’t among those most hostile towards the LGBT+ community. As a pioneer of LGBT+ rights in Latin America and the world, Argentina is a country in which most people in the community don’t feel as
