A law reserving 1% of Argentina’s public sector jobs for transgender people will transform everyday life for the country’s trans community, LGBT+ activists said on Friday after Congress gave final approval for the measure.

Senators in the South American country, which already has some of the world’s most progressive trans rights legislation, voted overwhelmingly in favour of the law late on Thursday.

On top of the state jobs quota, the legislation offers tax incentives and soft loans for private businesses that hire trans people in Latin America’s third-biggest economy.

“This law will change our lives. Having a formal job, or a salary receipt and a credit card are natural things for a heterosexual person, but not for us,” said Claudia Vasquez Haro from the Argentine Federal Transgender Convocation (CFTTA).

https://news.trust.org/item/20210625142925-dpdtf/