*Devy Grijalva

Work for the sex-gender population has a bias of discrimination and lack of attention from the State. Trans women are forced to do sex work, hairdressing and cooking. The rest of trans identities also have no possibilities to position themselves in any work space. In the same way, in the field of education, trans people have few possibilities to obtain a professional degree. And, on the other hand, the ventures and self-employment of trans people cannot be carried out due to the lack of access to credit or investment.

Due to this reality, militant actions have been undertaken in the region to win the trans job quota. Argentina, for example, was the first country to achieve it in 2020.

In Ecuador, two bills have already been presented in the National Assembly (legislative branch). The first consisted of providing benefits to companies that hire 1% of trans people; however, it was only one article in the entire package of reforms to the Labor Code presented by the Unitary Front of Workers (FUT). The second initiative was presented by the GLBTI Chamber of Commerce, but was returned for various inconsistencies, such as the exclusion of non-binary people. For this reason, the Transamblea organization has undertaken several actions, including joining unionism.

From my experience and identity as a trans activist I had the opportunity to be part of the Union School where I learned about rights and inequalities around work, meet branch unions and other sectors such as palm, shrimp, agriculture, the guardianship, the public sector, among others. Socializing and living with union members made me reflect that the countries with the most labor benefits have a large number of unions. For this reason, trans people have educated ourselves and debated unionism, the use of international standards and instruments of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and non-discrimination at work. We are aware that our experience in informal work will serve to draft the articles on the trans labor quota and the regulations for the regulation of sex work.

For us it was important to make ourselves visible and take a space to protest to obtain the recognition of other movements that also demand rights to work. The slogan was that the proletarian struggle must include the sex-gender population. All over the world, May 1st is a day of protest for workers and the presence and voices of trans people are necessary to demand diversity and unity.

On the morning of Sunday May 1, 2022, for the first time in history, the sex-gender population was present in the march among hundreds of people for International Labor Day. In front of the building of the Provincial Council of Pichincha (Quito), a huge and diverse concentration was formed to tour the Historic Center of the capital. Among thousands of workers, the Transfeminist Block emerged, raising slogans against neoliberalism and demanding the recognition of unpaid work and care, the trans labor quota, sexual work, decent working conditions for generic sex people, the situation of migrants. and the eradication of patriarchal violence that women, adolescents, children, all feminized bodies and union members experience.

That day we walked and shouted through the streets of the Historic Center, while the people and the union confederations watched us with amazement. Upon arriving at the Plaza de San Francisco, the trans comrades proceeded to place the light blue and pink flag on the side of the church wall, despite the police’s attempts to prevent it. Suddenly a van from the electric company parked next to the trans flag, the leaders of the confederations were trying to make an improvised platform for their leaders and representatives to speak in front of the people. But, the Transfeminist Block began to demand that men stop talking and spread the word so that other voices can raise our struggles and demands.

The men, visibly upset, ordered the women to be silent in an attitude that made unionism seem like a group of sexist dinosaurs, despite being people who are located on the left of the political spectrum. They said: we are going to give the floor to the housewives, be patient, can’t you wait? Another added: this is not their march, leave, they are infiltrators, they want to break class unity. Then, they took a colleague by the arm at the same time as they said, Don’t you want someone to come up? So let’s talk. Finally, I, a trans woman, went up to speak. While I was on the truck, a colleague from the Transfeminist Bloc approached me to remind me: “mention that women are not housewives, we are exploited workers.” I assumed it. In the same van were leaders of the Unitary Workers’ Front (FUT), the Ecuadorian Confederation of Trade Union Organizations (CEOSL), the National Union of Educators (UNE) and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie). The annoyance of the leaders was evident, they cut me off and tried to take the microphone away from me several times. They never listened to what I said.

After this historic march for trans people, in the last days of May we held a meeting at the Contemporary Art Center (CAC, Quito) about the trans labor quota to build it with the people who are affected and demand this right. The purpose was to create a space to listen, analyze the realities and urgencies of trans people because the Ministry of Labor does not have the means or predisposition to do so. We confirmed this on March 31 on Trans Day of Visibility when we held a sit-in outside that entity and the response from public officials was, why did they come dressed that way? For this reason, at the CAC meeting, we decided to propose a roadmap to create a discussion every month on the various work realities. The objective is to have the data and support for the creation of the trans labor quota bill and involve decision makers from the government and legislative apparatus who have empathy with the sex-gender population.

Finally, the June conversation did not take place due to the national strike in Ecuador. However, sexual dissidents were present and supporting the mobilization led by indigenous peoples and nationalities. In the 18 days of national strike, we dedicated ourselves to carrying out care work, coordinating the collection center, marching in the street and above all putting our bodies and voices to be recognized. We also wrote the manifesto with our own demands and demands, however, we consider that, to achieve the trans labor quota in a bill, we must first help, work and sustain social protest.

Thanks to activists and organizations of the sex-gender population, it has been possible to advance and place the agenda of our rights within the social sector and in public policies. We hope that during the period of this current government—very conservative—we can build the trans labor quota bill. We are going to continue with the conversations every month until we reach November, where we will hold the National Trans March. This march materialized in 2020 in the context of the COVID19 pandemic and has gradually gained greater notoriety.

It will be a moment to identify what will be the best action to present the urgency of the trans labor quota to the State.

*Devy Grijalva

Journalist, community communicator, transfeminist spokesperson and active activist of the organization Transamblea (Ecuador).

Translated by Damian Vasquez