Nearly two million people took to the streets across Argentina on February 1 under the banner of the National Anti-Fascist and Anti-Racist Pride March, while activists held solidarity actions outside Argentine embassies in at least 20 cities across Europe and Latin America.
The decision to hold the anti-racist, anti-fascist pride march in Argentina was determined by popular vote during an open assembly spearheaded by LGBTIQ rights groups in the capital, Buenos Aires, on January 25, which was attended by about 8000 people.
The marches represented a broad coalition of women’s rights groups, unions, students, social movements and human rights organisations in response to far-right President Javier Milei’s hateful speech at the World Economic Forum on January 23.
In his speech, Milei said that “gender ideology” — a pejorative anti-trans term often used by conservatives for anything that seeks to protect or advance LGBTIQ and women’s rights — constitutes “child abuse” and called gay people “paedophiles”. Ironically, Milei’s government has been actively undermining an existing law that provides tools and the legal means to prevent and detect child sexual abuse, support victims of child abuse and advocate for the legal punishment of paedophiles.
Milei attacked the “bloodthirsty and murderous abortion agenda”, presumably referring to the struggle for safe, accessible abortion.
He also claimed that the gender wage gap does not exist, despite the difference in salaries between men and women in Argentina being 27.7% in 2023.
Milei expressed particular contempt for so-called “woke ideology” — an umbrella term used by conservatives for any form of progressive politics — which he said is a “cancer that must be removed”.
Milei’s “anti-woke” agenda signifies a devastating attack against women and the LGBTIQ community, with his government dismantling most programs and services aimed at helping victims of gender-based violence.
Shortly after Milei’s speech, the Argentine government announced it would remove the crime of femicide from the country’s penal code. Worryingly, femicides are rising, with at least 243 cases in 2023 and 295 last year.
Since Milei came to power in December 2023, the Argentine government has: eliminated the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity; stopped purchases of essential supplies for abortions; banned gender-inclusive language in all official documents; dissolved a government department responsible for tackling gender-based violence; and advanced a bill to recriminalise abortion.
At the United Nations general assembly in November, Argentina was the only country to vote against a resolution promoting an end to violence against women and girls, with Milei accusing the UN of trying to “impose an ideological agenda”.