IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0105402.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Towards Full Citizenship: Correlates of Engagement with the Gender Identity Law among Transwomen in Argentina

Author

Listed:
  • María Eugenia Socías
  • Brandon D L Marshall
  • Inés Arístegui
  • Virginia Zalazar
  • Marcela Romero
  • Omar Sued
  • Thomas Kerr

Abstract

Introduction: In May 2012, Argentina passed its “Gender Identity” Law, which aimed to address the legal invisibility, discrimination and marginalization that transgender individuals have historically faced. The aim of this study was to explore factors associated with engagement with the Gender Identity Law among transwomen living in Argentina. Methods: Data were derived from a 2013 nationwide, cross-sectional study involving transwomen in Argentina. Using multivariate logistic regression, we assessed the prevalence and factors associated with acquiring a gender-congruent identity card within the first 18 months of enactment of the Gender Identity Law. Results: Among 452 transwomen, 260 (57.5%) reported that they had obtained a new gender-congruent identity card. In multivariate analysis, factors positively associated with acquiring a new ID were: previously experiencing discrimination by healthcare workers (adjusted odd ratio [aOR] = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.27–3.20); having engaged in transition procedures (aOR = 3.06, 95% CI: 1.58–5.93); and having a job other than sex work (aOR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.06–3.10). Foreign born transwomen were less likely to have obtained a new ID (aOR = 0.14, 95% CI: 0.06–0.33). Conclusions: More than half of transwomen in our sample acquired a new gender-congruent ID within the first 18 months of enactment of the Gender Identity Law. However, access to and uptake of this right has been heterogeneous. In particular, our findings suggest that the most empowered transwomen may have been among the first to take advantage of this right. Although educational level, housing conditions, HIV status and sex work were not associated with the outcome, foreign-born status was a strong negative correlate of new ID acquisition. Therefore, additional efforts should be made in order to ensure that benefits of this founding policy reach all transwomen in Argentina.

Suggested Citation

  • María Eugenia Socías & Brandon D L Marshall & Inés Arístegui & Virginia Zalazar & Marcela Romero & Omar Sued & Thomas Kerr, 2014. "Towards Full Citizenship: Correlates of Engagement with the Gender Identity Law among Transwomen in Argentina," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(8), pages 1-6, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0105402
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0105402
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0105402
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0105402&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0105402?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brennan, J. & Kuhns, L.M. & Johnson, A.K. & Belzer, M. & Wilson, E.C. & Garofalo, R., 2012. "Syndemic theory and HIV-related risk among young transgender women: The role of multiple, co-occurring health problems and social marginalization," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(9), pages 1751-1757.
    2. Bauer, Greta R., 2014. "Incorporating intersectionality theory into population health research methodology: Challenges and the potential to advance health equity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 10-17.
    3. Stroumsa, D., 2014. "The state of transgender health care: Policy, law, and medical frameworks," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(3), pages 31-38.
    4. Cruz, Taylor M., 2014. "Assessing access to care for transgender and gender nonconforming people: A consideration of diversity in combating discrimination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 65-73.
    5. Hatzenbuehler, M.L. & McLaughlin, K.A. & Keyes, K.M. & Hasin, D.S., 2010. "The impact of institutional discrimination on psychiatric disorders in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: A prospective study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(3), pages 452-459.
    6. Clements-Nolle, K. & Marx, R. & Guzman, R. & Katz, M., 2001. "HIV prevalence, risk behaviors, health care use, and mental health status of transgender persons: Implications for public health intervention," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 91(6), pages 915-921.
    7. Kullgren, J.T., 2003. "Restrictions on Undocumented Immigrants' Access to Health Services: The Public Health Implications of Welfare Reform," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(10), pages 1630-1633.
    8. Wight, R.G. & LeBlanc, A.J. & Lee Badgett, M.V., 2013. "Same-sex legal marriage and psychological well-being: Findings from the California health interview survey," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(2), pages 339-346.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ethan C Cicero & Sari L Reisner & Elizabeth I Merwin & Janice C Humphreys & Susan G Silva, 2020. "The health status of transgender and gender nonbinary adults in the United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(2), pages 1-20, February.
    2. Shuai Chen & Jan C. van Ours, 2022. "Mental health effects of same‐sex marriage legalization," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 42-56, January.
    3. Luca Fumarco & Benjamin Harrell & Patrick Button & David Schwegman & E Dils, 2020. "Gender Identity, Race, and Ethnicity-based Discrimination in Access to Mental Health Care: Evidence from an Audit Correspondence Field Experiment," NBER Working Papers 28164, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Shuai Chen & Jan C. Ours, 2018. "Subjective Well-being and Partnership Dynamics: Are Same-Sex Relationships Different?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2299-2320, December.
    5. M. Killian Kinney & Darren Cosgrove, 2022. "“Truly Listen to Us”: Recommendations for Health Professionals to Bolster Wellbeing of Nonbinary Individuals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-22, July.
    6. Duncan, Dustin T. & Cook, Stephanie H. & Wood, Erica P. & Regan, Seann D. & Chaix, Basile & Tian, Yijun & Chunara, Rumi, 2023. "Structural racism and homophobia evaluated through social media sentiment combined with activity spaces and associations with mental health among young sexual minority men," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    7. White Hughto, Jaclyn M. & Reisner, Sari L. & Pachankis, John E., 2015. "Transgender stigma and health: A critical review of stigma determinants, mechanisms, and interventions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 222-231.
    8. Diederik Boertien & Daniele Vignoli, 2019. "Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage Matters for the Subjective Well-being of Individuals in Same-Sex Unions," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(6), pages 2109-2121, December.
    9. Danya Lagos, 2018. "Looking at Population Health Beyond “Male” and “Female”: Implications of Transgender Identity and Gender Nonconformity for Population Health," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2097-2117, December.
    10. Gilbert Gonzales & Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, 2018. "The Association between State Policy Environments and Self-Rated Health Disparities for Sexual Minorities in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-11, June.
    11. M Eugenia Socías & Jean Shoveller & Chili Bean & Paul Nguyen & Julio Montaner & Kate Shannon, 2016. "Universal Coverage without Universal Access: Institutional Barriers to Health Care among Women Sex Workers in Vancouver, Canada," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(5), pages 1-15, May.
    12. Chen, Shuai, 2019. "Marriage, minorities, and mass movements," Other publications TiSEM 9cb1b11d-12e6-46a8-adca-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    13. Daniel Demant & Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios & Julie-Anne Carroll & Jason A. Ferris & Larissa Maier & Monica J. Barratt & Adam R. Winstock, 2018. "Do people with intersecting identities report more high-risk alcohol use and lifetime substance use?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 63(5), pages 621-630, June.
    14. Alvarez, Camila H. & Evans, Clare Rosenfeld, 2021. "Intersectional environmental justice and population health inequalities: A novel approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    15. Silvia Loi & Peng Li & Mikko Myrskylä, 2022. "At the intersection of adverse life course pathways: the effects on health by nativity," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2022-018, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    16. Layland, Eric K. & Maggs, Jennifer L. & Kipke, Michele D. & Bray, Bethany C., 2022. "Intersecting racism and homonegativism among sexual minority men of color: Latent class analysis of multidimensional stigma with subgroup differences in health and sociostructural burdens," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    17. Parker, Rhiannon & Larkin, Theresa & Cockburn, Jon, 2017. "A visual analysis of gender bias in contemporary anatomy textbooks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 106-113.
    18. Jessica Naidu & Elizabeth Oddone Paolucci & Tanvir C. Turin, 2023. "A Critical Lens on Health: Key Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis and Its Benefits to Anti-Racism in Population Public Health Research," Societies, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-10, February.
    19. Sangaramoorthy, Thurka & Benton, Adia, 2022. "Intersectionality and syndemics: A commentary," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    20. López-Hinojosa, Itzel & Zhang, James & López-Hinojosa, Katherine & Baig, Arshiya A. & Tung, Elizabeth L. & Martinez-Cardoso, Aresha, 2024. "“We have to lie low … that sort of poisons me more and more”: A qualitative study of violent political rhetoric and health implications for Spanish and Chinese speaking immigrants," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 341(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0105402. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.