Argentina shuts down anti-discrimination agency months after rightwing president elected

Argentine President Javier Milei’s government has shut down the country’s anti-discrimination agency, called the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI).

The move was announced at a press conference on Tuesday, allegedly as part of a push to make public administration smoother and restructure human rights policies, said the Washington Blade.

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INADI was created in 1995 to protect Argentines from discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, race, and other characteristics and to offer resources for those who have experienced discrimination.

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“The decision was made to move forward with the dismantling of institutes that serve absolutely no purpose, such as INADI,” said presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni. INADI had offices across Argentina and employed 400 people. It managed some 2,500 complaints a year, according to its latest report, most of which were related to the workplace or education and linked to disability, sexual orientation, or gender.

INADI’s closure comes after a survey that found 35% of Argentines say that they have experienced discrimination in the past year. The study, conducted by the University of Buenos Aires School of Psychology, found that immigrants to Argentina from other Latin American countries reported the highest rates of discrimination.

The study also found that “prejudice against a person’s intellect and discrimination on the basis of sex” were the second and third most common reasons for feeling discriminated against.

The closure of INADI has received condemnation from human rights and LGBTQ+ advocates. The agency was instrumental in helping pass laws such as the Gender Identity Law and marriage equality, which expanded queer rights in Argentina.

“It is extremely serious, especially because we are in a moment in Argentina, not only because of the local context, but also the global context of a growth, an increase in antisemitism, racism, violence, xenophobia, LGBTphobia,” gay Congressman Esteban Paulón told the Washington Blade.

Paulón also noted that the shutdown comes at a time in which queer people in Argentina experienced violence against them, He said that next Tuesday will mark “three months since a triple femicide that occurred in the city of Buenos Aires with three lesbian women who were set on fire by a person who attacked them.”

Santiaga D’Ambrosio is an LGBTQ+ activist and a member of the country’s Socialist Workers’ Party. D’Ambrosio told the Washington Blade, “INADI, in fact, has played a progressive role in the face of discrimination due to political and union persecution in different workers’ conflicts, against dismissals and for the recognition of union privileges in workplaces.”

“The closure of INADI is an adjustment that endorses discrimination, not only towards sexual diversity, but also towards so many other oppressed, violated or persecuted sectors, such as workers in struggle, migrants, people with disabilities,” they said.

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