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Trans and travesti organizations in Buenos Aires joined a coalition against a legislative reform that expanded police power over public space, including a ban on soliciting sex within 200 meters of homes, schools, or religious buildings. The coalition, called Coordinadora contra el Código Contravencional, also included gay, lesbian, and feminist organizations, sex workers, students, left-wing parties, the unemployed workers’ movement, and street vendors (all groups that were similarly targeted by the reform’s other provisions). Despite public hearings and protests, the reform passed in 2004. Nevertheless, this formed a continuation of coalitional work that strengthened in future years.

A wide daytime view of the Buenos Aires City Legislature shows the grand neoclassical government building with rows of tall columns, an Argentine flag flying above the roof, and the monument to General Juan Lavalle standing in the foreground. This building served as the site of major demonstrations in 2004 protesting reforms that expanded police authority over public space and disproportionately targeted marginalized communities.