MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Future Human Rights Secretary will be the first trans woman within Uruguay's Executive

Human rights must be “respected for all, everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, ,” Spinetti insisted

Uruguay's future Human Rights Secretary Collette Spinetti will be the first trans woman to hold a position in the South American country's Executive Branch. She is also the third trans woman to reach public office after Michelle Suárez, who became Uruguay's first trans senator in October 2017, and Alejandra da Rosa, who was elected mayor (governor) of Tacuarembó in 2020. All three stemmed from President-elect Yamandú Orsi's Broad Front (Frente Amplio - FA).

“Grateful and excited for the trust placed by the President-elect, Yamandú Orsi, to take the position of Secretary of Human Rights of the Presidency of the Republic,” wrote Spinetti on X. She also foresaw that during the FA government Uruguay “will advance towards a country that promotes and respects the human rights of all people.” The professor and activist also claimed that “we will know how to comply!”

A literature and dance professor, Spinetti has to her credit many years of activism for the rights of trans people in Uruguay and the world. Until Thursday, she was president of the Trans Collective of Uruguay (CTU). Back in November, she was elected president of the Trans Steering Committee of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World), She is also secretary general of Corpora en Libertad, an international organization working with incarcerated LGBTI+ people.

Spinetti told Montevideo's La Diaria that her new functions entailed “a great responsibility because it is not that one [trans person] arrived: when one arrives, we all arrive, all and everyone, and this sets a precedent.”

“Hopefully, there will be many comrades who can also be in decision-making positions,” she added while insisting that her appointment was not because of her transsexuality but of her “history of work, political commitment, and commitment to human rights.”

On Thursday, she resigned as president of CTU, but will continue to hold her roles in the two international organizations because in these cases there is no “conflict of interest,” Spinetti argued.

The future Secretary of Human Rights assured that one of her priorities will be to work with civil society, which “plays a very important role in the states.” She also advocated “working in permanent meetings and agreements with state institutions”, and with international organizations such as the United Nations, the [Organization of American States] OAS, or [the Southern Common Market] Mercosur.“

Spinetti also promises to ”make the [Human Rights] Secretariat more visible“ so that people are clear about ”its functions, its objectives, its goals, what it does and what it cannot do“ because human rights must be ”respected for all, everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and all intersectionalities.”