Esteban Paulón (born 17 June 1978) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

LGBT rights activist and politician currently serving as a National Deputy elected in

Santa Fe Province The Invincible Province of Santa Fe (, , lit. "Holy Faith") is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco Province, Chaco (divided by the 2 ...

. From 2010 to 2015 he was president of the FALGBT, Argentina's largest LGBT rights organization.

Early life and career

Paulón was born on 17 June 1978. He completed a ''

licenciatura A licentiate (abbreviated Lic.) is an academic degree present in many countries, representing different educational levels. The Licentiate (Pontifical Degree) is a post graduate degree when issued by pontifical universities and other universit ...

'' degree on tourism at the

Universidad del Salvador The University of the Salvador (, also known for its acronym USAL) is a Jesuit university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In addition to its campus in downtown Buenos Aires, it has instructional and research facilities in Pilar, San Miguel, Bahía B ...

(USAL). His activism in favour of

LGBT rights in Argentina Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Argentina rank among the highest in the world. Upon legalising same-sex marriage on 15 July 2010, Argentina became the first country in Latin America, the second in the Americas ...

led to him leading the Federación Argentina de Lesbianas, Gays, Bisexuales y Trans (; FALGBT+), serving as its president from 2010 to 2015, vice president from 2015 to 2019, and secretary general from 2007 to 2019. He had an active participation in drafting and promoting the Equal Marriage Law (2009), which legalised

same-sex marriage in Argentina Same-sex marriage has been legal in Argentina since July 22, 2010. Bills to legalize same-sex marriage were introduced to the National Congress in 2009 by deputies from the Socialist and New Encounter parties. Following much discussion, a unif ...

and the Gender Identity Law (2012), which granted the travesti and trans population free access to legal gender changes,

hormone replacement therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. Effects of menopause can include symptoms such ...

and

gender-affirming surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associated ...

. In 2015, he compiled the "''Pride (Orgullo en el trabajo)''" report for the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

and the LGBT Citizenship Plan “''De la Igualdad legal a la igualdad real''” (), in collaboration with the FALGBT and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

inter-agency system in Argentina. From 2015 to 2019, he was Undersecretary of Sexual Diversity Policies of

under Governor

Miguel Lifschitz Roberto Miguel Lifschitz (13 September 1955 – 9 May 2021) was an Argentine politician and civil engineer of the Socialist Party (Argentina), Socialist Party who was Governor of Santa Fe, Governor of Santa Fe Province from 2015 to 2019. Prior t ...

. He also chaired the executive committee of Red Gay Latino and served as an

ad honorem ''Ad honorem'' is a Latin phrase that literally can be translated as "to the honor". When used today, it generally means "for the honor of"; that is, not seeking any material reward. It is commonly used in universities for certain unpaid teaching ...

advisor to the

Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity The Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity (; MMGyD) was a ministry of the Argentine Government tasked with overseeing the country's public policies on issues affecting women and gender and sexual minorities. The ministry was created in 2019 ...

of Argentina from 2019 to 2023.

National Deputy

At the 2023 general election, Paulón was the first candidate in the Hacemos por Nuestro País list to the

Argentine Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies (), officially the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation, is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress (). It is made up of 257 national deputies who are elected in multi-member constituencies c ...

in Santa Fe (under the name "La Fuerza de Santa Fe"); the list received 9.19% of the vote, enough for Paulón to make it past the

D'Hondt D'Hondt is a Dutch surname, most common in East Flanders.

cut and be elected.

Electoral history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paulon, Esteban 1978 births Living people Argentine gay politicians Argentine LGBTQ rights activists Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Santa Fe Socialist Party (Argentina) politicians Universidad del Salvador alumni Argentine deputies 2023–2025