QUITO, Ecuador - A small group of demonstrators led by trans women marched Saturday in Ecuador to mark the 25th anniversary of the country's decriminalization of homosexuality.
One of the main demands of the hundred-strong group carrying a huge baby blue and pink banner is that the government make it easier for LGBTQ people to find work and live in safety.
"Twenty-five years after the decriminalization, our lives are still precarious, mainly those of trans women," said Malony Chavez, president of the Association of Trans Sex Workers of Quito.
She said the government needs to pass laws recognizing and regulating such work "so we can have the guarantees that we deserve as people."
Chavez said nothing has really changed since historically conservative Ecuador stopped making it a crime -- punishable with up to eight years in prison -- to be homosexual.
"We are still denigrated by the police, abused by the police, raped by the police," said Chavez.
At the march Saturday, demonstrators held up banners reading "being trans should not be a death sentence" and "trans happiness is beautiful."
Decriminalization of homosexuality came in 1997 with a ruling by the Constitutional Court after a suit filed by a group of homosexuals.
Same-sex marriage here was approved in 2019 in a watershed moment for Ecuador.
A census being carried out this month in the South American country includes recognition of trans persons for the first time.