Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, has signed a decree that bans gender-affirming care for individuals under the age of 18, as announced by a presidential spokesperson on Wednesday.

This move follows a large protest from the LGBTQ+ community in response to Milei’s controversial speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. During his speech, he criticized “wokeism,” feminism, and referred to homosexuals as “pedophiles.”

Manuel Adorni, a spokesperson for the presidency, stated that the 2012 gender identity law provision allowing gender-affirming care with parental or guardian consent has now been repealed. The government, under Milei’s far-right leadership, argued that imposing gender ideology on children through coercion or force amounts to child abuse. The statement also emphasized that children lack the cognitive maturity to make decisions about irreversible medical processes.