Argentina OKs transgender rights: ID changes, sex-change operations and hormone therapy
Argentina OKs transgender rights: ID changes, sex-change operations and hormone therapy
By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, May 9, 7:51 PM
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Adults who want sex-change surgery or hormone therapy in Argentina will be able to get it as part of their public or private health care plans under a gender rights law approved Wednesday.
Senators approved the Gender Identity law by a vote of 55 to zero with one abstention and more than a dozen senators declaring themselves absent — the same margin that approved a “death with dignity” law earlier in the day.
Argentina became Latin America’s first nation to legalize gay marriage two years ago, enabling thousands of same-sex couples to marry and enjoy the same legal rights that apply to married heterosexual couples. For many, this gender rights law was the next step.
“This law is going to enable many of us to have light, to come out of the darkness, to appear,” said Sen. Osvaldo Lopez of Tierra del Fuego, who was appointed to his seat after the previous senator’s sudden death, thus becoming the only openly gay national lawmaker in Argentina.
More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/argentina-approves-transgender-rights-id-changes-sex-change-operations-and-hormone-therapy/2012/05/09/gIQAToWAEU_story.html
