• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Latin America

Ecuador's Trans People Vote for 1st Time As Chosen Gender

  • Diane Rodriguez, a member of the Ecuadorean transgender community, casts her vote during the presidential election in Guayaquil, Ecuador Feb. 19, 2017.

    Diane Rodriguez, a member of the Ecuadorean transgender community, casts her vote during the presidential election in Guayaquil, Ecuador Feb. 19, 2017. | Photo: Reuters

Published 19 February 2017
Opinion

An estimated 200 people in the country of 16 million have changed their gender on their ID card since the law changed, she added.

Ecuadorean transgender people Sunday voted for the first time according to their chosen gender, in what activists say is a major victory for LGBTI rights.

RELATED:
LIVE UPDATES: Voting Calm and High as Polls Close in Ecuador

"The rumors would start, and the looks," said LGBTI activist Mariasol Mite, who changed her ID description from "sex: male" to "gender: female" in 2016.

Fears of harassment were such that voters would sometimes send their brothers or husbands to wait in line until they got close to the booth, according to LGBTI activists.

"This year, everything was different," said Mite, adding that public officials and fellow voters were much more aware of the issue.

After years of lobbying by the LGBTI community and despite opposition by Catholic and increasingly powerful evangelical groups, Ecuador passed a law in 2016 allowing people to choose a gender on their identity card.

"This is very important because our rights are being recognized. It hasn't been easy," said activist and National Assembly candidate Diane Rodriguez, after voting in the city of Guayaquil close to the Pacific coast.

An estimated 200 people in the country of 16 million have changed their gender on their ID card since the law changed, she added.

ANALYSIS:
How Ecuador's Citizens' Revolution Uses Sports to Change Lives

Rodriguez, a psychologist, is vying to become Ecuador's first transgender lawmaker for Alianza Pais as the country votes for its National Assembly as well as its president for a new four-year term.

If elected, the leftist ruling party candidate would push for legislation to counter bullying against transgender students, combat discrimination in the workplace and eventually work towards legalizing gay marriage and adoption.

Rodriguez' potential election in Ecuador would come on the heels of Venezuela electing its first transgender lawmaker, lawyer and activist Tamara Adrian, in 2015.

Adrian is staunchly opposed to Venezuela's Socialist government, which is an ally of Ecuador's own leftist government, but Rodriguez says the two are close despite being politically opposed.

"She's a partner in this fight," said Rodriguez. "Beyond the fact that she's in a right-wing movement ... we're united by the progress of rights."

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.