Referendum against trans law fails
Conservatives wanted to overturn Uruguay's trans law. On 4 August 2019 they clearly fail at the ballot box.
On 4 August 2019, a nationwide vote takes place in Uruguay that will decide the fate of one of the most progressive trans laws in Latin America. Ten months earlier, in October 2018, parliament had passed the "Ley Integral para Personas Trans", the region's first comprehensive trans law. It simplifies changing one's name and gender marker, reserves one per cent of public sector jobs for trans people and grants compensation pensions to those persecuted for their gender identity during the military dictatorship (1973 to 1985). One point is particularly controversial: under certain conditions, young people can receive hormone therapy even without parental consent, provided a specialist team agrees.
Opposition to the law quickly forms. The nationalist MP Carlos Iafigliola and the evangelical pastor and MP Álvaro Dastugue collect over 69,000 signatures under the slogan "Todos somos iguales" ("We are all equal"), more than the two per cent of the electorate needed for a preliminary referendum. Trans associations accuse the campaign of using misleading information and file a complaint for incitement to hatred. The electoral authority, the Corte Electoral, nevertheless sets 4 August as the date of the vote.
On this Sunday, 25 per cent of the electorate, around 650,000 people, would have to vote for repeal for a binding referendum to be held. By the evening it is clear: only around eight per cent have taken part. The threshold is missed by a wide margin and the law remains fully in force. Trans organisations see the clear failure as a strong signal, after months of mobilising against what they regarded as a transphobic campaign.