Transgender people born before 1975 would qualify for government pensions in Uruguay under a series of measures the leftist government is considering, according to a media report.
A government census in 2016 found 873 transgender people in the country, according to Marketplace, a radio program produced and distributed by American Public Media. That’s about 0.025 percent of the approximately 3,427,000 people who live there.
Transgender activists say the country’s military dictatorship persecuted transgender people during the 1970s and 1980s, and that persecution continued after the country returned to democracy in 1985.
A government official told Marketplace that transgender people typically don’t reach old age.
Proposals under consideration by the general assembly would also create scholarships for transgender people, enact affirmative action programs for them, and allow them to change their name and sex on official documents without seeing a judge first, according to Marketplace.
Uruguay is the most secular country in South America. Abortion, same-sex marriage, and marijuana are all legal there.
(Photo by Serene Lau courtesy of Flickr.com) 
