Transgender people voted for the first time in El Salvador's history
March 26, 2014 08:14
Transgender people voted for the first time in El Salvador's history
With victory in tow, rights groups now push new president to end violence, corruption and discrimination.
SAN SALVADOR and NEW YORK—Rubi Navas is among the first transgender women in the history of El Salvador to be allowed to vote.
In previous years, Rubi and her peers were normally barred from voting, because their physical appearances don’t match the masculine birth names on their national identification cards. The few who were able to cast ballots were lucky; an unusually progressive election official had probably let them by.
But on Feb. 1, three days before the first round of the 2014 Salvadoran presidential elections, the country’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal proclaimed that all people must be allowed to vote, without discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
While recent historic advances, like this one, were made by the administration of outgoing president Mauricio Funes, questions remain about whether his successor, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, will take the same proactive stance.
More:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/rights/el-salvador-transgender-vote-first-time-history-lgbt