Uruguay passes law granting rights to trans people

Activists celebrate during a session inside the Legislative Palace, the approval of the Integral law for Trans People that was voted by Uruguayan legislators in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, Oct. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay -- Uruguay's Congress has approved a law that guarantees rights to the South American country's transgender community.

Lawmakers in the lower house voted in favour of the measure late Thursday. It had already been approved by the Senate.

The law grants transgender people the right to get an operation that matches their sexual identity. It will be paid by the Uruguayan state along with hormone treatments.

The law also ensures a minimum number of transgender people are given public jobs in the next 15 years.

It mandates that 1 per cent of government jobs be reserved and establishes a pension to compensate transgender people who were persecuted during Uruguay's 1973-1985 military dictatorship.