Argentina has proven again how South America is leading the way when it comes to the rights of trans* people. Yesterday, the government passed a law approving sex-change surgery or hormone therapy as part of their public or private health care plans. The gender rights law also allows people the right to specify how their gender is listed at the civil registry. This follows Brazil who, 2007, began to provide sex reassignment surgery on the public health system.

The Argentinian President, Cristina Fernandez, has been behind the law change since its inception. She is a good example of the liberal attitude in Argentina, often stating how proud she is that Argentina was Latin America’s first nation to legalise gay marriage.

The law change didn’t just happen overnight, though. It came down to the amazing perseverance of Marcela Romero (right), as well as others. It took Marcela 10 years in court to get the government to recognise her chosen identity. In 2010, she was chosen as Argentina’s Woman of the Year, for her hard work on the case and as president of the country’s LGBT group.

Sounds like Lydia Foy, here’s hoping that her victory in the European Court of Human Rights has the same knock-on effect and we, eventually, get human rights for trans* people in Ireland.

As Senator Miguel Pichetto said during the Argentinian debate:

This is truly a human right: the right to happiness