Uruguay parliament approves sex change law News
Uruguay parliament approves sex change law

[JURIST] The Uruguayan Parliament [official website, in Spanish] on Monday unanimously approved [press release, in Spanish] legislation that provides rules for individuals seeking to change their gender identity. The bill, which was approved by Uruguay's Senate [official website, in Spanish] on Monday, had been approved by the House of Representatives [official website, in Spanish] last month. The legislation allows [El Pais report, in Spanish] an individual to undergo a sex change at age 18, and allows the person to change his or her name and sexual identity on any official documents, including those dealing with marriage and travel. The bill must now be signed by President Tabare Vazquez [BBC profile] in order to take effect.

Uruguay has been on the forefront in dealing with issues concerning gay, lesbian, and transgender individuals in Latin America. Last month the Uruguayan Senate voted 17-6 to approve [press release, in Spanish; JURIST report] a law legalizing adoption by same sex couples. The new law will permit adoptions by couples in both marriages and civil unions after four years of cohabitation. The Uruguayan common-law relationship law [text, PDF, in Spanish] allows couples to apply to be legally recognized as a civil union after five years of living together regardless of the gender of the parties. It was enacted amid much controversy in December 2007 and went into effect in January 2008.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, murdered by Henry II's knights

On December 29, 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by knights acting in the name of Henry II.

Becket and Henry had been entangled in a power struggle over, among other things, criminal jurisdiction over clergy. Read a contemporary account of the murder of Thomas Becket.

Texas attains US statehood

On December 29, 1845, Texas became the twenty-eighth state to join the United States of America when US President James K. Polk signed the Ordinance of Annexation. Texas had a complicated path to statehood because it had formerly been part of Mexico and then an independent republic. The US Congress passed the Annexation of the Republic of Texas Joint Resolution on March 1, 1845. Voters in Texas then approved the Ordinance of Annexation in October, before it was approved by the US Congress and signed into law by President Polk on this day in 1845. The US Supreme Court later ruled in Texas v. White that, despite its unique path to statehood, Texas did not have the right to secede from the union.