• PSOE, Ciudadanos and Podemos unite to pass gender-equality legislation •
Opposition parties in the Madrid regional Assembly have approved groundbreaking legislation in a 78-0 vote with 44 abstentions from the conservative governing Partido Popular (PP) that grants full recognition of the rights of transsexuals in the Madrid region under a new Law of Identity and Gender Expression, Social Equality and Non-Discrimination.
Passage of a law defending gender identity rights was an election campaign pledge in 2015 by the PP’s Madrid regional President Cristina Cifuentes, but initial draft legislation submitted by the PP last year was knocked back in November by opposition legislators, who introduced an alternative proposal to further extend protection and gender identity rights to transsexuals, including minors and individuals of other nationalities resident in the Madrid community.
Madrid regional legislators from the Socialist party (PSOE), anti-austerity party Podemos and centre-right party Ciudadanos voted together to approve the new law, the first piece of legislation approved with opposition votes over the objection or abstention of the PP majority in the Madrid region. The new law puts Madrid in line with the communities of Andalucía, Extremadura, Navarra, the Basque Country and the Canary Islands, each of which has recently passed legislation defending the equality and rights of transsexuals.
► Read More in Spanish at Madridiario and El Mundo …
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