Argentina Grants 6-Year-Old Trans Child a Female ID Card
Argentina has granted a six-year-old transgender girl a female ID card after her mother wrote to the governor of Buenos Aires, saying that the child had identified as a girl as soon as she could talk.
"By accepting that my son was not the son I gave birth to, but a girl, I accepted her identity and put myself at her side," her mother Gabriela told The Telegraph.
The child, born as Manuel, prefers to be called Lulu. Her mother wrote to the governor of Buenos Aires Daniel Scioli and Argentina's President Christina Kirchner, to request the change. They granted the request.
"The government of the province of Buenos Aires has decided to provide a solution to this particular case raised by the family," Alberto Perez, chief of staff told La Nacion.
According to the article in the UK Telegraph, the move is in line with the country's new Gender Identity Law, approved in May 2012. The law allows individuals the right to be identified by the name and sex they choose.
Her mother told the Associated Press that "Luana" was pleased that officials "trusted the identity of my daughter" and "respected her rights." It is the first case of a minor legally changing his or her sex on a government document since officials passed the legislation last year.