Uruguay has passed a bill that will allow transgender Uruguayans to change all government documents to reflect the name and gender of their choice.  Although it took an official statement that the measure does not constitute a legalization of gay marriage, the bill passed easily. According to the BBC, the bill will have tremendous positive results for the country’s transgender population:

Diego Sempol of the pressure group Ovejas Negras (Black Sheep), told BBC Mundo its approval was a “big step forward for transsexuals” and said it would ease their integration into the education and health systems, as well as the labour market.

“We often find it hard to get jobs, because the way we look doesn’t match our documents. I don’t look at all like the person on my ID, nor does my name reflect my identity”, said Fabricio, who was born a woman.

The new law is one of a series of measures putting Uruguay at the forefront of gay rights legislation.

The move was met with intense criticism from the Roman Catholic Church, which vowed to support candidates who promote “Christian values.”

Uruguay has become the first Latin American country to legalize adoption by gays and lesbians.  Both houses of the Uruguayan congress have agreed on the wording of a bill to legalize adoption in the Latin American country.  Uruguay has become increasingly progressive on gay issues since the election of President Tabare Vazquez, as Yahoo! News notes:

Gay adoptions remain contentious worldwide, and Uruguay, a nation of some 3.5 million people, is taking another step away from its more conservative neighbors after having already authorized gay civil unions last year.

President Tabare Vazquez, the first leftist leader in Uruguayan history, already opened access for homosexuals to military schools in May.