MEXICO CITY (AP) | 01/25/2007 10:21 PM

A Mexican congressman said Thursday he will submit a bill in March that would amend the country’s constitution to guarantee the rights of transsexuals and change civil laws to ensure they can legally change their name and gender.

David Sanchez Camacho’s bill would insert a paragraph into Article Four of the Mexican Constitution stating that ”every person has the right to the recognition and free exercise of their gender identity and their gender expression.”

Article Four currently guarantees equal rights for women and men and states the rights of children and families, but it does not mention homosexuals or transsexuals. A transsexual is a person who has undergone a sex change operation or whose sexual identification does not correspond with the gender at birth.

Changes to the constitution need approval from two-thirds of both houses of Congress and two-thirds majorities in at least 16 of the 31 state legislatures.

Sanchez Camacho said he had the support of his leftist Democratic Revolution Party, which holds only about one-quarter of the seats in the lower house.

Transsexual activists said they hope other countries will present similar proposals.

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