The LGBTI diversity parade – Pride Costa Rica 2018 takes place this Sunday, July 1st and Government officials as well as several public and private institutions have confirmed their participation in this event and also their commitment to the defense of the rights of the LGBTI community.

The Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA), Costa Rican Oil Refinery (Recope) the National Train Institute (Incofer), Banco de Costa Rica, Correos de Costa Rica (Costa Rican Postal Services) and Scotiabank are some of the institutions that signed the “Statement of San Jose” (Declaración de San José), an agreement that includes ten principles in defense of the rights of the LGBTI community and the establishment of specific commitments by the signees.

This week, President Carlos Alvarado, signed Executive Decree Number 41173-MP and Presidential Directive Number 015-P which demands that all state institutions modify their documentation, procedures and internal registries of transgender people that wish to change their name, photo or gender.

Institutions must also update their databases to avoid contradictions between the new I.D. and their internal registry.

Information in documents emitted by the Government such as passports, driver licenses and permits, academic degrees by the Ministry of Education as well as public and private universities, work permits, contracts, mail, external and internal documentation, must be adapted to match the new ID of the transgender citizen. This also applies for debit and credit cards as well as bank statements and documents.

The request has to be made by the interested party and institutions will have 5 business days to fulfill the request.

Several members of government have already confirmed their participation in the Pride Parade.