Dozens of people protested on Tuesday outside the Guatemalan Congress to reject a law initiative that seeks to tighten the penalties for practicing abortion and put concrete marriage between people of the same sex.

The participants of the protest in the Guatemalan capital described the initiative under study by Congress as a measure of "persecution and violence", which seeks to prohibit equal marriage and unknown families are unknown.

"We need abortion to be free, legal and safe," said a loudspeaker dressed in black who identified herself as transgender in front of Congress. "We need a trans law because we exist."

The protester advocated legislation that allows the trans population to change their name, because "they are not feminine or masculine."

Congress plans to vote on the third and final reading of the so-called "law for the protection of life and family", which stiffens penalties against abortion and makes an express prohibition of any legal union between persons of the same sex. Read more via AFP/EcoDiario