Lawmakers in Puerto Rico this week approved a new set of civil laws that enshrine rights for LGBT+ people, even as opponents say gaps in the code could fuel discrimination toward trans people in the U.S. territory.

The updated civil code, which covers non-criminal legal issues like marriage and property, passed the island’s House of Representatives on Thursday after clearing the Senate on Monday and will now head to the desk of Governor Wanda Vazquez.

“The current civil code of Puerto Rico is from 1930 - it’s totally and completely obsolete,” said Rep. Jose Melendez with the ruling New Progressive Party, adding that the outdated code did not reflect key decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court. The old Puerto Rican laws contained anti-LBGT+ rights language, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “What is being done is updating,” he said.

Among the changes are updates on marriage, which is described as a contract between “two people” rather than a man and a woman, reflecting the 2015 Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage.

But legal experts and opposition lawmakers said ambiguous and contradictory wording in the code could create legal hurdles for trans people.

“On its face it seems as if there’s nothing wrong, but if you scratch the surface, there’s an obvious intent to discriminate,” said Rafael Cox Alomar, a law professor at the University of the District of Columbia.

Among the contradictions in the code, critics say, is language about the ability of trans people to change their gender on birth certificates, legal in Puerto Rico since 2018. Read more via Reuters