HIVOS Partners
Central American and Caribbean Journal of Sexual Diversity
Lets celebrate the 25 years of equal marriage
November 2014
Receive our magazine in person. Give me like a: Lesbitgay Magazine on Facebook or subscribe to: lesbitgay. info
The first one occurred in Denmark Years of struggle gave way to the prize on the first of October 1989: 11 couples sad yes in the Copenhagen City Hall, in Denmark, and opened the doors so equal marriage could spread around the world. The first couple to get engaged were Axel and Eigil Axgil, that had been living together for 40 years and due to their activism in favor of rights for homosexuals they are the fathers of the “registered union”, as civil unions were initially called. When they were asked what they advise couples, they both recommended “Live your sexuality openly, come out of the closet, keep on fighting. This is the only way that changes can be made. If everyone comes out of the closet, then this is going to happen everywhere.”
Human Rights Architects Axel Lundahl-Madsen and Eigil Eskildsen, sealed their love changing their last name to Axgil, the combination of both their first names. This symbol of union has accompanied them since the first moment they met. Together, along with a group of friends created the first organization pro rights for homosexual in Denmark called “The 1948 League” (whose name was changed later to National Danish Organization of Gays and Lesbians), responsible for fighting so that the Danish Parliament would approve civil unions for same sex couples. But their commitment did not end there, in 1949 they also launched the magazine “Vennen” (Friend), that for many years informed on the struggles around the world to reach LGBT rights.
Years of Misery and Sacrifice Life for both of them did not precisely smell of roses. But the one to have to face the most hardship was probably Axel. When he came out of the closet he was fired as an accountant and evicted from the home we rented, but these obstacles did not discourage him, rather they gave him strength. In 1955, Axel and Eigil were stopped and detained for publishing pictured of naked men in their magazine. But this complaint against them also brought down the prohibition, since the pictures were artistic. The couple remained united in the good and the bad, until 1995 when Eigil died at 73 years of age. The death of Axel occurred in 2011 at 96 years and before he could see marriage in all rights approved in Denmark.
Conference ILGA plans to fight against discrimination, school bullying and depathologization The 27th World Conference for the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex (ILGA), proposed the need of all organizations that defend LGBTI rights to prioritize the struggle against discrimination due to sexual orientation and gender identity, the elimination of school bullying, to procure the depathologization of trans and to demand respect of sexually diverse migrants. The meeting which was held in Mexico, gathered more than 400 LGBTI activists from around the world to perform a detailed examination of the progress of human rights and to present the challenges for the following two years when they will meet again, this time in Thailand. The conference had the huasteca goddess TlazoltĂŠotl as its symbol, whom represents transformation, lust, sin and filth, since the central topic was decolonization of bodies that society considers merchandise.
World Secretary for a Tica Trans demand access to health and recognition Access to health, recognition, promotion of unity and solidarity between groups from different countries, a search of alliances between organizations, creating a simpler terminology to refer to the trans population, fighting for depathologization, are the main challenges that activists of the 27 ILGA conference face.
The ILGA conference made a recognition of effort and contributions to the Costa Rican activist Natasha Jimenez, selecting her as the new Intersex World Secretary. Natasha became the first Latin America to be a part of this directory, this is part of the ILGA directory. Congratulations and Much Success.
Interview Drag in Chile He was without a job for 3 years, he ate from dumpsters, he was an alcoholic and he tried to commit suicide. Family, friends and society charged a high price for a declaration of being trans. But he rose from misery to transform Chile. His name is Andres Rivera Duarte, international consultant, founder of Transsexuals for the Dignity of Diversity, co writer of the Gender Identity Law that congress is about to approve and a person that revolutionized agony and turned it into hope. His visit to Costa Rica was very significant and managed to draw a few tears from the interviewer.
Trans, Always Trans He was baptized as Maria Georgina Rivera Duarte, but the name made him uneasy and he preferred to be called Andres. He remembers that his smile turned off when at four he was sent to school in a skirt. When his grandmother who was also his confidant died, he decided to study to be a kinder garden teacher and did so successfully for thirty years while living with a woman in a lesbian relationship. However, at home, e dressed as a man but for work and his social life he used female cloths. When this relationship ended he started to seriously question his existence and visited a psychologist who cleared up the panorama. He was a trans man. With no further delay the transformation process was started. He abandoned school, started his own consulting business and took care of his father until his death. It was then that his economic situation was at its best.
While we watched a television program dedicated to analyzing the reality of trans people, he felt a lot of rage because the viewpoint was prostitution. He wrote to the producer and in a short period of time a new report was shown, where his identity was protected. On April 16th 2004 at 10pm the interview was transmitted. Five minutes later the phone would not stop ringing. Family and friends started to call to see if it was him and that is where the siege began. Read the whole interview in Lesbitgay.info
Encounter Deconstructing
bodies The X Lesbian Encounter Abya Yala was held in Bogota and it was the beginning of a march to rebel against the heteronormative policies that are imposed by neoliberalism and neocolonialism by creating uniform bodies to consume. The name of the encounter could not be more appropriate: Abya Yala is how the Kuna of Panama and Colombia called the continent before the invasion of the colonizing Europeans. The first day of the meeting, the encounters, the discussions, the art and music were the ideal instrument to discover violence that overlaps that is created and recreated by the system to drown concerns. The participants of Latin America also held introspective exercises to discover historic pain that is accumulated and silence that has to be broken. The scenes told of internalized racism, they built evidence that is lived in the flesh in places of oppression and offered beginnings of freedom deconstructed from the body.
Social Security for same sex couples Lesbians and gays can now insure their partners, to receive medical attention at all hospitals and clinics of the Costa Rican Social Security, but they must comply with the requirement of proving that the tie between the couple has existed for at least 3 years with no interruptions. The step the country has given has received applause from the United Nations, whom pointed out that this places the country on the path to equal rights with no discrimination. Now the insurance company studies the possibility of giving pensions in case of being widowed.
Police commits abuse against the LGBTI community The LGBTI community is still unprotected and discriminated by up to 500 police authorities, according to an investigation lead by the Center of Investigation and Promotion for Human Rights of Central America (CIPAC),. The investigation called “Evaluation of attitudes towards LGBT people by the police forces of Costa Rica” informs that 17.7% of the interviewed accepted and supports charging bribes to the LGBTI community, 15.7% accept beatings, 13,5% accept that indifference be shown towards allegations of sexual abuse towards a sexually diverse person an 20.4% would do a unjustified search and requisition. The chief political officer of CIPAC, Francisco Madrigal, highlighted that only 26% of the interviewed has received information on sexual diversity. “Its worrying that 61.7% consider that homosexuality is a disease and that only 23% think that it is a question of nature.
Honduras Stigma index of people with HIV The Central American network of People with HIV (REDCA+) carried out a study in 17 cities of Honduras and from these results gave recommendations to the government, health authorities and religious groups. Sergio Montealegre of REDCA indicated that the index demands that the government guarantee sustainable employment, continuing education programs, policy of social protection and a system of efficient justice that tackles gender violence associated to HIV. It is argued that health workers should develop abilities in counseling post-diagnosis, know the policies in depth that prohibit sterilization and it is also considered urgent to increase their abilities on the options that women have associated to child birth and lactation. Given that 47% of the interviewed have not commented on their status with religious leaders and that 14% has had suicidal thoughts, it is recommended that churches and their leaders develop skills on accompanying in spiritual and emotional orientation, and they can face the effects of exclusion, religious isolation and that support and acceptance be fostered in congregations for people that live with HIV.
Solidarity to face Violence and Repression The sexual diversity comity of Honduras sent a letter to the police and judicial authorities so that timely investigations are performed on violent and repressive acts that have recently occurred to the director and two officials of the Center of Investigation and Promotion of Human Rights (CIRPODEH). They also urged authorities to take the necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of these LGBTI advocates: Wilfredo MĂŠndez, Erick MartĂnez and Carlos Cuadra. The missive was signed by the LGBT Rainbow Association, Kukulcan, The Violet Collective, Cozumel Trans Network, APUVIMEH and the Lesbian/Bisexual groups Litos e Ixchel.
Coming out of the Closet Day Celebrating October 11th or Coming Out Day has become a tradition. This year organization surprised passerbys on Sixth Avenue, with a closet which they had to come out of and a picture frame where they could take their pictures. Another surprise was that in the Department of Escuintla there was a stand with activities, games, free condoms and HIV tests were done
Fabulous preventive campaign The organization Casgt has developed an extraordinary preventive campaign using folkloric elements and chapina culture. The topic is condom use, mutual fidelity, dangers that actives and passives face and alternative sexual practices to avoid HIV contagion. The content was ingenious and very creative.
149 Hate Crimes Unpunished The LGBTI community in El Salvador clamors to the government to clear up 149 hate crimes committed initially against trans people because as time goes by the possibilities of finding the guilty party diminishes. Ana Motano, Director of Legal Assistance for Sexual diversity, says “We want to stop impunity, because there have been many crimes against the community that were never investigated�. As an example of impunity the case of Tania Vasquez was used, a transsexual and human rights activist that was assassinated May 2013 and whose body was found in a bag on the Arturo Castellanos boulevard of San Salvador and her murder is still unpunished.
A cry to the UN for Human Rights The creation of new laws that are not applied, improvements to human rights for children, respect for the LGBTI community and the legalization of abortion figure in the positions that were presented by 16 Salvadorian Non Governmental Organizations, at the UN headquarters in Geneva. The organizations inform of abuse and punishment against the LGBTI community, in the streets and in jails; assassinations, deprivation or rights associated with work, voting, education, housing, access to credit and justice. They deem that there is a lack of policy that guarantees gender identity and non discrimination. They advocate for a reform to the penal code that typifies hate crimes against trans, whom are authorized to choose the name they agree with for their identity documents, without forgetting the rules to repair suffering to victims of violence.
Decriminalizing Homosexuality in Belize Decriminalizing homosexuality in Belize has become a long struggle, but authorities have ignored arguments that Section 53 of the Penal Code violates Basic Human Rights. The united Belizean Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM), argues until satiety that the paragraph “all people that have carnal relations against the order of nature with any person or animal shall be reprimanded with 10 years of jail”, the phrase “with any person” should be eliminated, so that consensual sexual relations are legal, anal or otherwise, that is held in private between adults no matter if they are of the same sex or heterosexual..
Panamanian President does not want “Queens” in the army When the president of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela was asked if gays would be accepted into the armed forces, he simply answered: I don’t want a Queen as an officer. “I am nobody to tell the soldiers how they should live, for me what is important is that they comply with the rules and they are good public servants. Without a doubt any conduct that attempts openly in their work against the moral principles of our country, does not go in hand with a police career”.
Miss Nicaragua on to a pageant in Thailand Miss Nicaragua, Amerika Berdrinatzy, is the first Central American to participate in the Miss International Queen Pageant. Amerika is already in Pattaya, Thailand and hopes to bring home a prize. The Nicaraguan will wear a dress by the designer Neftali Espinoza. Good Luck.
Intolerable levels of Violence The “No Safe at Home” report on Human Rights in Jamaica reveals that the LGBTI community lives levels on intolerable violence, and they are many times cast out of their communities by neighbors and family. Also police protection against physical and verbal attacks are generally very poor. The investigation took note that health officials assure that the laws that penalize homosexual relations have made it difficult to reach men that have sex with other men efficiently, a population that in general faces high levels of HIV infection.
Decriminalizing Homosexuality At this moment when the Jamaican Parliament discuses the content of an archaic regulation that criminalize homosexuality, the international association of Lesbians, gays, Bisexuals, trans and Intersex of Latin America and the Caribbean (ILGALAC) sent an open letter to legislators urging for its repeal. In a press release, ILGALAC “urges Jamaican congressmen to take advantage of this historic opportunity to show the world its sensitivity and parliamentary commitment to create laws that respect, and promote human rights of the LGBTI community. This is how democracy is strengthened and nations develop”.
Police abuse against Trans The Trans Always Friends (TRANSSA) organization condemns police abuse that they have been submitted to the past few months, mostly against trans sex workers by the National Police. The girls denounce that their arrests have been unjustified, that they were physically assaulted and that the authorities request money from them in exchange for being left in peace. Alarmed to face such persecution they ask for respect and that these vexations towards them stop. TRANSSA has over 25 hate crimes against trans women documented since 2006 to the present date and authorities have only given an answer to one of the cases.
.
Religious Group promotes Equal Marriage The Yhwh Ministry Server of the Dominican Republic rejects the exclusion of religious monopoly and proclaims that God is inclusive and loves homosexuals without asking them to change their essence or their sexual orientation. The members of this organization believe the mandate of “Love thy neighbor as you love yourself” and that it’s an invitation to not live far from God and to promote that in the Dominican Republic there be Equal Marriage for the LGBTI community..
60% of the LGBTI Community is Unemployed It has become a common practice in the Dominican Republic that people that identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual or Intersexual be expelled from work, they are harassed by their superiors or co-workers, are abused by the military and police, face family violence, receive inadequate attention from health centers and receive constant discrimination from other sectors in power. The data recollected in an unemployment or subemployement survey of LGBTI activists in the city of Santo Domingo indicated that more than 60% do not have steady jobs, this high rate is linked to a system of high exclusion that marginalizes people of a specific sexual orientation from the rest of the population.
Activists Denounce Labor Discrimination The Cuban activists present at the 27th World Conference of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans, that meets this Monday in Mexico City, presented the possibility of suing for discrimination due to sexual orientation before the Justice and Labor departments of the work centers or to municipal tribunals. Mercedes Garcia, of the Diversity for Humanity group, rated as a historic moment when Law No. 116 to the Labor Code was approved, that includes in its fundamental principles that govern the right to work and no discrimination due to sexual orientation.
Discrimination in Health Services Despite the fact that respect and inclusion of people with HIV is a constant on the agenda of activists, there is still differentiated treatment or rejection towards a segment of 16,400 Cubans that live with the virus.
Dancer Surprises the World The Cuban dancer Lazaro C Costa surprised the world when he won on the television program on the M6 television chain, “Best Dancer” due to the fact that his creativity and skill left the judges and audience agape. The constituent of the Cuban National Dance, presented a choreography full of humor and creativity, where he appears completely naked and covers his genitals with his hands. You can see the video in the following link: http://cubanosporelmundo.com/2014/10/22/cubanolazaro-costa-baila-desnudo-television-francesa/
The rejection of people with HIV still produces sad stories in health centers of Cuba. “When I go to the dentist in my community, I am always the last to receive treatment”.
Struggles Marriage in Estonia, Queretaro and Coahuila, Civil Union in Chile and Croatia Estonia became the first country of the former Soviet Union to legalize marriage between people of the same sex, while in the Mexican state Queretaro and Coahila the first weddings were carried out. In Coahila the first massive ceremony was performed. The Chilean senate approved the Agreement of Couple Life (AVP) that guarantees right to same sex couple, including custody of kids. Now the law is under analysis in the Chamber of Representatives, where there is a good climate. Since July 2014 the Croatian Parliament approved the life union, an equivalent to equal marriage and the first ceremonies have been held. Bolivia is also close to recognizing free unions through a reform in the Family Code that is studied by the Chamber of Representatives and it is possible that it will be approved soon.
Depathologisation in Denmark, adoption in Colombia and decriminalization in Palau A breakthrough was reported in Denmark. The Law of Gender Recognition, the first in Europe to depathologize, has started being enforced. The legislation eliminates the requirements to recognize the generic sexual identity of people: medical interventions, psychiatric and or psychological diagnosis, forced sterilization or coerced hormonal treatments. Instead of that, the process becomes an administrative procedure that allows the candidates to receive new social security numbers and personal documents according to the new gender, such as a passport, letter of conduct or birth certificates. On the other hand, the constitutional court of Colombia determined that same sex couples have the right to adopt, as long as one of the two parents is the biological mother or father. The republic of Palau, made up of more than 300 islands of the continent of Oceania eliminated from the penal code the criminalization of relations between males, because lesbianism is already allowed.
Current News The Media show of the Vatican Since the Vatican informed that the synod of the Family will study the inclusion of homosexuals and divorcees, LGBTI groups have seen the topic with apprehension, but the first declarations of Pope Francis also made hope arise.
Dangerous Sexual Practices Genital practices have become a trend between gays, bisexuals and men that have sex with men (MSM) do not predict good news. To increase pleasure they leave protection to one side and put their lives at risk. Bareback, bareback sex, baresex or barebacking is penetrative anal sex without a condom. It is a practice between established couples and that is being practices with more frequency among young people. This havoc can already be seen in the increase of cases of HIV. Psychologists conclude that barebacking satisfies the desire to feel the risk of being infected and it becomes a life style that produces a lot of pleasure for the mediation of danger. Zerosorting is choosing sexual partners based on their status in relation to HIV. This way the people that live with HIV has sexual relations without a condom with similar people, with the pretext that they both have the disease. However this leads to premature death since the virus acts in a distinct manner in each organism and there is a risk of elevating the viral load and complicating the effect of medicines. Group sex can be pleasant, but the risks are very elevated. If initially a condom is used, after being with a few people the euphoria leads to forgetting about protection. Sadomasochistic practices and domination do not use protection and strong sex, hitting and the use of instruments to punish produce wounds, the ideal cultivation to transmit HIV.
Today since the synod has concluded, we have full certainty that it was more or less a calculated show so that media outlets around the world would give them coverage in a meeting that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. It is very suspicious that a church that constantly attacks us, all of a sudden says that the doors are open without excluding anybody. But the first thing they do is throw the doors at our nose. In 2015 when the synod guidelines are given, nothing will probably happen, but they will continue to use us as a screen to cover their decadence and fossilization.
Notoriety He recovers like lightning Ezra Miller, who has declared himself openly queer, was selected to embody the cinematographic version of “The Flash�. Miller is the first non heterosexual actor to play a lead role as a super hero.
The actor states that he has mainly been with girls, but he has also had relations with men and he is not closed to anything, but he also does not label himself as gay.
Symbolic Referring The selection of Manuel Canelas as deputy is of great symbolic importance for LGBT visibility in Bolivia and because he reached parliament by the Socialist Movement, of President Evo Morales, which has not been receptive to the subject of sexual diversity. It is hoped that Canalas can boost the regulations on civil unions that has been stagnant in the chamber of representatives, but It will be difficult that these presented positions be achieved since he himself is convinced that Bolivian society it not mature enough to discuss topics like marriage and adoption.
Angel of the Trans Female trans that are in jail in Bogota have an angel that guides and accompanies them in the difficult process of living in the penitentiary: Katalina. Thanks to the frequent visits to the penitentiary, the trust and respect of the jailed trans and the LGBTI community recognize the effort held during this time to achieve gender claims and gender expression in the Colombian society.
Curiosities Drag is part of the Cultural Heritage of Humanity
The Spanish LGBT Confederation Colegas proposes the declaration of Drag as immaterial cultural heritage of Humanity. The organization considers that this artistic activity meets all the technical requirements to be protected in this declaration of the Organization of the United Nations for the Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO). “Drag is an admirable art. We are many that have enjoyed this art from our youth and today with more effort than ever, they are a spectacle that I recommend to the whole world�, signals Savier Checa, Coordinator of LGBT Tourism of Colegas. .
Coming out Improves Health A report by the Center of Studies on Human Stress of Montreal, LBG people Homoster: un of nuevo dehave vida less anxiety that are out the estilo closet and depression and they are in general happier. healthier and satisfied with their work. On the contrary, the anguish of maintaining a secret about sexual orientation produces levels of stress and depression that unbalance health in general. According to this study, the younger LGB generations between the age of 12 and 17 up to 80% hide their sexual orientation at school or high school due to fear of rejection. This fact is worrisome, especially if crossed with the study realized by the Human Rights Campaign on 10,000 adolescents that shows the more out of the closet you are, the higher the levels of happiness.
Columbia with the sexiest people A poll made by the BBC online determined that the majority of the participants consulted inclined to select people from Colombia as . the sexiest on the planet. Second place on the poll are the inhabitants of Puerto Rico. The body, color of the eyes, dimension of the hips and skin color determined the selection. The mix of culture and ethnicities favored North Americans (from the United States) to a third place. From Europe the Russians, French and Belgian were chosen in fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively. From Asia only Japan was present and these inhabitants earned eighth place.