Showing posts with label CHA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CHA. Show all posts

Monday, February 04, 2013

Latin American online LGBT media pioneer Gabriel Oviedo has died


SentidoG: Gabriel Oviedo, the founder and chief editor of the online LGBT news site SentidoG, has passed away in Buenos Aires at the age of 38.  Oviedo had been hospitalized since December from undisclosed "health complications" and died Thursday night according to a statement posted on the website.

Since its initial launch at the end of 2001, SentidoG became a go to source for Spanish-language international LGBT news and quickly gained a readership well beyond the Argentine borders.

Last year SentidoG was officially designated by the Buenos Aires City Council as a "Social Site of Interest" and Oviedo received honors "for his journalistic work and for his commitment to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans issues; as well as the dissemination of content that promoted rights for all and strengthened the fight against discrimination".

Cesar Cigliutti and other members of the Argentine Homosexual Community (CHA) who worked closely with Oviedo over the years and accompanied him on that special occasion released a brief statement mourning his loss and championing his work on behalf of the LGBT community.

The Argentine LGBT Federation (FALGBT), who are sometimes at odds with the CHA, also released their own statement.  "Gabriel's passing is an important loss for the movement, particularly for the drive and effort that led to the launch of one of the most important LGBT news portals in the world," said FALGBT president Esteban Paulón.

Controversy: In past years, Oviedo and SentidoG were not immune to controversy. While most of the site's content is original, Oviedo sometimes would post copyrighted content from other sites including material from the The Bilerico Project in the United States.

SentidoG's lax copyright policies led to confrontations with a rival Argentine LGBT news site called AG Magazine which broke out into the open in 2008 when their director Martín Peretti Sciolli accused Oviedo of stealing their material and their design.

The rough patch between both online publications seemed to have disappeared four years later when AG Magazine publicly congratulated Oviedo on SentidoG's and their 10th anniversary.

In his own words: During the decade that Oviedo spent at the helm of SentidoG, Argentina went from approving same-sex civil unions in 2002, to approving marriage equality in 2010 to passing the most progressive gender identity law in the world in 2012.

Last June he sat down with editors of the weekly Página/12 LGBT news supplement "Soy"and spoke of those ten years.

Oviedo said that SentidoG began as an online radio station with the idea of providing support for the civil union bill which was still in its infancy at the time and that it soon grew into something else.

He took the U.S. publication The Advocate as a reference and launched SentidoG. There were other sites such as Gay.com in Spanish and the monthly Argentine publication NX but he felt there was a need for a news site that provided content updated on a daily basis. "Today any jerk can launch a blog and believe it's a news network," he said.

Oviedo said that over the years he'd begun to characterize SentidoG's coverage as being queer rather than LGBT and argued he tried to stay away from the overt consumerist angle of other LGBT publications but admitted that what usually drew the most readers was sex and eroticism which is why they sometimes featured features such as "The Gods of Rugby".

A year earlier Oviedo had also sat down with Verónica Dema of La Nación who interviewed him for a blog she runs on LGBT issues called Boquitas Pintadas.  Dema asked Oviedo to share the high point and low point of his run at SentidoG, and she caught his response on camera:


The high point - Passage of the marriage equality law in 2010:
The story that was the most beautiful to me - because I lived through it while being there - was the passage of the marriage equality law.  I was outside [congress] in one of the tarps at the same instant the vote came in and it was a truly emotional moment. We truly crossed over to being legally recognized and it felt as if we had stepped out of the closet completely.
The low point - Having to report on hate crimes against the LGBT community:
It is always sad and it always saddens me when I have to report a hate crime - directly or indirectly. Directly when a hate crime takes actually place or indirectly when the State has exclusionary policies that lead some to commit suicide; that's a hate crime by omission. And Argentina has experienced tremendous change - particularly since last year. But when one stops to think - and I've discussed this with my friends - that only thirty years have passed since we went through an extremely bloody military coup in which people were taken away for - four hundred people were disappeared simply due to their sexual orientation - to think that twenty years after the coup ended you saw the passage of a marriage equality bill! For those people who survived it was truly an incredible story.
In a few words, that summarizes the improbable and moving path to equality for the Argentine LGBT community: From a repressive and bloody dictatorship to marriage equality and beyond.

When news broke of Oviedo's passing on Twitter last week, the response might have even surprised him.

From Argentina came reactions from SentidoG, CHA, FALGBT, AG Magazine, Peek G and renown journalist Osvaldo Bazan...
From the International LGBTI Association (ILGA) and All Out...
From Spain the online LGBT news site Dos Manzanas, the LGBT Statewide Federation (FALGBT) and FALGBT member Toni Poveda....
From Mexico, condolences from CODICE, Foro No Heterosexual, trans rights activists Patty Betancourt and Código Diverso producer Gabriel Gutierrez Garcia...
From Chile, the online lesbian magazine Rompiendo el Silencio...
From Ecuador, Proyecto Transgénero...
From Paraguay, SomosGay and LGBT rights activist Simón Cazal...
From the United States, trans rights activist Veronica Onassis...
And the reactions continue. A true testament to Gabriel's work and how far it reached.

As for the highlight of his journalist career, here is a video of the reaction outside congress when the marriage equality law passed.


Everyone breaks out into chants of "Equality! Equality! Equality!"
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Tuesday, July 03, 2012

In emotional ceremony, Argentinian president hands out new ID cards to transgender individuals


Photo: Several transgender leaders from Argentina received brand new government ID's at a ceremony officiated by president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in celebration of passage of a groundbreaking gender identity law.  Among them, Kalym Adrian, holding the white and rainbow-colored flag of the Argentinean LGBT Federation (YouTube screen capture).

Last week I was talking to a reporter about the marriage equality and gender identity laws in Argentina when she asked about my coverage of those stories on this blog over the years.  I told her that when I began to write about them it was a way to share my excitement at the fact that these tremendous advances were taking place in Latin America and because there was so little coverage of them in English-language media.  But then I joked that there was no point in writing about them anymore because media powerhouses such as The Associated Press and Reuters had caught wind of what they were missing out on and were now on the Latin American LGBT beat on a regular basis.

I bring this up because there was an incredibly moving ceremony that took place yesterday at the Argentinean government palace in Buenos Aires, better known there as The Pink House, and I thought I'd have the English-language exclusive today.  Except those pesky upstarts at the AP were all over it overnight and beat me to it ("Argentine leader proudly delivers new identity cards to transsexuals, saying equality matters").

So, yes, as the AP reports, Argentinean president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner celebrated passage of the world's most progressive gender identity law by inviting a number of transgender leaders and personally handing them their new identity cards.  The law was adopted by the Argentinean congress in May by a vote of 55-0 and became law last month after getting the president's signature.  It allows transgender individuals to change their name and gender on government documents without having to prove that they have undergone gender reassignment surgery or need for court approval as had been the case before. It also grants government health coverage for transgender individuals who want to undergo a gender reassignment surgery.

Here is video of President Fernandez de Kirchner's comments at the event as posted on the government's YouTube page (in Spanish):


If you see lots of children in the room it's because the Argentinean president also signed a presidential decree yesterday which put an end to a legal loophole that kept same-sex parents who began raising children before the 2010 marriage equality law passed from registering as co-parents of those children.  If I understand correctly, the decree gives same-sex parents that weren't covered by the marriage equality law a full year to legally register their children as their own.

During her speech and before an image of Eva Perón, the president seemed to tear up a couple of times as she repeatedly invoked her husband Nestor Kirchner's name as having been key in securing passage of the marriage equality law.  Her husband, a former Argentinean president himself, died in October of 2010.

"Today is a day of tremendous reparation," the president said at the start of her speech, "today we do not shout for liberation but instead we shout for equality, which is just as important as freedom."

Referring to Kalym Adrian, who was sitting in the front row holding the flag of the Argentinean LGBT Federation (FALGBT), the president then stated that Mr. Adrian had known he was a man as early as when he was four years of age and said that it was only now at 42 years of age that he was finally being recognized for who he was. "He has waited all his life!" someone shouted from the audience which the president acknowledged by repeating "All his life".

Noting that the average age at which transgender individuals die in Argentina is 32, the president argued that part of it was due to the stress of being repressed and ignored and being denied legal rights. She said she hoped this law would change all that.

"I do not want to use a word that bothers me greatly: Tolerance. No. I do not believe in 'tolerance'. To tolerate is to say I'll allow you to be because I have no other choice", she said, "I want to talk about equality and I want to talk about all of you who will now have the same rights I have enjoyed from the moment I was born and the rights that so many millions of Argentinians have enjoyed from the moment they were born.  This is the society we want."

She later added "There is nothing new under the sun and let's see if we all can agree on that.  All these issues we are acknowledging today in a legal way are nothing new. They stem from the history of humanity and it's time for us to accept that reality is not how we'd like to be if I think in a certain way or someone else wants it to be but that reality is what it is."

The President then alluded to the days of the dictatorship when children were taken away from families and the Mothers of the Plaza began their silent protests to get their children back and championed a history of peaceful protests in Argentina in demand of human rights.  She compared it to the history of non-violent demonstrations by the Argentinian LGBT community and began thanking the LGBT activists and organizations present in the room until Alex Freyre shouted out "And those who are missing as well!"

Alex and José Maria Di Bello, who became the first same-sex couple to marry in all of Latin America when a court in Tierra del Fuego granted them a license in December of 2009, were sitting in the audience wearing their trademark red-ribbon sashes in memory of all those lost to HIV and AIDS.

The president took note and recognized that the fight for human rights sometimes left people feeling worn out but said that she was grateful for the altruistic efforts by some to not only fight for their rights but also the rights of others.

"It's better to have lived a worn out life than to always live like a flower or a butterfly without having achieved a thing," she said.

She finally closed by apologizing to people like Mr. Adrian for having had to wait for almost forty years to finally be recognized.

In the room, along with Alex and José, Kalym and members of the FALGBT were also Marcela Romero, Coordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Trans People (RED LACTRANS), Alejandro Iglesias, who revolutionized how people in Argentine felt about transgender individuals through his participation in the hugely popular Argentinean edition of "Big Brother", members of the Argentinean Association of Travesti, Transsexual and Transgender Individuals (ATTTA), Husbands César Cigliutti and Marcelo Suntheim who lead Comunidad Homosexual Argentina (CHA) who laid some of the groundwork for the gender identity law in the during the last decade, Diana Sacayan who leads the Anti-discrimination Movement for Liberation (MAL) and who was a recipient of one of the ID's handed out by the president, Maria Rachid, Esteban Paulón, María José Lubertino and so many other individuals who have played such integral parts in getting these laws passed.

The Argentinean fight for LGBT equality has not come without internal community tensions and ongoing differences between organizational leaders but it was a beautiful thing to see so many women and men I so admire sitting in that room at yesterday's event. I have covered their awesome work from afar and even met some of them during the past few years and I cannot tell you how much pride I have for them right at this moment.  Bravo!

Side-note: During her speech, president Fernandez de Kirchner held a puppet version of herself which she dubbed "Cristinita". She joked that some of her critics had called a witch in the past and that perhaps the puppet should carry a broom.

The puppet was one of many created one of the lesbian couples who received a co-parenting certificate - including puppet versions of Nestor Kirchner and Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. The president said they would be offered for sale at government chambers.

Shamefully, in their coverage of the event, Spain's EFE treated the reason for the ceremony as a side note and focused mostly on the president's joke about the puppet ("Argentine president presents her doll 'Cristinita'").

Extra: Video of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner handing out new ID's to transgender leaders as well as co-parent certificates to a number of lesbian couples.


Previously:
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Monday, June 18, 2012

Chile, Colombia and Buenos Aires to lift gay blood donor bans?

Photo: "I am not allowed because I am gay" reads a flyer plastered on top of a poster that says "Thanks for donating blood". Image from a 2007 protest organized by the Argentinean Homosexual Community (CHA).

With a number of legislators renewing their push to have a blood donor ban on gay and bisexual men lifted in the United States, the Irish health minister doubling down against a similar push in the European country and the French health ministry taking the opposite road by announcing they are taking steps to lift their own ban, there seems to be an extraordinary amount of international movement on this issue. That includes several countries from Latin America.

Chile: On May 23rd representatives from the Chilean Homosexual Integration and Liberation Movement (MOVILH) emerged from a meeting with the country's health minister, Jaime Mañalich, and announced that the government would stop enforcing a law banning gay men from donating blood. MOVILH had made a similar announcement in 2009 under a different presidential administration but nothing seemed to come from it.

Under current guidelines public and private clinics are required to ask potential donors about their sexual orientation and turn away men who have had sex with other men without protection. The new measure, which will take effect in July, would specifically prohibit clinics from asking the sexual orientation of prospective donors.  This time, the government appears to mean what they say.

In a statement posted on the health ministry's website on May 24th, Minister Mañalich stated that banning gay men from donating blood "made no sense from a scientific standpoint and even less when taking discrimination into consideration".

In the meantime, on June 5th, the MOVILH brought forward two cases in which gay men were kept from donating blood at two medical centers.  At least one of the clinics apologized that same day and said that it was a misunderstanding stemming from brochures left in the waiting room spelling out the old regulations.  The clinic announced they would remove all brochures and await new material from the government come July.

Colombia: Meanwhile, on May 28th, El Espectador reported that the Colombian Constitutional Court had ruled in favor of a man from Bucaramanga who argued that a clinic had discriminated against him when they asked about his sexual orientation and turned him away when he revealed he was gay.

Part of the Court's ruling reads as follows:
The risk of contamination depends on the behavioral risk and not on the donor population; hence, a heterosexual person who has multiple sexual relations with unknown persons without protection on a long term basis than a gay man with a long term partner who uses protection.  The [clinic's] guidelines do not take this into account, which makes them worthless or inadequate.  Furthermore, public policy should focus on selecting all donors based on high risk behaviors, instead of excluding donors based on who they choose to have sexual relations with.
Adding:
This Court has determined that individuals and state agencies should stop perpetuating discrimination against the homosexual community in a manner that sends a message of stigma as in the current case.
The Court also stated that using sexual orientation as criteria was unnecessary because all blood centers are required to test blood donations for HIV.  A 1996 regulation still in the books bans anyone who has had "homosexual relations" in the past fifteen years from donating blood.

The Court ordered the Colombian health ministry to draft new regulations. No word on the health ministry's response so far.

Argentina: In the meantime, a Buenos Aires councilmember has introduced a municipal bill that would ban clinics from asking blood donors about their sexual orientation.

Councilmember Maximiliano Ferraro's bill, introduced just this week, says "information will not be required from donors regarding their gender identity, personal or sexual life, or any other information that discriminated or violates a person's right to their privacy".

If it gains momentum and is passed, it would only apply to Buenos Aires.

In 2006, the Argentinean National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI) recommended the Argentinean blood donor ban be lifted and the Argentinean health ministry agreed to take a look at ways to lift the ban.  But the process apparently has since stalled.
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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Latin American LGBT advocates protest the Vatican's handling of child abuse cases


A couple of weeks ago the Europe-based International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, better known for their old name and acronym International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), joined Italian LGBT advocates to call for worldwide protests against the Catholic Church and the Vatican. Their reason?

From their alert:
On April 13 the number two in the Vatican hierarchy, the Pope’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, claimed that there is a link between homosexuality and paedophilia.

The LGBT movement worldwide has risen up against this false, despicable and anti-scientific statement from the Vatican, which is trying to deflect attention from priests’ sex crimes by blaming LGBT people.

While they are trying to hide the truth about the abuses perpetrated against innocent children, by making absurd parallels between homosexuality and paedophilia, ILGA and the Italian LGBT movement has launched an appeal to all citizens and associations all over the world to join an international protest against child abuse and support for victims in front of the Vatican embassies or the main Catholic churches.

Turning the paedophilia issue into a matter of sexual orientation, as the Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone did, can only lead to failing to address the serious allegations coming from around the world. The point is not whether to identify the sexual orientation of paedophiles, but firmly prosecute those responsible for such abuses, especially if they have an educational or spiritual role.

The Catholic Church must answer to the courts and the world public opinion for the serious cover-up occurred worldwide. This is our call, to all women and men of goodwill, of any religion, who cannot be silent in front of these abuses against innocent children. Take Action Now! Contact your local lgbt association to organise a protest in front of the Vatican embassy or the main catholic church of your city.
LGBT advocates throughout the world have answered the call.  AFP reports that more than 100 people gathered in Paris on Saturday while a number of agencies reported a demonstration in Rome, Italy, on the same day.  On April 4th, Easter Day, a number of people here in New York, mostly members of the LGBT activist group Queer Rising, also protested outside New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Meanwhile, in Latin America, there were very visible reactions from advocates in Venezuela, Argentina and Peru.

Venezuela: On Friday, the Venezuelan LGBTI Network asked supporters to congregate at La Previsora tower at Plaza Venezuela in Caracas and participate in a procession to the Vatican's embassy. 

Holding signs that read, among other things, "Pedophilia is a crime, homosexuality is not", marchers arrived at the embassy and handed a statement "repudiating the discriminatory attitude of the church against the human and civil rights of gays and lesbians".

An article in Aporrea also indicates that activists in neighboring country Colombia also staged a protest on April 17th at Bogota's main cathedral but there are no other details.

Participants of the Venezuela action included renown transgender activist Tamara Adrián (holding the sing in the photo), José Merentes (standing behind her), Carlos Aray and representatives from several Venezuelan LGBT organizations. 

Argentina: The Argentinian Homosexual Community (CHA), one of the leading LGBT organizations in the country (link here), also called for a protest outside the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires. MDZ says it was a small group of people (so was the one at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York).  Participants carried similar signs as those carried by activists in Venezuela: "Abuse is a crime, homosexuality is not".

Another one read "We express our rejection of the abuse against boys and girls, let's denounce the Vatican's silence."

Crítica also has a report which includes an image of the protest.

Peru: "Neither prayer nor oration will stop a rapist" says the sign held by an LGBT Peruvian advocate in the photo to the right.

LGBT advocates in Lima, Peru, organized perhaps the most successful of the recent protests, at least in the American continent.  El Comercio reports that over a hundred supporters of the LGBT Peruvian Network gathered outside the residence of the Vatican's diplomatic representative in Lima (link here and photo at the top of the page).

The protest, which had been announced days earlier, also drew an estimated thirty counter-protester, says the paper.  They arrived an hour early and waited for the LGBT advocates by counting the beads on their rosaries and praying.

Once the LGBT advocates arrived, the paper reports that there were non-violent clashes for more than two hours.  It culminated when a Catholic priest named Carlos María Stiegler stepped out of the residence to shout at the activists that they were "the work of the devil".

"This manifestation is not God's work," he said, "the Devil is present here."

"To cover a crime is also a crime," responded the LGBT advocates.

Speaking for the LGBT advocates, Marbel Reyes told the EFE news syndicate that the Network had kept their protest peaceful even when Stiegler attempted to proffer his blessings upon those gathered (supposedly to drive away the devil inside them).

And, while few in the United States paid attention, the US right-wing religious right certainly did.

The US-funded and Peruvian-based ACI Prensa highlighted the good work of those who gathered to defend the Vatican's sorry record on child abuse and saluted those who would stand up to a "small group of hostile feminists and homosexuals".

They also provided the pro-Vatican video below...
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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Argentina: And the first lesbians to marry are...


The Santiago Times, based in Chile, has saved me the job of translating Spanish-language reports of the first ever marriage by two lesbians in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  From their April 12 article:
Two women that were exiled during the last Argentine military dictatorship (1976/1983) were married Friday in Buenos Aires, the first wedding among lesbians in the country, reported the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Federation of Argentina, or FALGBT.

Norma Castillo, from Uruguay, and Ramona Arevalo, Argentine, were married by Judge Elena Liberatori after having requested legal protection within the framework of the campaign “Same right, same names,” which the LGBT Argentine Federation has been carrying out for several months. They are both 67 years old and have been a couple for over 30 years.

“They asked for legal protection because they love each other and wanted their family to be recognized by the State,” said the Federation in an official release.

The two women are activists of organizations belonging to the Federation and theirs was the third homosexual marriage in Argentina. Norma is the head of the pensioners' center Open Door to Diversity, an organization which fights for the gay-lesbian rights.
While Buenos Aires enjoys the title of being the first city in any Spanish-speaking American country to adopt a same-sex civil union law back in 2003, none of Argentina's provinces nor the country has adopted a marriage equality law. The honor of adopting the first marriage equality law among countries in the hemisphere south of the United States goes to Mexico City, which saw its first marriages between same-sex couples on March 11th.

But marriage equality activists in Argentina have been in a prolonged legislative and judicial battle to have their country recognize their right to marry and, with a combination of luck, positive local court decisions and amicable civil court judges, they have actually managed to claim the title of the first same-sex marriage in the region.

That honor went to Alex Freyre and Jose Maria Di Bello who married in Tierra del Fuego on December 28, 2009 (photo).

A second couple, Damian Bernath and Jorge Esteban Salazar Capon, were granted the right to marry in a Buenos Aires court on February 23rd (photo).

And, on April 5th, a third couple, Martin Canevaro and Carlos Alvarez (right) received a go ahead as well.

In the case of Bernath and Salazar Capon, their wedding was annulled by a Buenos Aires judge.

In addition, there have been a couple of related stories about the lack of recognition in Argentina of same-sex marriages performed in other countries.

Cesar Cigliutti and Marcelo Suntheim, who happen to be the first couple to be granted civil marriage rights back in 2003 and are also the directors of the Argentinean Homosexual Community (CHA), one of the largest LGBT rights organizations on the country, got married in Spain in 2008 but were denied the right to get their marriage recognized back home.

At the same time, Diana Cordero, who is from Argentina, and her Spaniard partner C.P., are not only fighting for Argentina to recognize their 2008 Canadian marriage but also trying to keep Argentina from deporting C.P. back to Spain (photo).

Anyway, this makes Norma Castillo and Ramona Arevalo's marriage the third same-sex marriage in Argentina and the first between lesbians.  If their name sounds familiar it's because I have featured them before on this blog.

Last year, they were profiled by Argentinian newspaper La Nacion for their role in the launch of the first retirement home center for elderly gays and lesbians in Latin America.  At the time, I posted a YouTube video interview with them on which I added English-language subtitles.  I am re-posting it again tonight.

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Thursday, August 27, 2009

Argentina: 1 year after pension benefits were granted to same-sex couples, only 10 people have received them

It's been one full year since the Argentinian government announced that it would extend pension system coverage to same-sex couples. But today, quoting sources from the federal government, InfoBAE reports that only 10 gay people have received pension benefits in the year since the policy was announced.

When asked about the low number, César Cigliutti, President of the largest LGBT rights organization in the country - the Comunidad Homosexual Argentina (CHA) - said that many same-sex couples had never taken the time to make sure that they had proof of their partnership.

"These are incredible cases," Cigliutti said, "We get involved with gay adults, with very difficult experiences, tremendous histories of discrimination; We are talking about an era in which the word 'gay' didn't even exist."

Cigliutti said that most gay couples never thought they would see the day in which they could access the government's pension plan as couples and that there was still a learning curve in having people prepare for filing a case (to access pension benefits under the plan, a couple must have filed an affidavit and presented proof that they have lived together for at least five years). He said that the CHA had received more than 80 inquiries about the process and that he personal knowledge of several pension claims making their way through the system.

In September 23rd of 2008, 81 year old Alfredo Pasquale (above) became the first person to be covered by the policy after his partner of 59 years, José Miguel Castro, passed away. At the time, he had been fighting for more than 11 years to l
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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Argentina: Gay 81 year old widow granted pension benefits

As my friend Rex Wockner reported in his syndicated international news column (posted here by PrideSource), on August 18th the government of Argentina decided to expand pension coverage to same-sex couples.

Today, as Los Andes reports, 81 year old Alfredo Pascale (above), became the first person in the country to gain access to his partner's pension benefits as celebrated today in an emotional public ceremony ("An 81 year old man is the first gay man to be pensioned").

Pascale, who was partnered with José Miguel Castro for 59 years and lived together with him for 47 years (before Castro died in 1996), had spent 11 years fighting the courts for recognition. He said that he felt extremely moved by the recognition and that it seemed "unreal to be able to express myself like this, as freely," adding "I would have loved to live like this during all that time with him."

Present at the ceremony was Cesar Cigliutti, president of the LGBT-rights organization Argentinean Homosexual Community (CHA) and his partner Marcelo Suntheim who also works for the CHA.

You might know their names from the fact that Marcelo and Cesar were the first couple in Argentina to be united under a historic civil union pact in Buenos Aires back in 2003 (the first such law in all of Latin America) or because the CHA was also instrumental in last week's recognition of a transgender person's right to change their name of birth even if they did not have gender reassignment surgery (that's Cesar on the left in this picture I featured in yesterday's post).
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Monday, September 22, 2008

Argentina: Court allows transgender woman to legally change name w/out requiring gender reassignment surgery

Pictured above: Tania Luna, second from left, with her sister Verónica, legal team member Pedro Paradiso Sottile (left) and director Cesar Cigliutti, all members of the Argentinean Homosexual Community (CHA)

A judge in the Argentinian province of Mar de Plata has ruled in favor of a 25 year old transgender woman and allowed her to officially change her name to Tania without requiring gender-reassignment surgery.

"This ruling brings resolution to my life but I don't want it to be an isolated case" said Tania Luna to Clarin in an article posted online yesterday ("Born a man and will have a woman's name in his ID without having surgery").

Tania, who received legal assistance from members of the Argentinean Homosexual Community (CHA) including her sister Verónica Luna who is a lawyer, said that she always felt like a woman and had been using her chosen name since she was sixteen. She said that she would not mention her name of birth because it did not represent her but said that she had always counted with the full support of her parents, her three sister and a brother.

She began hormone treatments at fifteen and underwent silicone injections at eighteen. As a gift for her 21st birthday, her family pulled together enough money for her to be able to get breast implants but she has yet to undertake gender-reassignment surgery for which she says she is unprepared. "Before I felt ashamed of my body as if I was wearing a disguise, but these changes allow me to like the way I am," she said.

In the ruling, Judge Pedro Hooft specifically stated that gender-reassignment should not be a requirement for transgender individuals seeking to legally change their name and called it a "serious incongruence."

"It would be to once again remain in a reductionist vision which equalizes sex as gender with only one of its external characteristics, in this case the presence of male genital organs, giving less value to personal identity," said the judge [in a side note the paper notes that the judge is among those who have been accused by human rights organizations of collaborating with previous dictators].

To date, says Clarin, transgender women had been able to change their birth certificates and ID cards if they underwent gender-reassignment surgery in Argentina or in the exterior. Pedro Paradiso Sottile, from the CHA's legal department, explained that the desicion puts Tania and other women on equal ground. "For example," he said, "she can marry through the Civil Matrimony Law even if she does not seek gender reassignment surgery."

In other general terms Verónica, Luna's sister, says that it means that she will not be surrounded by members of police when she is at the airport because the name and photo on her ID does not match her appearance, it means she doesn't have to wonder whether she would cast a vote in a voting table designated for male voters or at another designated for female voters, it means that hospitals will not discriminate against her when she seeks treatment (as the Lunas claim happened once when hospital workers segregated her from other patients), and it means that she will probably not be turned away when seeking employment.

It's a tremendously progressive ruling. Laws allowing transgender individuals to officially change their names in birth certificates and personal identity documents vary all over the map but even in the United States when it's been allowed, one precondition has always been that the person demonstrate that he or she has had gender-reassignment surgery.

A 2006 proposal, which would have made New York City the only place in the United State to allow these changes without requiring proof of a gender reassignment surgery was scrapped at the last minute when issues of federal security were raised.
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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Argentina: May 17th will be "Fight Against Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity Day" in Buenos Aires

Not to be left behind today, the Buenos Aires legislature voted this afternoon to designate May 17th as the "Fight Against Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity Day" (doesn't necessarily roll off the tongue as easily as other commemorations but I guess they wanted to be specific about it).

Of course, this follows efforts by international LGBT activists to have different legislative bodies - whether it be localities or nations - recognize May 17th as a "International Day Against Homophobia" (most recently I wrote about Costa Rica adopting such a measure on a national scale).

César Cigliutti y Pedro Paradiso Sottile represented the LGBT rights organization Comunidad Homosexual Argentina (CHA) at today's legislative ceremony. Legislators recognized the role of the CHA in pushing for the May 17th commemoration.
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Saturday, November 10, 2007

Argentina: LGBT youth protest "Volunteer Blood Donor National Day"

Every 9th of November, the Health Ministry of the City of Buenos Aires in Argentina observes the annual "Volunteer Blood Donor National Day" to promote recognition of those who have donated blood throughout the year and to promote future blood donations.

Just as in the United States, gays are barred from donating blood in Argentina so yesterday members of the Youth Area program of the Comunidad Homosexual Argentina disrupted the official event and plastered walls with signs that read "I can't because I am gay."

In a statement that tagged the gay-ban policy as discriminatory, the group said that the policy was based on outdated concepts that segregate all gay men into "risk groups" instead of taking a look at "risk behaviors" not only by men who have sex with men but also by anyone regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

"We expect that the proper measures are taken to guarantee the employment of valid and trustworthy scientific criteria in the donation of blood," the statement reads; "We demand that the State stop using homophobia as institutionalized criteria in any regulation, which, in this case, results in restricting the altruistic right to donate blood and to help those that need it."
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Thursday, November 01, 2007

Argentina: President elect coy on LGBT issues, activists split on same-sex partnership strategy

Despite rumors that she might have to face a run-off in the Argentinian presidential elections Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, wife of sitting Argentinian president Néstor Kirchner, earned 43% of the vote last weekend in a resounding victory and became the first woman ever to be elected president of Argentina.

Most US commentary that I have seen, even in the LGBT news blogs, have touched upon the supposed similarities between the presidential power couple and our own presidential couple - or on how fabulous-looking and fashionable she seems to be.

Steve Ralls at Bilerico picked up on a blog post at Hepzibah, written before the election, to note that a close Krichner supporter, Senator Vilma Ibarra (pictured right), had introduced a bill proposing changes in the country's Civil Code that would allow same-sex couples to marry (a detailed Spanish language Pagina/12 article on the bill can be found here).

Some saw the move as an indication of where the Kirchner camp might go in the future in regards to the recognition of same-sex partnerships in Argentina.

Then again, Senator Ibarra announced her intention to submit the bill a mere two weeks before last week's election and Pagina/12 pointedly pointed out that Ibarra was the sole sponsor (Ibarra chalked the lack of support up to the fact that political leaders were hesitant to sign up to such legislation in an electoral season but that begs the question: Why not wait until the elections were over to introduce the bill in order to find additional sponsors?).

Another newspaper, El Tribuno de la Salta, also drew questions about the timing, noting that Ibarra is set to step down in December which would leave the bill in uncertain waters.

In addition, press coverage also noted that while Ibarra was among the lead Kirchner supporters, the President-elect was nowhere to be found when they tried to ask about her views on the bill.

As a matter of fact, Kirchner was only one of four candidates (out of thirteen) that did not respond to questionnaires sent by the Argentinian LGBT-rights organization Comunidad Homosexual Argentina (or CHA) on her stand on several issues relevant to the LGBT community - including whether a civil unions law that passed in Buenos Aires in 2002 should be strengthened and expanded to cover the entire country.

Now, there has been an interesting and little-noticed split among the leading Argentinian LGBT rights organizations and leaders on the issue of civil unions vs. marriage.

The CHA, which was formed in 1984, has long led the drive that led to the successful introduction of the civil unions bill that was approved in Buenos Aires in 2002, making the city the first in Latin America to recognize same-sex partnerships (actually CHA secretary Marcelo Suntheim and CHA president Cesar Cigliutti where the first Argentinian couple to enter into a civil union, both are pictured left at the official ceremony) . They have continued to advocate for a national civil union law that would strengthen and expand on the rights offered by the existing Buenos Aires law.

In the meantime, 2006 saw the launch of the Argentinian LGBT Federation (FALGBT), a network of 15 LGBT Argentinian organizations that is led by long-time LGBT rights activist Maria Rachid. On February 14 of this year the Federation made a splash with the announcement that Rachid would head to the Civil Registry office with her partner Claudia Castro and ask for a marriage license, threatening to go to the courts if they turned them down (Maria and Claudia also happen to be the leaders of La Fulana, which advocates for the rights of lesbian and bisexual women, they are pictured on the right and is one of the member organizations of the FALGBT).

It is the first time that I am aware that there has been a concerted strategy in a Latin American country to ask for same-sex marriage rights as opposed to civil unions (so far, it's been a losing strategy with a second couple being denied the right to marriage by the Civil Chamber as Pagina/12 reported just yesterday, Maria and Claudia's court challenge is still making it's way through the courts). No surprise, then, that they have backed the Ibarra bill.

The CHA, noticeably absent from the groups that conform the Federation, has been mostly silent regarding the pro-marriage efforts of the FALGBT while sticking to their civil union strategy. By all measures they have also sustained a civil and working relationship with the Federation (and vice-versa).

Which probably explains why on the eve of the election the pro-marriage FALGBT, while supporting the Ibarra marriage bill, also urged the Argentinian LGBT community not to vote for Cristina Fernández de Kirchner for "not pronouncing" herself on the rights of the LGBT community.

But wait! Kirchner speaks!

At the last possible minute, after months of avoiding media (or questions from the CHA and FALGBT), the President-elect suddenly opened up days before the election and was uncharacteristically forthcoming on LGBT issues (sorta like Hillary did when, after months of refusing to meet LGBT political organizations in New York, she decided to have a high-profile meeting on the eve of her presidential announcement).

As part of a radio interview that took place on October 24th and as reported by Perfil, Kirchner didn't necessarily support same-sex marriage but she did espouse generic platitudes that sounded like she did: "I believe in the free will of all men and women in Argentina to choose their sexuality," she said (Hmm... me thinks sexuality is mostly not a choice?).

Furthermore she said "It's not an issue on which I have to express myself [why not?], in all respects it's an issue that has to be debated in the Parliament."

Then there is a SentidoG article written by a member of a NYC-based Argentinian LGBT organization in which it is said that members "exchanged words" with the then-candidate at an "exclusive" Waldorf Astoria Hotel campaign fundraiser breakfast on October 26th. Aside from a nice photo op, though, the article fails to say whether Kirchner said anything about LGBT rights in Argentina (other than to say that she spoke about her commitment to "human rights").

Kirchner is certainly miles ahead on LGBT issues compared to some of the conservative candidates that she faced in the presidential elections but, like her husband, she leaves a lot to be desired about how strong an LGBT rights ally she will be as the president of Argentina.
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Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Argentina Gay Pride Confrontations



Photos: Buenos Aires police show up in force to 'protect' the city's Cathedral on gay pride day. According to news reports, this year's 14th annual gay pride march drew over 10,000 marchers. Police threw tear-gas and made some arrests after a confrontation between a small fundamentalist religious group clashed with left-wing protesters not associated with the march (photos taken by Nicolas Parodi courtesy of Indymedia, additional photos here)

By all accounts, this weekend's gay pride march was a resounding success, drawing more than 10,000 marchers and filling the streets of Buenos Aires with rainbow flags and confetti, despite the light rain that fell on a warm afternoon. March organizers selected "We Want the Same Rights" as this year's theme and demanded the passage of a national civil union bill which would expand the landmark 2002 Buenos Aires same-sex civil union law to cover same-sex couples around Argentina (to date, according to Corrientes Noticias, 400 Buenos Aires couples have sought civil union protections). In addition, organizers also said that they were demanding the right to adopt and the right to one's body.

Not everything ran peacefully, as a few members of a fundamentalist religious organization called "Bringers of the Faith" gathered outside the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral to 'defend' the Church from gatherers at the Plaza de Mayo - which marks the starting place for the march - and about 100 individuals associated with socialist, anarchist and queer groups stood in front of them and began to shout them down.

The confrontation has a history: In 2003, a group of mostly left-wing queer organizations and activists organized a 'counter-march' to denounce the assimilationist and non-revolutionary nature of the gay pride march. At the start of the march, they decended upon the Cathedral and spray-painted its outside walls with anti-Catholic slurs drawing strong rebukes from Argentine society, the government and, of course, the Catholic Church. The action also exposed a split in LGBT organizing in Buenos Aires between those who seek gains through governmental lobbying and legislative pressure and activists who see this as sleeping with the enemy and want to take more aggressive measures (Similar fissures exist the United States LGBT rights movement).

So it should not have been a surprise that the Buenos Aires police was out in full force at the beginning of this past Saturday's march. But the mix of right-wing religious zealots, left-wing organizers, anarchists and police proved to be a powder keg with a fuse that was lit - according to Cadena 3 - when one of the Church defenders reached out and grabbed a transgender woman who was shouting at him.

As the confrontation began to spill out of order, the police threw tear gas supposedly to protect the religious folk who were smaller in number than their opponents. This was met by a hail of rocks and bottles thrown by demonstrator at the police as the protesters retreated into the wider crowd of march participants. The police followed a few of them into the crowd and arrested six people. A video of the police dragging a young pregnant woman off to jail was shown on Argentine television and on this weekends edition of Univision's Primer Impacto (the anchorwoman, inexplicably, ended her comments by asking "I sincerely do not know what a pregnant woman was doing at such a march" - then again, their report was insubstantial and alleged that the clash represented a bunch of angry gays attacking the police). A policeman was taken to a hospital where he was treated for injuries to an eye.

After the arrests, the clashes died down and the marchers were able to make their way from the Plaza de Mayo to the National Congress Building.

The repercussions are still rippling through the Argentine LGBT movement as some march organizers have alleged that some of the mostly non-gay anarchist protesters actually shouted anti-gay slurs at them as they were also clashing with the police and the church folks. At the very least, I hope that it leads to concrete steps on how the more politicaly savvy (some may say entrenched) organizations such as the CHA and the more progressive elements of the LGBT movement in Argentina can mend fences and work together.

Otherwise, expect to see a repeat of these clashes at next year's march.
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