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In a statement that tagged the gay-ban policy as discriminatory, the group said that the policy was based on outdated concepts that segregate all gay men into "risk groups" instead of taking a look at "risk behaviors" not only by men who have sex with men but also by anyone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

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.

Updates: Gay Mexican denied US asylum, Alvaro Orozco, bi-national couples

Political asylum denied to Mexican gay man: In this week's Gay City News, Arthur Leonard describes the failed attempt by a Mexican gay man to gain political asylum in the United States based on sexual orientation.

Leonard writes "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, based in New York City, has ruled in an unpublished decision that the current level of anti-gay persecution in Mexico is not sufficient to justify granting a withholding of removal for a gay immigrant who claimed to fear persecution if returned to that nation."

But what strikes me, once again, is the mistakes made by the applicant in submitting his claim: 1. He applied after the statutory 1-year window of opportunity imposed by the US on asylum seekers and 2. He had no legal representation at the asylum hearing (he argued that his attorney failed to show up but my experience is that an applicant can ask for the interview to be postponed if his attorney is not present - though I'm not sure if this varies from court to court). The fact that he had not personally experienced past persecution while living in Mexico, though sometimes surmountable in an asylum claim if you present evidence, did not help his case.

Alvaro Orozco: Speaking of asylum, this time in Canada, there has been no better luck for Alvaro Orozco, the young man from Nicaragua that was ordered deported back in August after courts originally questioned whether he was truly gay. His attorneys tried to get a stay of removal earlier this month but the courts refused to grant it. A new order of deportation was handed down on October 4th.

Oh, Canada! But not all news from Canada have been as dire. Emilio and Tom, friends of mine whose bi-national immigration story I've featured here from time to time, can breathe a sight of relief: On October 11th they became permanent residents of Canada, or, as Tom put it on their blog "We finally made it after 20 months of waiting and Emilio is now officially safe from US tyranny!"

Understandably, they are looking forward to the move up north even though it will be sad to see them go (we promise a visit or two).

Tom and Emilio are featured in "Through Thick and Thick" so the news might be a spoiler of sorts if you haven't watched it. Below is a YouTube preview of the Sebastian Cordoba documentary. More on the issues faced by same-sex binational couple in the US at the Immigration Equality website here.


Oh, Argentina? Speaking of same-sex binational couples, former New York Blade editor and current blogger Chris Crain, who already changed his country of residence to Brazil in order to live with his Brazilian partner, Anderson, recently wrote on his blog that their next place of residence will be Argentina after options to remain in Brazil dried out. Ultimately, though, Chris says that, like Tom and Emilio, they might take a look at Canada as an option as well.

Los Dogos: World Gay Soccer Champs!

Today, Argentina's Los Dogos beat the defending world gay soccer champs Stonewall (from the UK) to become the world's top gay soccer team. Yay! But it doesn't mean there haven't been a few bumps along the way.

On Friday, according to La Capital, a Buenos Aires councilmember asked the Buenos Aires Human Rights Commission to officially denounce the tournament. Jorge Enríquez argued that it was one thing for the government to respect what individuals did in private and quite another to allow events that promote immoral practices such as the soccer tournament.

Councilmember Facundo Di Filipo, chair of the Human Rights Commission, called Enríquez' statements homophobic and said that it exposed a point of views that should have been left behind in the 20th century.

In the meantime, the absence of a Brazilian team at the tournament was blamed by some on an unwillingness by Brazil to support a gay or lesbian team and on generalized homophobia in a land that is supposed to be not only soccer-crazy but also tolerant of gays and lesbians.

Celeste Gay, the team from Uruguay which was said to be a contender for the championship but ultimately did not reach the final, was also rumored to be writing a complaint letter to the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association (IGLFA) calling into question the disorganized structure of the event and the prohibitive costs for some of the smaller international teams that would have wanted to participate (this according to AG Magazine).

Perhaps the most bizarre complaints about the event came in a scanned image from a newspaper that I have yet to identify (above) which says that some participants in the event were less than comfortable with the Mexican team's supposedly overtly affectionate way of celebrating each score with a kiss between playmates .

Ricardo Leon, director of Chilegay Deportes, traveling with the team from Chile, told the unknown paper "I haven't seen the Mexicans, but I can say that we don't do that. We are respectful athletes and we are representing our country, we did not come for relaxation."

Nestor Gamella, technical director for champs Los Dogos also said that he didn't like the Mexican team's field smooches. "To be gay does not mean being effeminate or ridiculous," he said.

Daniel Santoyo, a team member from Mexico's Tri Gay, didn't seem worried by the complaints raised about the kisses and might have added fuel to the fire, according to the paper, when he told some members of the press that during the tournament they were facing "very tall, very strong players and, well... also very handsome and blond and all that."

Despite all the kissing, El Tri failed to win a single match game but still went back home with a smile on their faces.

The final was seen by over 2,000 fans who, according to some reports, were drinking lots of Kilmes beer and eating something called choripanes. For those Argentineans among you, what are choripanes and are they as delicious as I think they might be just by name alone?

• Previously: Soccer player "outed" in Peru as Argentina hosts gay soccer tournament (Sept. 26, 2007)
  
• Related: AG Magazine's photo gallery of the event here

Soccer player "outed" in Peru as Argentina hosts gay soccer tournament

Above: Goalkeeper Juan "Chiquito" Flores' professional soccer career might be coming to an end after a homophobic gossip show "outs" him (An extended version of the video here); Below: Argentina's main gay soccer team, DAG.

International gay soccer tournament takes over Buenos Aires - For months now I've been getting bombarded by so many press releases, news items and e-mail messages about this week's international gay soccer tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that in some respects I will be oh-so-happy when the event ends this Saturday (additional information about the tournament can be found at Bloomberg Canada's Digital Journal).

No more newspaper articles about the Mexican team's pink uniforms! No more press releases about cute team mascots! No more debates about why there are no lesbian teams at a "gay and lesbian" event! Or complaints that the event is too expensive for the average Argentinean to attend! (the last two being pretty valid points but nevertheless I'll be happy when the e-mail bombardment stops).

Still, there is no denying that the event, the first of its kind in all of Latin America, is a landmark event that illustrates the amazing advances that the gay community has seen in the region over the last decade.

But, should there be a 'gay' soccer tournament at all? - Last week I read an interesting post over at Dollymix questioning the need to gave a 'gay' soccer tournament at all instead of "working to make straight football a more supportive and welcoming place for gay athletes and fans" which is fine and dandy - except that it's easier said than done.

I mean, to my knowledge, there has never been a single soccer player that has come out as being gay while still on a professional team and I can only name one player who came out after he finished his professional career - and he is said to have committed suicide in part over the pressure and stress that followed his announcement.

No doubt a reflection of the intense homophobia that haunts the sport. No wonder the Brazilian soccer world was "thrown into turmoil" as recent as last month over "insinuations that a player was gay" as this Associated Press article explains.

Peru soccer star in free-fall after video shows him canoodling with two men at a bar - Just a couple of weeks ago, on September 13th, a popular television gossip show in Peru ran video of an apparently inebriated Juan "Chiquito" Flores - a star goalie for Peru's Cienciano professional soccer team - standing at a 2nd floor bar terrace getting pretty chummy with a couple of male friends (see above).

In a longer version of the segment, the show goes at length about the women that have been rumored to be his girlfriends in the past, then takes a cheap-shot at his virility by showing scenes from a Punked!-type prank show in which Flores is caught shrieking when he thinks a television studio has caught on fire, and - finally - they gleefully unveil the video of Flores and his friends at the bar.

Flores' response could not have come faster. The day after the images aired he told Veronica Gasco of Peru21, in no unequivocal terms, that he was not gay and only liked women.

He said that he was out with friends and that the scenes in the video had been taken out of context, that he'd seen a beautiful woman walk by and was trying to point her out to a friend. The kiss that was supposedly caught on camera? Flores says that the music was too loud and that he had to get very close to his friend's ear in order to be understood and that, while he had a number of gay friends and partied at gay bars, he was only sorry to say that he was not gay (there is also a great interview with Jaime Bayly also from Sep. 16th to which I have linked at the bottom of this post).

"Chiquito faggot! Chiquito faggot!" - Denials notwithstanding, the damage to his career seems irreversible, even if it's been days since the video aired.

On September 16th, on the eve of the first match in which Flores played after the images were aired, his teammates were already telling sports publication El Bocon that they would defend Flores from any gay taunts by members of their opposing team or their fans.

Correo reports that Flores' team went on to lose 4-1 and that it was uncharacteristic of the goalie to let so many soccer balls fly past him in a single game. They also said that fans of the winning team, Melgar, filled the air with chants of “Chiquito maricón, Chiquito maricón” ("Chiquito faggot! Chiquito faggot!") which the paper says had a visible effect on Flores.

On the 18th, Libero reported that Flores admitted that insinuations by the gossip show host Magaly Medina had "affected the entire team's performance" and added "if I am seen with a woman, I'm a womanizer; if I'm seen with a man, I'm a maricón."

Things got much worse at Cienciano's next game on September 19th and not only because the team lost again 1-0. At least they couldn't blame Flores for allowing the score: By the time the score came, he had already been removed from the game for attacking a ball-handler (no pun intended).

"He's gone crazy" - That's the Sept. 20th Correo headline in an article that describes how after 28 minutes of play Flores simply walked over to the sidelines and kicked a soccer ball-handler in the shin.

The paper says that from the start of the match every single person in the stadium kept screaming 'maricón, maricón' at Flores and that the goalie lost it when he looked over and saw the ball-handler smile at him. The ball handler, Freddy Caoquira Ccalla, was taken to a hospital to make sure he did not have any fractures but first requested a police inquiry upon which Flores was led off the field by the police and released later after giving his declaration on the incident (there was no fracture but Flores has been ordered to pay the medical costs).

He tells Correo that the ball boy had been throwing insults at him and calling him a fag from the start of the game and that he was overcome by anger and by the discomfort that the chants ricocheting around the stadium walls had caused in him.

Cienciano, Flores team, is said to be seriously considering letting go of Flores early (his current contract with the team ends in December) and told the paper that it could not deal any longer with the 'scandals' surrounding the goalie.

El Bocon says that, as Flores came out of the police station, several people waiting for his release shouted 'maricón' at him and told him he should go to jail.

Bayly probably is right to say Flores is not gay: Back on the 16th Flores also did an telephone interview with popular Peruvian talk show host Jaime Bayly (for those of you who understand Spanish, Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here).

Bayly, who is bisexual, says that it's obvious from the images shown on the tape that there is no romantic link between the men and that the producers of the gossip show edited it with malice and with the sole purpose of damaging Flores' reputation.

Bayly addresses issues related to homophobia, masculinity and male bonding with humor and calls the scandal unjust. And I tend to share his assumption that Flores not gay.

Nevertheless it seems Flores' career might be coming to an end. Perhaps proof that we do need international gay and lesbian soccer tournaments to combat homophobia in soccer while a new reality takes shape.

Previously:

• Oscar De La Hoya in Fishnet Stockings and High Heels (Sept. 20, 2007)

Jaime Bayly interviews in Spanish:

1st interview, parts 1 and 2 - Sept. 16, 2007


2nd interview, parts 1 and 2 - Sept. 23, 2007

Argentina: Online gay comic book is a first

Website portal AG Magazine, with the sponsorship of Falic lubricant gel, has launched what the director of AG Magazine Martin Scioli calls the first internet comic addressing LGBT themes in Argentina.

Every Thursday, the portal will debut a new one-page multi-panel "chapter" of "Las Locas Adam" ("The Adam Fags") and make it available through a micro-site specifically dedicated to the comic (accessible here) or as a downlodable .pdf file also through the micro-site.

Las Locas even have their own blog though you must be warned that once you click you might hear some bad trance and techno on the blog as well. I suggest ear plugs.

The first two chapters introduce several characters including Yeni - a transgender woman from Buenos Aires who just lost her boyfriend and has to dress up as an empanada to make a living, Juan - a friend from Rosario who suddenly shows up and says that Yeni should rent out the rooms of her house to other gays, and Carlos - a hot bisexual Cuban stripper who becomes the first person to rent a room.

The comic has similarities with Glen Hanson and Allan Neuwrith's Chelsea Boys comic strip and, so far, it doesn't really feel that different from any strip set in a gayborhood be it in the US or Europe. The frequent mention of lubricant gel also seems like product placement.

Still it will be interesting to see where it goes.

Additional information (in Spanish):

• Las Locas Adam: The first gay comic on the internet (AG Magazine, Aug. 12, 2007)
• A bisexual arrives at the rental home of "Las Locas Adam" (AG Magazine, Aug. 16, 2007)

Argentina: Amazing television commercial

Amazing television commercial for the Provincia Bank in Argentina called "Perla."

Translation:

[Man interrupts two women who are engaged in a conversation in a small-town sidewalk]
Perla (surprised): "Don Luis, strange to see you around here.."
Don Luis: "I wanted to know... when they gave you the loan from the bank to open your hair salon, did they ask for ID?"
Perla: "Yes"
Don Luis: "The document says that you are a man..."
Perla (turning less friendly): "Yes."
Don Luis: "They still gave it to you."
(woman nods)
Don Luis: "It's the same bank that gave me the loan for the car..."
Perla: "Hm."
Don Luis: "It made me think.. and it made me come to ask for forgiveness for having treated you badly all this time. For not knowing how to treat you... Take this, keep it" (hands the woman a figurine of a ballerina)
Perla (surprised): "For me?"
Don Luis: "Forgive me."
Perla (smiling warmly): "Thanks so much, Don Luis."
Don Luis: "Good-bye."

CAPTION: YOUR LIFE CHANGES WHEN THERE'S A BANK THAT DARED TO CHANGE
Voice-over: "You have a life, you have your bank"

IDAHO 2007 in Latin America

Most of the world, except for the United States, celebrated their own private and not-so- private IDAHOs (short for International Day Against Homophobia) as Doug Ireland reports on his blog.

Information over on the IDAHO website indicates the following activities took place in Latin America and the Caribbean:

• Brazil: Among several activities that took place in different cities throughout the giant nation, Grupo Gay da Bahia organized a "Day without Homophobia." During the event they honored members of the LGBT community lost to homophobic violence by writing their names on colorful handkerchiefs and hanging them on a line with clothespins. Photos here.

• Guyana: The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) screened "Songs of Freedom" a documentary by Jamaican born director Phillip Pike that takes a look at homophobia in Jamaica. In doing so, organizers hoped to call attention on "the need of Caribbean societies to battle homophobia as one of the prejudices which retard the development of society." The country, which is located to the right of Venezuela and above Brazil at the north of the South American continent is populated by English-speakers and has stronger ties to Caribbean culture than to Spanish speaking South American countries.

• Venezuela: IDAHO reports that the Caracas-based Asociación Civil Unión Afirmativa (Affirmative Civil Union Association) was to hold a kiss-a-thon in front of the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal to ask the court to rule on a petition submitted more than two years ago to determine if the Venezuelan constitution grants certain partnership rights to same-sex couples. I couldn't find coverage in the local press.

Newspaper articles from the last couple of days also reveal the following events in other Latin American countries:

• Mexico: The Human Rights Commission of the Federal District, the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination and more than 60 non-profit organizations asked conservative Mexican president Felipe Calderon to designate yesterday as a "National Day Against Homophobia" (I don't think the president even replied) and highlighted a report that documented the murder of 337 individuals who were lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender from 1995 through 2004. The organizations estimated that the number of murdered LGBT individuals might be much higher and reach into the 1,000's as homophobic violence still remains under reported in the country (La Jornada) [NOTE: A later article in La Jornada puts the number of murders at 387].

In the meantime, in Oaxaca, Amaranta Gómez Regalado also asked a local governor to designate the date of May 17th as a national day against homophobia (ADN Sureste). Amaranta was featured in the groundbreaking film "Juchitan: Queer Paradise" when she ran for political office as a muxe, neither a transgender woman nor a gay man, but a "third gender" accepted by Mexican indigenous communities as part of their culture much as some North-American indigenous cultures accept "two-spirit" individuals.

• El Salvador: Yesterday in San Salvador legislative members of the socialist political party Farabundi Marti National Liberation Front (FMNL) announced their support for a similar measure recognizing every May 17th as a "National Day Against Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender."

The measure received a cold shoulder from members of the right-wing ARENA political party while more conservative members of the legislature reacted by insisting that the legislative body should be fighting for a same-sex marriage ban instead (El Diario de Hoy).

An amendment to the Salvadorian constitution banning same-sex marriages and adoptions by same-sex couples was approved a year ago by the Salvadorian National Assembly but still needs a second debate and vote before passage [NOTE: Both the article that describes yesterday's activities in El Salvador and a separate article also in El Diario that described the scene as LGBT advocates lobbied legislators referred to the activists as "high-heeled" or as "ladies" showing no editorial constraint in their homophobia, both by the reporters as well as the editors of El Diario. Pictured above, the great William Hernandez and members of his LGBT-rights organization Entre Hermanos, who we have featured before].

• Paraguay: The LGBT-rights organization Paragay announced a campaign to promote a bill that would amend an existing anti-discrimination law in order to protect specific social groups including gays and minorities from discrimination (Jakueke).

• Chile: In Chile, the Homosexual Integration and Mobilization Movement (MOVILH) promoted conjugal visits for imprisoned gay, lesbian and transgender inmates (OpusGay).

• Argentina: The CHA launched an initiative to promote national and regional measures to ban discrimination, criminalization and persecution of individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity (Territorio Digital).

• Dominican Republic: Finally, in Santo Domingo, IDAHO was celebrated through an event recognizing the work of "seventeen individuals and eight institutions that have maintained a non-discriminatory attitude" towards gays and lesbians.

Among the honorees were El Nacional (who carried the story), the Presidential Council on AIDS and Elvira Lora, director of the cultural pages of another daily newspaper, Clave Digital.

Leonardo Sanchez, director of the gay-rights organization Amigos Siempre Amigos, announced the launch of a public campaign titled "Accept me as I am" (El Nacional).

Argentina: GAY licence plates embarrassing for some

A few vehicle owners in Argentina are finding out that it is not so easy to change a particular licence plate number even when they deem that the message spelled out by the three letter three number system might be offensive or embarrassing to them or others.

Yesterday's La Gazeta reports that over the years a few drivers have complained about licence plates that have spelled out SEX or FEO (ugly) or ANO (anus). Others have also scoffed at plates that letters spell out the acronyms of a soccer team name or a political party not to their liking.

Now comes word that with the onset of new licences with a first letter "G," some of the new licences that have been given out spell the word GAY. Some of the recipients are not happy campers.

Though the paper doesn't mention names, it says that a man in Buenos Aires sent a letter to the National Directory of Vehicle Registrations demanding that his GAY licence plate number be changed. His argument was that the wording made him an object of ridicule and lowered the estimated value of his vehicle.

The institution turned down the request saying that the letters were randomly assigned and not to be read as a word. The agency also says that they have turned down previous requests to change other licences that might have been offensive to those who got them.

Andrés, identified only by his first name and said to be the owner of a metal industry business, has taken things in stride. He applied for licences for three new vehicles that he purchased for the use of his workers and all three plates came back with the GAY lettering.

"Yes, there were some workers that made some comments," he told La Gazeta, "but the permit has nothing to do with the life or personality of the owner of the car or whoever uses it."

Argentina: 20,000 at gay pride

Buenos Aires saw their 15th annual gay pride march on Saturday and it drew a record 20,000 people (twice as many as in 2005, according to some observers).

In an interview with Todo Noticias available through Clarin, Cesar Cigliutti, President of Comunidad Homosexual Argentina (CHA), reminisces that fifteen years ago "we were 200 and a half wore masks" to cover their face and talks about the significant advances that have taken place in Argentina since then.

Unlike the last couple of years, the march went without a hitch and was not the scene of the type of confrontations that threatened to overshadow it in 2003 and 2005.

Behind the scenes, some tensions remained as some tried to pit organizers of a women's rights march that took also took place Saturday against the gay pride organizers arguing that holding a gay pride march on the same date was an affront to women. But those attempts seemed to fall on deaf ears, even amongst the organizers of the women's rights march.

As in recent years, a few people, including trans activist Lohana Berkins, chose to participate in a "Counter-March" to protest against the capitalist system and the increasingly apolitical and assimilationist nature of the annual pride event.

But even Lohana had reason to smile on Saturday: On Tuesday, November 21st, Argentina's Supreme Court ruled that that the Argentinean government must grant ALITT, the organization she represents, official recognition as a non-profit organization. The ruling was applauded by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission as a first for a transgender rights organization in Argentina in this press release.

Additional photos of Saturday's march can be found here and here.

UPDATE: Gabriel from mundogay.com has even more photos here.

Argentina: We are all marvelously different

LGBT pride in Buenos Aires, Argentina will be celebrated on Saturday, November 25th. This year's theme is "We are all, women and men, marvelously different." For more information go here. Above you will see the winning entry in this year's promotional poster design contest (by Gustavo Doradillo). Other entries can be seen here.

Argentina: Gay civil unions? Reality might surprise you

While some of us are celebrating that Mexico City and South Africa seem poised to grant partial or full recognition of same-sex partnerships, let's take a look at what's been going on in Buenos Aires, Argentina (the first city in Latin America ever to pass a gay-friendly "civil union" law back in 2002).

In yesterday's Clarin, Argentina's leading newspaper, Rosario Medina takes a look at the number of couples that have sought to have their partnerships recognized through a civil union in Buenos Aires since 2003. Granted, the article says that only one office in all of Buenos Aires is allowed to grant civil union rights to same-sex couples, but the numbers might still surprise you.

The truth is that while newspapers and anti-gay advocates call these measures "gay marriage" or "gay civil unions," in most places these measures do not only recognize the rights of gay couples but also that of heterosexual couples who might not have had the possibility to seek civil unions instead of religious matrimony in the past.

In other words, civil unions might be an old concept for people living in the United States, but for Latin America, long under the spell of the Catholic church, the concept is actually new: In some of the municipalities that have recognized the right of same-sex couples to have access to civil unions, the measures are also the first time heterosexual couples have also had an option to seek recognition of their partnerships through a non-religious measure. This is the case with Buenos Aires.

Clarin reports that at least since December of 2005, the majority of couples that have been granted civil union status have been straight (112 heterosexual couples vs. 91 gay couples in 2005 and 106 heterosexual couples as of June of 2006 vs. 43 gay couples).

Pedro Anibal Paradiso Sottile, Legal Issues Coordinator for the Argentine Homosexual Community (CHA) tells Clarin "We knew from the start that (the civil union law) would be used not only by our community but by the community in general. It wasn't only needed by the gay community. Heterosexual couples also use this tool because there is no other outside of marriage."

Crimen: Cerati rocks Central Park

Gustavo Cerati made good on his promise to visit New York during his current tour by performing at Central Park's Summer Stage series which, unfortunately for Cerati fans, meant that he was sharing the bill with another two bands and could not do a full set.

Surprisingly opening band Mexican Institute of Sound were jaw-droppingly bad (I had heard good things about them, maybe the electonica heavy set wasn't necessarily best served by the outdoors venue). Things picked-up considerably when Puerto Rican reggaeton band Calle 13 came on stage and nearly blew the place up in no small thanks to their charismatic lead singer Residente and a great back-up band. Their own jaw-dropping moments came from some of the raunchy lyrics (no surprise there) and their over the top lyrics for Japon (which trades on racist stereotypes for both Asians AND Puerto Ricans).

Cerati's set launched with a series of electric guitar-heavy tracks from his most recent album, Ahi Vamos, which some are calling a return to form to his early and rockier sound as former band leader for the disbanded Soda Stereo (I was more enamored of his later trippier psychodelic electronic experiments with later Soda Stereo albums and as a solo artist). On the CD, the electronic experimentation still bubbles behind the wall of electric guitar, on stage and outdoors the guitar was God. For some of the fans that might not have been aware that there was a new album out, they were left initially in the lurch as they sought to find familiarity, and they were partially rewarded by later re-toolings of early Soda Stereo tracks "Te Para Tres," "Profugos, "Ecos" and the great "Toma la Ruta" - though there was no "Zoom" (as well as more recent songs from previous efforts as a soloist including the amazing "Paseo Inmoral").

The set, though, was definitely dominated by the new with outstanding performances of "Bomba de Tiempo" (video here) and the best track on the new album, "Crimen."

The performance had me going back to listen to "Ahi Vamos" once again the moment I got home and finding new depths to the whole piece. All in all, a great Saturday afternoon.

Other experiences (not all about Cerati perse):

• Perreo & Sandungueo: Residente activo al Central Park
• Yo he visto algo raro: Concierto raro
• Sugarlowdown: Cerati en Concierto
• Freehaircuts: Gustavo Cerati day and Cerati photos part 2
• A Mi Paso: Buen concierto
• Hernanii: Esta tarde vimos
  

Anyhoo, you get the point... MORE photos here.

Crimen

Crime

The wait has worn me out
I haven't heard a thing from you
You left so much in me

On top of flames I laid down
In a slow degeneration
I knew I had lost you

What else can I do?
If I don't forget, I will die
And another crime will remain...
Another crime will be left...
Without resolution

The quick betrayal
We exited our love
Perhaps that is what I sought

My ego will explode
Right there, were you no longer are
Jealousy again

What else can I do?
If I don't forget, I will die
And another crime will remain...
Another crime will be left...
Without resolution

Woo-hoo-hoo-woo-hoo-hoo
Woo-hoo-hoo-woo-hoo-hoo
Woo-hoo-hoo-woo-hoo-hoo

I don't know
When to stay out
I don't know
If it's too late
I don't know
If I can't forget, I will die
What else can I do?!
What else can I do?
I now know what it is to lose! Aaaah!

And another crime will remain...
Another crime will be left...
Without resolution

"Crimen" from the new CD "Ahi Vamos!" by Gustavo Cerati (video here!)
Upcoming Central Park Summerstage concert: Saturday, August 5, 2006

Amazing song! Be there or be square!

Blackface at Bogota Pride + Latin American Pride 2006

Some cities throughout Latin America celebrated gay pride this weekend including Santiago, the capital of CHILE, which observed it's first ever gay pride march and rally which drew 10,000 and a smaller "kiss-a-thon" which drew 1,500, according to some estimates. It was also a celebration of sorts for Chile's leading LGBT advocacy organization, MOVILH (which has a press release and a list of additional Spanish language coverage here), which is turning 15 years old this year [NOTE: That it was their first ever pride parade came as a surprise since back in September I had reported on another public LGBT demonstration in Chile which I thought was part of their observation of LGBT pride and now is apparent that it was just a public celebration of a decision by Chile's Education Ministry to adopt sexual-orientation non-discrimination language in the standard high-school sexual education curriculum].

AFP reports that close to 1,000 congregated and marched in VENEZUELA's 6th Annual LGBT pride celebration.

This is the same number of participants in Lima's LGBT pride celebrations in PERU according to this AP article.

Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA, observed a trans-rights march which called for the elimination of "repressive legislation" (Comunidad Homosexual Argentina, the country's largest LGBT advocacy organization, which organizes a larger LGBT pride parade in the fall, was not listed as a sponsor).

SentidoG.com also reports of pride marches in PARAGUAY and URUGUAY.

In the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, participants did not march or rally but observed an end to the week-long indoor Human Rights Forum with the launch of a national coalition of a "GTH Alliance." El Nacional says that the goal of the Alliance, which would bring together HIV-service organizations and gay organizations in the Island nation, would be to "identify the issues that link HIV/AIDS and homosexuality, to coordinate national actions by gay, bi and trans men and other men who have sex with men, and to develop resources and tools to serve populations affected by the epidemic and to promote human rights to reduce risks in these populations."

Although they also called for a separation of church and state and for efforts to make the LGBT community in the Dominican Republic more visible, the language of the resolution betrays the fact that most of the event seemed more an HIV-prevention and treatment intervention rather than an LGBT rights, mobilization or visibilization effort which explains, to some degree, why there is no mention of the gay bar raids and closings of a couple of weeks back.

Finally, Bogota also saw 10,000 people march through the streets of the capital of COLOMBIA (other Colombian cities observed smaller pride parades as well). This was the 10th annual LGBT pride march which "El Tiempo" indicated converted it into an annual tradition while stating that the massive turn out was due to the fact that there was much to celebrate, including a mostly ceremonial statement released by Bogota's Mayor, Lucho Garzon, which said that the city will officially respect the rights of the LGBT community (a Bogota locality, Chapinero, had also announced earlier that they would provide institutional support for the launch of an LGBT Center while in Medellin, the city council adopted a "Public Policy for the Prevention and Attention of the Sexual Violence" affecting the LGBT community.

At the above links you might find photos of the different events which show the usual drag-queens, rainbow flags and gathered multitudes. I was particularly struck by the three pictures above of participants at Bogota's LGBT pride march (from a photo gallery by Roger Triana at El Tiempo's link above).

I'm uncertain how and when Colombia adopted some of the blackface imagery that used to be prevalent in the United States during the last century and is mostly considered racist and defamatory nowadays in the United States (with some exceptions, which include a famous black US drag performer who has championed a certain comedian who uses blackface to make fun of blacks who is featrured in said drag performer's new CD)

Now, Colombia has not undergone a black civil rights movement process as the United States has, which is why I am often shocked by the racism I see on Colombian television, society and culture whenever I go back (considering the fact that there is a large black and mestizo community, particularly in the coasts). What makes it more insidious is that it's not self-consciously racist but simply accepted as mindless caricatures and sometimes even embraced by blacks in Colombia (something that unfortunately is not restricted to Colombia but also other Latin American countries).

LGBT organizations in Colombia have openly participated in recent demonstrations calling for a stop to racism and protections for the civil rights of black communities in Colombia (as a matter of fact, Piedad Cordoba, a leading Senator in calling for the recognition of civil union rights for gay couples in Colombia is herself black and also a leader in the country's black-rights movement).

In any case, it is painful that on a day when I should celebrate that more than ten thousand people filled the streets of Bogota calling for the recognition of LGBT rights, some saw it fit to celebrate by using some of the racist blackface costume imagery.

Cruisers in Buenos Aires: "They even kissed for the cameras"

Well, Atlantis Events' Insignia Oceania, has left Buenos Aires and should have docked in Chile over the weekend. As for the passengers, Clarin reports "They looked out from [the cruise ships'] the bridges and rooms and waved hello. They cheered and they even kissed for the cameras." The horror.

Clueless cruising

Cayman Islands: A cruise passenger received a caution from Deputy Commissioner Anthony Ennis for hyping up the protesters (Caribbean Net News)

As we all know, we all are gay because we have tons of disposable income, love to travel and, at least for gays in the United States, love to make the rest of the world our personal playground, damn the local communities! (Sorta like The Amazing Race, which I actually like, except with rainbow flags pouring outta everything and I'm sorta over the rainbow flag waving myself).

So allow me to make certain connections between two news stories that came my way this month:

Yesterday, Diario Hoy from La Plata, Argentina, reported that a gay cruise ship, Oceania Insignia, will make its arrival in a Buenos Aires, allegedly making it the first gay cruise ship ever to dock in the South American country. The ship, which originally departed from Miami, will eventually travel to Chile and then end its journey in Brazil just in time for Rio de Janeiro's carnival season. With a tripulation of 400 (!?) and an additional 700 travelers, Diario Hoy says that most are United States citizens known as "Dinks" (a term the paper says is widely used everywhere as an acronym for "double incoming no kid" or, I assume, double income, no kids). Now, if you like to butch-it up a little with leather chaps for a 'leather-daddy-for-a-day'-themed sea adventure (but find leather bars such as The Eagle too darn scary), or maybe want to dress in drag for the first time ever for that 'drag fantasia' night (but would rather die than show your drag photos to others once the trip is over), by all means get yourself secuestered in one of these hulking ships for days on end and enjoy! But why make the rest of the world suffer such displays of, ehem, dinkiness?

Argentina, Chile and Brazil might just shrug in puzzlement. The same cannot be said of the Cayman Islands, which is still in uproar after yet another United States gay cruise ship docked in its capital city, George Town, last week with more than 3,200 gay men. Some Caribbean islands unfortunately are still beholden to some of the worst effects of colonial rule which, among other things, brought with it government-enshrined homophobia (the Cayman Islands are still a Bristih colony) - which some now claim as tradition:

"For the 'true born' Caymanian to welcome a group of tourists that encourages a homosexual lifestyle that is contrary to the predominant culture on these Islands makes no sense in this context," editorialized Cayman Net News chiding the local government for giving permission for the Atlantis Events cruise ship to dock in the island (back in 1998, another gay cruise ship was turned away).

Even before the ship arrived, the Cayman Minister's Association called for a protest (about 100 people showed up) but most of the visiting cruisers were clueless. The Cayman Compass reported that Brad Loase from North Carolina "was shocked by the protestors because a newsletter on board the ship had carried a message that the Minister of Tourism in the Cayman Islands guaranteed that they would be welcome." Another Cayman Compass article reports "some gay cruise passengers emerging from the ship said that they had been told nothing about their presence in Grand Cayman causing a stir."

"We come here because of the same reason other tourists come to the Island," said Atlantis Events CEO Rich Campbell to the Cayman Net News, "It's a beautiful destination, it has great beaches, fantastic shopping, wonderful excursions, excellent facilities and lovely people" (I guess it also makes Mr. Campbell a bigger dink as these cruise lines must make him a pretty penny - sorta explains why some of the passengers were not told they might be in for protests).

Of course, not everyone was unwelcoming. A group of women held 'welcome' signs when the ship arrived and not everyone who was interviewed had bad things to say about the gay tourists according to one of the articles. Others, while not fully accepting of homosexuality, still rejected hostility and homophobia as being truly Christian virtues.

But, even days after the ship had left the Caymans, Education Minister Alden McLaughlin alluded to the cruise ship incident when arguing that he "would not sanction alternative lifestyles programmes being taught in schools."

Don't get me wrong. Gays should be able to travel anywhere, including the Cayman Islands, and I hope that some islands in the Caribbean truly address and stomp out the type of homophobia that killed Lanford "Steve" Harvey in Jamaica but a cruise ship business owner who uses the island for profit while celebrating the trip as a gay-rights issue and a bunch of clueless gay tourists who frolick in the Cayman's beaches and leave without a sense of the social conflicts they have stirred-up are not necessarily what will bring about change.

The least Atlantis Events could do is to donate part of their earnings to gay-rights organizations in the countries they 'sell' to their gay cruise passengers.

UPDATE: "They Even Kissed for the Cameras!" (2/21/06)