Mexican supreme court will determine constitutionality of Mexico City's marriage equality law: NY Times

On December 29th Alex Freyre and José Maria Di Bello shocked the world by becoming the first gay couple to be allowed to marry in all of Latin America. Their marriage victory in Argentina came after a protracted court battle which ended when a Buenos Aires judge ruled that it was discriminatory to deny them the right to marry. A Buenos Aires court placed a stay on that ruling but the couple circumvented that last obstacle by traveling to Tierra del Fuego, where that municipality's Governor's Office allowed the marriage to proceed, making Latin American history at the end of 2009.

By some accounts, more than a hundred same sex couples in Argentina have filed marriage claims following Freyre and Di Bello's historic wedding but, as of now, there are still no laws allowing same-sex couples to marry anywhere in Argentina and no marriage bureaus willing to grant marriage rights to other couples.

is no law allowing those marriages to take place or a marriage bureau willing to start processing additional marriages. The matter is to be decided later this year when the Supreme Court is expected to take up the matter and determine whether the Argentinian constitution is indeed discriminatory in not allowing same-sex couples to wed.

Buenos Aires already enjoyed the reputation of being the first city in Latin America to have granted limited civil union benefits to same-sex couples in the year 2003. In 2007, Uruguay became the first Latin American country to adopt a country-wide same-sex civil unions measure. In 2009, the Colombian constitutional court stopped short of calling for marriage equality but ruled that same-sex partners had the right to the same rights as heterosexual couples. Mexico City and other Mexican localities have also passed limited same-sex civil union statutes since 2006. Some municipalities in Brazil and Ecuador have also passed similar measures. But it wasn't until December that Mexico City became the first municipality in all of Latin America to approve a law allowing same-sex partners to marry. The law goes into effect on Thursday, March 4th, and hundreds of couples are expected to take advantage of the opportunity to marry.

As you would expect, the measure, which also allows same-sex couples to have the same adoption rights as heterosexual partners, has drawn the ire of right-wing political parties and conservative religious groups. Mexico's attorney general has filed a suit to block the law before the Mexican supreme court. The court recently announced that it will accept the suit and determine whether the law is constitutional. But the suit won't reach the court until possibly the end of the year and, by then, hundreds of couples might have already married.

Today's New York Times takes a look at the law and its repercussions. I believe it gives too much credence to the conservative parties that are trying to derail the law but it is a worthy read ["Gay marriage puts Mexico City at center of debate"]. It is also the only English-language coverage that I have seen covering the right-wing challenges that await the landmark law in months to come.

So, come March 4th, please join me in celebrating the same-sex marriages that will take place in Mexico City and rejoice in their historic nature. But also know that the law faces incredible challenges in the future and that the marriage equality fight in Mexico, as in the United States, is far from won.

Gay couple in Argentina granted marriage license, 1st in Latin America

From AFP:

Two Argentine men on [Monday] became the first homosexuals to legally marry in Latin America, after the governor of the country's southernmost Tierra del Fuego province permitted their wedding... Although the Argentine civil code does not recognize same sex marriages, a court had approved the wedding of Alex Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, before it was challenged pending the outcome of a Supreme Court appeal.... Tierra del Fuego Governor Fabiana Rios authorized [Monday]'s wedding after a civil registrar had refused to officiate earlier this month... The Argentine capital became Latin America's first city to approve civil unions in 2002. Buenos Aires grants gay couples some, but not all rights enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.

I first had an inkling that something was afoot through Twitter as the ceremony in Tierra del Fuego and the Governor's decision were kept closely under wraps. The development, which surprised even those of us who were keeping an eye on the issue as it relates to Argentina, does not mean that other gay couples automatically will be granted the right to marry.

Freyre and Di Bello had been scheduled to marry in Buenos Aires on December 1st until the marriage was stopped by local authorities. Since then, dozens of gay couples throughout Argentina have registered at local marriage bureaus in protest. Conceivably, each court would have to determine whether they will grant each couple a marriage license.

Most probably the issue will be ultimately resolved by the Argentinian Constitutional Court which has announced that it will rule on the constitutionality of marriage rights for same-sex couples in 2010.

The one thing they will not be able to take away from Freyre and Di Bello, in what had become - in some ways - a race to the finish, is their claim to being the first gay couple to be granted marriage rights in all of Latin America.

Related: The provincial government of Tierra del Fuego in Argentina has provided Rex Wockner some great photos of the marriage ceremony. Click on the link below to see them.

• Photos from the bottom of the world (Wockner)

Argentina: Recreational center for LGBT retirees opens in Buenos Aires, 1st in Latin America

I have always been weary of business ventures selling themselves as human interest stories to get free media promotion (see, for example, the hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles about LGBT travel, including all the ink spilled on Caribbean and Latin American LGBT sea cruises). It's the main reason, other than I haven't been blogging as much as of late, that I haven't written about what is being sold as the first-ever LGBT retirement recreational center in all of Latin America.

But then came the actual opening of the center last week in Buenos Aires and video posted online by La Nación ("First center for retired gays opens", Oct. 1, 2009). It moved me enough to write about it today.

The center was the idea of a lesbian couple who happen to be psychologists, Graciela Palestra and Silvina Tealdi. They founded the LGBT-rights organization Puerta Abierta ten years ago and have now decided to open el Centro Puerta Abierta a la Diversidad (The Open Door to Diversity Center).

The Center, described as having bright white walls, several large social rooms, smaller therapy and one-on-one counseling rooms, a kitchen, a balcony and a grilling area, was designed to make it a fun space, according to the founders. They also say they have received over fifty inquiries from people interested in becoming members.

On the video posted online, La Nación interviews Dr. Palestra and also talk to two members: Norma Castillo and her partner of 30 years Ramona Arévalo. Other members were encouraged to talk to media, they say, but none were willing to speak openly about their sexuality to a reporter or in front of a camera. Ms. Castillo, who is the president of the Center, says "it's not easy to get riled up to talk about their sexuality; society judges".

Here is a translated transcript of the interview:

NORMA CASTILLO: I was 35 years old...
REPORTER: And did you have a boyfriend before...?
NC: I was married... I was married. And so was she... I was homophobic! And later, when I went to a psychologist and began to look back, and see myself and to see things, that's when I realized that I was burying it all up. That my... Honestly, I thought I was heterosexual...
RAMONA ARÉVALO: I was married, I have a son, male, but I didn't know this, that I'd be attracted to a woman as the years passed by, no?
REPORTER: When did you discover that you liked women?
RA: [Laughs] When I saw her... [the couple laugh]
REPORTER: Did you know she was the love of your life? [NC laughs]
RA: Possibly, I didn't know at the moment, but we both began to build it, no? [...]
RA: When they are much older, it's harder for them to say that they are gay.
NC: So they go to a regular retirement home and, when a woman who is single arrives, they look for a boyfriend [laughs] and so, she cannot say 'No, I don't want to have a boyfriend" [laughs].
GRACIELA BALESTRA: "Puerta Abierta a La Diversidad" [Open Door to Diversity] is the first center for pensioned and retired lesbians and gays in the Republic of Argentina, and - we also believe - in Latin America. The mission is to have a place, indeed, for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender seniors, so they can have their own place, get together as couples, get out of a solitary life. There is a lot of loneliness among older people. [...]
REPORTER to RA: How was telling your son...
RA: No. There was no problem. I told him, "I have a relationship with her". He told me: "Well, mommy, it was you; Perhaps it could have been my dad; So I won't make it an problem", he said. He didn't have any problems.
GB: We offer psychotherapy specializing on homosexuality and we are welcoming to family members: Sons, fathers, mothers, also, of gays and lesbians. Couples...
NC: I told you, it is very difficukt for older people, because one drags behind many taboos, a lot of fear about what people will say. Plus, you also have to have a bit of courage because, to go against the current, in whatever it is, is always difficult.
GB: One tries to help in constructing this path to coming out of the closet, and to be increasingly authentic everywhere they go. It's not easy. Really, there is a lot of help needed.

Advance word: Epitafios II on HBO

A ruthless serial killer. A series of increasingly gruesome murders. Jaded dectectives on the edge. Unrelenting darkness and dread.

David Fincher's "Seven"? "CSI: Miami"? Not quite.

When "Epitafios" debuted on HBO Latino in 2005 as a 13-episode series, it was promoted as the network's biggest push into developing original programming for is HBO Latino off-shoot.

Filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in its entirety, I was drawn by it's lush cinematography, its stellar cast, and the promise of unrelenting suspense.

Ultimately, when I wrote about it, I remarked that, while I thought the series was OK, I was disappointed by glaring continuity lapses, a laughable subplot in which a lead character willingly participates in an underground Russian-roulette betting group, and, worst of all, that the serial killer turned out to be a gay man who cross-dressed at night and posed as a street walker to befriend one of the lead detectives. In other words, as stereotypical and homophobic a character as I had seen in quite a while.

The series was apparently a hit and can be found on DVD. It certainly gets better reviews than mine by people who have left comments left at Amazon.com.

Now comes "Epitafios: The End Now Has Two Faces" beginning tonight at 10pm on HBO Latino and Tuesdays at 11pm - with English subtitles - on HBO2.

I have received a promotional DVD with the first two episodes of the season. Here are my first reactions.

The first series was shot in 2003 and the intervening years certainly seem to show on actor Julio Chávez' face. Chávez, one of the best thing about the series, continues to play Detective Renzo Marquez as an eternally dour and short-tempered man who seems to trust no one but Detective Marina Segal, his partner. Segal, played by renown actress Cecilia Roth, is just as dour and haunted a detective and, on her off time, sometimes participates in clandestine meetings where two or more people sit around a table placing bets on their lives. Each takes a turn at putting a gun in their mouth, hoping that there is no bullet in the chamber when they pull the trigger.

"Epitaphs", in the first series, referred to cryptic messages left on make-shift grave stones next to the serial killer's victims. In the new series, they refer to the names of future victims as written on pieces of paper by a man who scratches and digs his way out of a makeshift grave in the first episode. The man, known as XL for the size of the clothes he is wearing when he is found wondering the streets, is the victim of a serial killer who has a thing for recreating gruesome murders from the past and keeping photographic records of each gruesome detail.

Some problems remain with the writing. In episode two, for example, with XL providing key leads to the detectives, Renzo blows his secret weapon by asking media to run images of the man to see if anyone can identify him. This, of course, alerts the serial killer to the fact that his first victim did not die and might potentially be able to identify him to police. Renzo's frequent blow-ups at superiors and his flash-anger, as in the first series, strains the credibility that any police department would hire him as a detective. And then there's the Russian-roulette storyline, which I mention once again because, it's stupid (an in the new series, implausibly, features Detective Segal going against a teenager boy at the betting table).

But, all in all, the pacing of the show seems to be much better than in the original and the main story grabs you from the start. It's as if the producers were able to relax now that the series was picked up for a second season and decided to focus on improving the show.

There are new interesting characters, including Detective Mariano Lagos*, played by Juan Minujín, who uses his developed sense of smell to identify substances others might miss. He ads a welcome touch of levity to the dire proceedings.

And for those of you for whom it may matter, a major gay storyline is revealed at the end of episode 2. It might be that the writers wanted to address charges that the first series was homophobic. Then again, I have a feeling that the storyline will meet a gruesome end sooner than later, if I'm right about some big clues that have been given so far.

The star of the show, though, remains the city of Buenos Aires, lovingly shot from above and on the ground by Directors of Photography Guillermo Zapinno and Miguel Abal. The city looks gorgeous, even as it sometimes is shot to look dark and menacing. If you have some time on your hands, it's definitely worth a look.

*An in-joke? One of the funniest things about the series is that one of the new characters is named Mariano Lagos. I am sure that my friend Mariano Lago, who is a well-known entertainment reporter in Buenos Aires and has a great personal blog at Lake Blog, is having a big laugh over this. Is it a coincidence? Or...

What others are saying:

"As I watched this gruesome, tense and beautifully filmed (in Buenos Aries) series, the same sick feeling of foreboding crept into my stomach that I felt while watching the film "Seven" for the first time. Thankfully, the graphic images did not make me pass out this time" - Show Patrol who gives it 4 out of 4 stars.

"Epitafios: El Final Ahora Tiene Dos Caras" Trailer...

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

Argentina: Attorney General files Supreme Court brief in support of same-sex couples

Imagine United States Attorney General Eric Holder submitting a brief to the Supreme Court in favor of equal marriage rights for same-sex couples...

Argentina's Attorney General, Esteban Righi (right), has filed a lengthy brief with the country's Supreme Court in which he argues that government should not ignore the realities of gay life, and asks Justices to call upon the legislative branch to "clarify" ways in which same-sex couples can attain the same rights as married heterosexual partners.

The brief was filed in response to a pending court case challenging the constitutionality of Argentina's marriage laws on the basis that they discriminate against same-sex couples.

From yesterday's Página/12:

In February 2007, María Rachid and Claudia Castro wanted to marry just as any heterosexual couple might, but the same civil court who had granted them a civil union years before, had to refuse. "I would love to but I can't. The law doesn't allow me", she explained, so the women turned the frustrated [attempt at] marriage into a claim of unconstitutionality against that law, considering it discriminatory. In mid-2007, Judge María Bacigalupo found that the denial had been most correct, which prompted another judicial claim by Rachid and Castro, this time before the Court of Appeals, which also rejected the claim. In this way, it reached the Supreme Court. Righi's statement is a response to this claim.

The claimants seemed surprised about the brief and expressed limited support to Página/12:

We think that it's favorable because there is an acknowledgement that the State has a debt with same-sex partnerships when rights are concerned, and that this debt should be paid. But, although it seems positive to us, I think that it's not the fairest thing. We believe that the fact we cannot get married makes the law unconstitutional. Our lead objective, really, was that, but - in any case - we thought that this other point of view was possible, which - I repeat - we consider to be very positive.

The latest developments follow years in a strategic divide between LGBT rights advocates in Argentina, with some arguing that it's better to fight for a national civil union bill, rather than equal access to 'marriage' rights.

The confounding fact about the Attorney General's brief is that it's uncertain whether it's meant to bolster the rights of lesbian and gay couples or, on the other hand, if it's meant to push the Supreme Court to punt the ball to the legislative body.

Nevertheless, it is certainly a surprising development and I have a feeling it bodes well for same-sex partners in Argentina.

Musica: F.O.K. Electrochongo

This has a story (it might be a boring story but at least it has a story). Sorta like the post I wrote on Thursday about the story behind those Nude Avenger photos, except this one has less tattoos. And is gayer.

Meet F.O.K. (left), founder of the electrochongo movement in Buenos Aires. He sometimes plays with Kumbia Queers and Peter Pank and the Lost Boys (check out their video for "You, your boyfriend and I" above).

F.O.K. added me as a friend on MySpace months ago but, because I don't check my MySpace page anymore, I sorta forgot.

Thing is, F.O.K. is friends with Mariano - who writes the great Spanish-language blog Lake y su bizarre streaming - which is how F.O.K. found me and added me to his MySpace friends (I told you it was a boring story!).

Anyway, today I found a message from F.O.K. from last year alerting me he'd recorded a cover of Alaska y Dinarama's "Ni Tu Ni Nadie" but that was back in July! He is now finishing producing a 2nd album with the tentative title of "Kultura Kareoki".

So with apologies to F.O.K. for taking this long, here is everything (and probably more than you'd want to know) about F.O.K:

• F.O.K. on MySpace
• F.O.K. on Facebook
• F.O.K. on Fotolog
• F.O.K. on Blogger
• F.O.K. on YouTube
  

Here is F.O.K. performing a live version of the very Alask'ish and Dinaram'ish "Give me back my CD's":


F.O.K. on stage (too bad about the sound quality):


Oh, btw, nalgas.

Argentina: Ban on gay soldiers is lifted, effective today

While there are signs that neither the Obama administration nor the US Congress are in a rush to lift the damaging "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy which requires that soldiers who disclose their homosexuality be kicked out of military service, there is some great news today from Argentina.

A translated excerpt from an article published today in AG Magazine, one of the best LGBT news portals in Argentina:

In Argentina, starting today, a new military justice system goes into effect which decriminalizes homosexuality among uniformed members, eliminates the death penalty, and moves crimes committed exclusively within the military to the public justice sphere [previously there had been a separate military court system].

Under the old system, gays were not permitted to have access to a military career, at the same time as this sexual orientation was penalized. And, while there are no publicly known former sanctions against gays under the old policy, this does not mean that men and women with that sexual orientation have not been disciplined, and perhaps separated from the armed forces under a mantle of silence.

In fact, with this new system, gay men or lesbian women who wish to train in the forces should encounter no impediment, nor any military retaliation areas.

According to the AP, the new law replaces one that had been in the books since 1958, and goes into effect today, six months after it was approved by Argentina's legislative body and promoted by President Cristina Férnandez de Kirchner.

Clarin says that the changes in the military code resulted, in part, from the American Convention on Human Rights strong opposition to the death penalty clause that existed in the previous code. Some see the changes as putting further distance between modern Argentina and its military dictatorship years, particularly since it puts the military under purview of the country's public courts.

One more LGBT rights development in a Latin American nation that leap-frogs over current US policy.

Related:

• Argentina officially ends trials for homosexual acts in military (AP via 365gay.com, March 2, 2009)
• A New Argentina Overturns Gay Military Ban (Queerty, March 2, 2009)
  
• Opinion: A Study of contrasts on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell by Steve Ralls (The Huffington Post, March 2, 2009)
  

Argentina: "Touch and go" sex (or "agujeros gloriosos") in Buenos Aires

At least online, the portal for Argentina's Perfil newspaper has never been the most objective observer of LGBT issues in the country choosing to focus on sensationalistic stories verging on the homophobic.

So it's not surprising that on Tuesday they ran an shocking expose on what they call, in English, "touch and go" sex (which they helpfully translate as "I touch you and I leave").

Still at a loss? Well, perhaps the article's title will clarify things for you a bit more ("Glory-hole: Sex through a hole in the wall"). Yes, glory-holes - or "agujeros gloriosos" as they are called in Spanish - which Perfil describes as "a trend that is growing in the world and that has landed in Buenos Aires" (don't mind me I am still cracking up over the whole "I touch you and I leave" deal).

But wait! There's more! So far only two gay male sex clubs have installed this imported international wonder but now WOMEN WANT THEIR OWN!!!

"There are many women that come out of curiosity, but this is only for men," says Zoom Buenos Aires club owner Nicolas, "There are yet to be in Buenos Aires places with glory-holes also for women" [Genius! Their site has an interactive online glory-hole! Then again, it's sorta lame in execution].

And what do the experts say? "A glory-hole is a way of bringing virtual-sex to reality, because cyber-sex is, precisely, anonymous," says Any Krieger, member of the Psychoanalytic Society of Argentina, "It's the own reflection of a postmodernist society: Quick, impulsive encounters where all that counts is the anonymity in which we are all submerged in some way or another."

Saaaaaxeeeey! Where can I buy my very own agujero glorioso? If you find out, please let me know. Maybe I can hang it somewhere in the kitchen so I can watch some TV while I do the dishes.

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).

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.

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.

Argentina: President Kirchner to push for same-sex marriage?

It's no secret that I have been guarded about what the recent election of Argentina's first female president means for the LGBT community.

Back in November, in the wake of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's election victory, I noted that while some had called her win a victory for the LGBT rights movement, most of the excitement was based on statements made by close Kirchner allies and not Kirchner herself. During her presidential campaign she rarely mentioned LGBT rights and was one of the few candidates that refused to answer an election questionnaire by CHA, the leading LGBT rights organization in the country.

Kirchner, as far as I know, has still been pretty quiet on LGBT issues but a new interview with yet another close Kirchner ally is raising some eyebrows on whether Cristina will actively endorse and push for same-sex marriage rights in Argentina during her first term as president.

The ally, María José Lubertino (pictured above), president of the governmental National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI), sat down with journalist Marcelo Helfgot to answer questions about her work.

Here are translated excerpts from the interview: which was published yesterday in Clarin:

Marcelo Helfgot for Clarin: Did the Kirchneristas give you the mission of capturing the gay vote?
María José Lubertino: No. I was given the mission of ending discrimination in Argentina.
[...]
MH: If women tag someone who they don't like as being machista or if a homosexual gets offended by a term as common as maricón, what is the limit?
MJL: There is a great debate as whether insults are discriminatory or not. We consider it a crime. And if the words are not meant to be used as an insult, what has to change is the lexicon.
MH: What words should I stop saying?
MJL: We all have to do a daily exercise in how we refer to other people. One can call one's girlfriend 'gordi' or 'gordita' ['fatty' used as a term of endearment] and we won't report it. We all know when we want to denigrate another [person].
MH: Are you going to release a manual of banned words?
MJL: We are in a campaign for people to change the way that they express themselves. Even through jokes or through newspaper headlines. When 'work in black' appears [?] we receive thousands of complaints.
MH: If something is done "by left" does the Communist Party object?
MJL: It's like that.
MH: Should language be changed?
MJL: Of course. The power of words condition the realities. In Europe, for example, they take the fight against discrimination through humor seriously.
MH: What a problem for humorists if we eliminate jokes about gallegos...
MJL: It is a problem for humorists, but I can guarantee you that there are ways to tell a joke without using a person's disabilities or skin color.
MH: With [former Argentine president] Alfonsin, the divorce law was established. Will Cristina's accomplishment be gay marriage?
MJL: I have no doubt.
MH: Did she demand that the Court approve gay marriage by order of the President?
MJL: If they didn't want me to advance this issue, they wouldn't have put me in
charge of INADI.

Argentina: A gays-only bathroom at a beach resort

Speaking of anti-gay discrimination in Argentina:

Earlier this month a gay couple decided to spend a day at Dixon Beach, a Paraná Island resort area located in Argentina's Rosario district.

Imagine their surprise when, needing to use a bathroom, they noticed the above sign ("Homosexuals Gays Faggots") posted on the door of one of the six bathroom stalls.

Andres, one of the partners only identified by his first name, quickly took a snapshot with his cell phone camera and sent it to media site Rosario3.

He tells the news site that initially he mistook it for being a gay-friendly gesture. "At first sight it appears to be likeable, amusing and even welcoming, but later it really disgusts you," he says, "furthermore, the others say 'Gentlemen and Ladies' and, under that criteria, there should only be one [sign] that says 'Heterosexuals.'"

He tried to open the door but it was locked.

Juan Cabrera, the owner of the recently inaugurated resort, told Rosario3 that there was no discriminatory intent with the sign and that it was just a joke that had been misinterpreted by the couple.

"We left it without a latch so that it was for the exclusive use of the people [who work here]," said Cabrera, "and the sign was more than anything a joke used to restrict access."

"I did not have a bad intention, nor did we want to discriminate against sexual minorities, I am a sexually open man and I would never things with that intent," he added, "If it was interpreted that way I apologize with all veracity because I do not want to anger or bother anyone. It was a joke and if I have to remove it I will."

Argentina: Authorities shut down gathering space for bears

Speaking of bears...

A few weeks ago I got news that the meeting place for the Buenos Aires Bear Club (Osos de Buenos Aires) had been abruptly shut down on January 23rd by police right in the middle of what had been a birthday celebration for a club member.

Jump back to October of 2005: When journalist Rex Wockner told me he was heading down to Buenos Aires I told him to contact da' bears and maybe pay them a visit. He did.

Let's say he was impressed. So when I got the news that the Oso clubhouse had been closed, I alerted Rex.

Rex, in turn, wrote up a summary of the events leading up to the police crackdown and the contradictory reasons given by authorities for his weekly international LGBT news column. You can check it at this Windy City Times link (2nd story down, it features a photo of Rex at the Oso clubhouse).

Not much to ad myself. Only that in the club's website - under "Events" - they still say that the clubhouse remains shut down (they still meet on Sundays at the Contramano bar).

For those of you who understand Spanish, there was a great Feb. 2nd OpEd piece by Graciela Mochkofsky in Perfil calling into question just how gay-friendly Buenos Aires is in light of the apparent attempt of intimidation by the authorities and the fact that the clubhouse remains closed.

In the OpEd Mochkofsky says that the club had already been shut down once by authorities in February of 2006 following allegations of noise violations but the club, which is a non-profit organization, had successfully applied for the appropriate permits and had been able to reopen.

This time María Rachid, president of the Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans (FALGBT), tells Mochkofsky that two inspectors visited the clubhouse on February 21st to make sure it was closed. When the club explained that they had gotten the proper permits, the inspectors stepped inside anyway and later said that everything seemed in order except for one thing: They warned that there were no condom dispensers in the bathrooms for people to purchase using coins.

The bears, Rachid said, were more than surprised: "At several places throughout the site baskets are always kept full of free condoms provided by the national government to the Bears as active participants in campaigns against AIDS."

No matter. The inspector insisted that condoms should be available for sale and not given away for free (in her column, Mochkofsky notes that - as absurd as the demand might seem - she remembered that a while back authorities had also threatened to shut down a lesbian bar under similar allegations that no condoms were being offered for sale to the bar's clients).

The authorities came back on the 23rd and shut down the club.

This seems to be the type of police harassment that was so prevalent in Latin America during the past few decades but coming from as "gay friendly" a city as Buenos Aires it still shocks. Let's hope that the bears regain access to their lair sooner than later.

By the way, a few years back a television show from Chile featured the Osos de Buenos Aires. Here is a look at the segment:

GayNewsWatch: Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia

As I've said in the past, if you come to this blog looking for some of the latest info on LGBT rights in Latin America and find that I haven't posted in a while or don't have specific information about something you are looking for, you can always head over to GayNewsWatch and check out the Latin America section.

Here's s sampling of stuff that has happened recently that I haven't had the time to blog about and that GayNewsWatch has featured:

Chile:

• Catholic parish in Chile expels a young gay couple (Jan. 2, 2008)
• Neo-Nazis in Chile blamed for brutal murder of transsexual (Dec. 29, 2007)
• Chile rules against lesbian teacher Catholics won't certify (Dec. 12, 2007)

Argentina:

• Gay Argentines hopeful with Cristina's inauguration (Dec. 11, 2007)

Brazil:

• Brazilian gay activist found stabbed to death in northeast town (Jan. 3, 2008)
• Soccer star Kaká tops nude wish list for Brazil gay mag (Dec. 31, 2007)
• Two transvestite prostitutes shot to death in Rio De Janeiro (Dec. 30, 2007)
• Brazil's president announces first gay rights confab (Dec. 7, 2007)

Bolivia:

• New Bolivia constitution would ban gay bias, marriage (Dec. 29, 2007)

And that's just a few of the stories you'll find there. Of note is the fact that GayNewsWatch offers much more coverage of Brazil than I do, in part because most stories from Brazil are in Portuguese and I am not fluent in the language and in part because Chris Crain (pictured) - the editor of GayNewsWatch - knows Portuguese and lived in the country for a couple of years.

Check out that Bolivia story: Crain even beat me at spotting that article which not only mentions that the draft of a new Bolivian constitution bans discrimination based on sexual orientation (if passed, Bolivia would join Ecuador as the 2nd nation in Latin America to do so) but also reveals that it would block marriage rights for same-sex couples, which would make it the first country in the world to do so (Rex takes notice of the first part in this week's edition of his world news column).

It's not a done deal. As President Chavez of Venezuela found out (or Presdent Bush on his constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage for that matter) constitutional changes are not always easily approved. Lets hope that the anti-gay language is eliminated down the line.

Update: ZERO magazine's global ambitions

Catching up: Back in September I took notice of an EFE news service article that revealed that Spain's premiere gay news magazine- ZERO - was considering a purchase bid from an unnamed North American-based organization as it looked to expand distribution globally and, specifically, into Latin American markets.

No announcement has been made as far as I am aware but during a visit to Buenos Aires in November the magazine's editor - Miguel Angel Lopez - sat down for an in-depth interview with Argentina's Pagina/12.

Calling ZERO "the most important gay medium in the Spanish language," Pagina/12 spoke to Lopez about the magazine's editorial role in securing passage of Spain's same-sex marriage law, of the way that several personalities have used the magazine's cover to come out of the closet and of the use of nudity as a selling point as well as as a form of activism (including three different editions of the magazine in which the full editorial staff has appeared posing in the nude).

While he acknowledges that Out magazine was the original prototype, he says that ZERO was able to create its own path and merge entertainment with activism. Out magazine, he says "never reached a situation in which it was anywhere near to achieving something in political terms; they allowed themselves to be carried away by commercial interests, beyond activism."

Lopez also says that the magazine has never outed anyone and that editorially it has always opposed the practice which Pagina/12 says is prevalent in the United States.

In a side note, Lopez talks about some of the local Argentinian gay magazines he has seen during the trip and says that there are "certain resistances" on the part of local editorial teams that should be eliminated: "There is no need to always feature the models that we all like so much, nor for a lack of equilibrium between [coverage of] life styles and politics; the magazine can obtain a level of credibility and a consciousness that can defeat a resistance that makes one think that there won't be any advertisers."

Asked if ZERO plans an Argentinian version of the magazine, Lopez responds: "We are working on a project for 2009, so that the magazine will have an international edition in various Latin American countries, but nothing has been decided as to where the offices will be situated. It is a possibility that has been blocked to this date, but I acquired 100% of the [publishing] partnership, and there are a series of investors that want us to get together with some Latin American media. There have been a lot of rumors, but we want to find the proper partners. We are a Spanish-language business and we would like to reach the largest possible public in that language."

Funniest blog post of 2007

I am sorry. I can't even bring myself to translate this but, next to Belky's Salon, this is the funniest blog post of the year, courtesy of Lake y su bizarre streaming. Maybe you should brush up on your Spanish? Still you'll probably get some of it even if your own sausages aren't prone to speaking up and telling you "Don't worry, lady, they're pausterized!" It's oh so crass but I cracked up the moment I saw it. Blogger Mariano caught the image at a Buenos Aires supermarket stand. The untranslatable and funniest part? The deep low voice that pops into my head when I think about how the weiner would sound which probably matches that of many an Argentinian talk show host's, circa 1982.

Musica: A Matter of Time

As long as we are talking about Argentina, here is a translation of Homostone's "A Matter of Time" (Cuestion de Tiempo) as available on their MySpace page (ps: They are looking for singers):

You always playing the little fagg*t
And you don't even take a little bit inside
You leave the boys all hot and bothered
And they are left with all these questions

What are you looking for?
When you leave your girlfriend hanging and you come to the disco floor to dance
What's behind it?
Behind your feline stare, of your special affinity
For getting close to boys
Who get close to other boys
And only find in a macho man
Happiness

If you're high, the flannel suits you
You are a pampered cub
But if a guy throws his dice
You get all jittery

What is there to do?
To get you to loosen yourself and try it at least once
With so many pieces falling, nobody can now believe
That you won't be overcome by your desires
To do certain things
When you hang up your clothes
You will be able

A matter of time, you will soon fall under
Let things go slowly, it will do you a lot of good
Light the fuse, good things will come later

Don't be afraid, you will learn
Sooner or later, you will lick yourself
I'll be happy if I taste you once

Argentina: Another gay pride march

"My first reaction was to the small size of the event, since B.A. bills itself - repeatedly- as 'the gay capital of South America.'"

That's new arrival Chris Crain describing his first Buenos Aires LGBT pride march over on his blog (he also has some photos - yay!).

Then again, he's used to São Paulo's gay million-plus participants pride march from living in Brazil over the last couple of years which is the biggest such event in the world and pretty tough to beat (I'd also argue that it's hotel owners and tourist-related businesses that have embraced the 'gay capital of South America' tag and not necessarily the local activists).
Nevertheless, as Rex did a couple of years ago, I'm sure that once Chris and his boyfriend settle down they'll find the city to be more open than first impressions might show in some ways and more closed in other ways.

Mariano, whose Spanish-language blog is just one of the best out there (full disclosure: Mariano bought my graces by sending me a CD with music from some up and coming Argentinian pop bands last year PLUS he's a great guy to boot that I hope to meet when I finally get to Buenos Aires myself) says that the march started later than usual and seemed to have more participants than ever. He also says that the closing ceremony dragged on and on and bored him to pieces even if overall he enjoyed himself. No wonder! First of all, he was with the Morrudosos! Second, he also gave and took.

Not everyone was as happy (or as bored). The feminist lesbians of La Casa del Encuentro stood up against the "glamour and frivolity framed by consumerism" as well as the "frenetic music that does not allow [you] to listen to our voices and our demands as lesbians, gays, travestis and transsexuals" by marching behind the glam-fag crowds (h/t: Breaking the Silence).

I guess I get some of the glamour back-lash but watch out puto rockeros! You might be next!

Certainly, by any standards, the naysayers were more peaceful than in years past.

AG Magazine puts the number of participants at 25,000 (5,000 more than last year - they also have video).

InfoBAE also has additional photos and video as well.

Heck! Maybe we should all move down there! Even LifeLube is in Buenos Aires this week.