Panama's Boy Scouts Association vows to cure gay scouts or else ban them from the organization (UPDATED)

Not two days after the Boy Scouts of America reaffirmed their discriminatory ban on gays, the National Association of Boy Scouts in Panama has announced that it will remove any child, young man or adult who is a current member of the Association and is found to be openly gay.

"We cannot allow the participation of people who have tendencies which are opposed to the formation of our values", said the Association's Executive Director Victor Winter to La Prensa.

Winter argued that the removal process would be "subtle" but that the step was needed because "it goes against our principles and ethic and moral values."

The new policy was actually adopted at a meeting that took place on March 21st but was only announced yesterday.

The Association's norms now include a paragraph that says "Discrimination based on gender will not be allowed, with the understanding that no members with obvious homosexual behaviors or who admit being homosexual will be admitted. Sexual harassment will also not be permitted.  Said infractions, if proven, will lead to the expulsion of the person committing them."

Most worrisome, Winters said that the Association already had put into place programs to help homosexual children "revert" their sexual orientation back to straight.  "We have programs," he told La Prensa, "We do put in our grain of sand in straightening their path."

They also said that before kicking out a Boy Scout who was gay they would first reach out to their parents which I assume means that they would offer the "reversion" program to the parents for their gay kids as an alternative to being kicked out.

Ricardo Beteta, Director of The Association of New Men and Women of Panama (AHMNP), the nation's leading LGBT rights organization, told La Prensa that he was a former Boy Scout and Troop Leader from 1965 to 1973 and condemned the announcement.

"Banning sexual contact within the Troop is not the same thing as defining homosexuality is a deviant behavior and offering a cure," he said, "that is nefarious and discriminatory".

Beteta said that he had first hand knowledge because he had been a victim of so-called reconversion therapy programs forty years ago and survived them to become the director of Panama's leading LGBT rights organization.

Augustín Clément, another leading LGBT rights leader, asked all Panamanians who believed in equality to stop supporting the Boy Scouts Association economically.  He said that each non governmental organization had the right to establish their own rules and regulations but he also urged the government to investigate whether the Association was violating the human dignity of those Boy Scouts who are gay or thought to be gay [Image: Agustín Clement in red and Ricardo Beteta celebrate the Panamanian LGBT pride march that took place on May 25th].

COSTA RICA: Meanwhile in Costa Rica and also in the wake of the announcement by the Boy Scouts of America, Peggi Chávez, Executive Director of the nation's Guides and Scouts Association, told La Nación that their non-discriminatory policy towards gays and lesbians would remain intact. Chávez said that the issue was not under discussion since "each person has the right to determine what is best for their lives."

HONDURAS, EL SALVADOR & NICARAGUA: As EFE reports today, Raúl del Cid, Director of the Honduran Scouts Association said that they would also not determine membership based on a person's sexual orientation while Aníbal Abendaño, Director of the Support Unit for Scouts of El Salvador, also said that everyone age seven to twenty-one were welcome to serve as scouts regardless of gender or sexual orientation.  An unnamed source within the Nicaraguan Scouts Association also said that they would not discriminate against gay and lesbian scouts.

COLOMBIA: In 2003, the Colombian Constitutional Court took up a case filed by Edgar Eduardo Robles Fonnegra who argued that the Colombian Scouts Association had kicked him out for being gay.

The Court ruled in Robles' favor and said that it was unconstitutional for the Association to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

--- UPDATES ---

[July 21st, 2012] Panama's TVN Noticias reports tonight that Victor Winter seems to be looking for a way to take back his words in the face of mounting criticism and increased international media inquiries. There are no direct quotes but the television news web portal says that Winter now claims that La Prensa misinterpreted his words and all he meant to say was that gays involved with the Boy Scouts in Panama were expected to "behave correctly" and follow the values of the organization with respect to their contact with minors.  He denies that this means that gays would be immediately banned from the organization although his latest statements directly contradict the Association's norms and regulations as obtained and shown on La Prensa's website.

[July 22nd, 2012] Victor Winter now says that he will no longer be speaking to media and will refer all inquiries to the president of the Panamanian Boy Scouts organization Carlos Torres.

La Prensa has tried to reach Torres without success. They should demand information about the "reversion" programs the institution seems to be currently running according to Mr. Winters.

Interestingly in 2010 the World Organization of the Scout Movement designated Panama as the new headquarters of the Inter-American Scout Office. Mr. Torres, in addition to being the President of the Panamanian Boy Scouts organization, was also named the legal representative of the World Scout Bureau, Interamerican Region.

Related:

• Gays face purging from Panama Scouts Association (Newsroom Panama)

US Embassies in Latin America celebrate LGBT pride

Photo: Members of the US Embassy in Panama participate in the annual Sexual Diversity March that took place in Panama City on May 25th of 2012 (From the Embassy's flickr photo account).

[NOTE: Updated on July 18th, 2012. Latest updates at the bottom of this post]

It would be hard to overstate just how amazingly LGBT-friendly the US State Department has been under the leadership of Hillary Clinton even as she prepares to depart later this year.

I first took note of the changes at hand in January of 2011 when the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras took the highly unusual step to publicly put pressure on the Honduran government to investigate an increasing number of attacks and murders committed against dozens of transgender women throughout the nation.  That was soon followed by a Statement by President Barack Obama himself and offers from the State Department to provide intelligence and legal assistance.  It all culminated with Honduran authorities grudgingly announcing that they had launched a special hate crimes unit in November of that year.

Then came that extraordinary speech Secretary Clinton gave before the United Nations human rights office in Geneva in which she most memorably proclaimed 'gay rights are human rights' and made commitments to fight discrimination against members of the LGBT community throughout the world.

There was also the protracted fight over the confirmation of Mari Carmen Aponte as US Ambassador to El Salvador which some sought to derail in part because she had published a local essay in a Salvadorian newspaper applauding the Central American nation for the steps it had taken to prevent discrimination against its LGBT citizens.

That essay was published on June 2011 during pride month following directions from the State Department for embassies to be visible on LGBT human rights issues on a local level.

This year in her pride month remarks, Secretary Clinton made it a point to highlight the diplomatic work being done by US Embassies and Missions throughout the world on LGBT issues:

United States Embassies and Missions throughout the world are working to defend the rights of LGBT people of all races, religions, and nationalities as part of our comprehensive human rights policy and as a priority of our foreign policy. From Riga, where two U.S. Ambassadors and a Deputy Assistant Secretary marched in solidarity with Baltic Pride; to Nassau, where the Embassy joined together with civil society to screen a film about LGBT issues in Caribbean societies; to Albania, where our Embassy is coordinating the first-ever regional Pride conference for diplomats and activists to discuss human rights and shared experiences. And through the Global Equality Fund that I launched last December, we have strengthened our support for civil society and programs to protect and promote human rights.

With such strong public commitment from the State Department and Hillary Clinton it is no surprise Ambassador Aponte felt in her right and duty to be visible on the issue last year.

This year a number of US Embassies throughout Latin America felt the same way.

HONDURAS: On June 20th, US Ambassador to Honduras Lisa Kubiske tweeted "The US Government supports the Honduran LGBT community in their fight for equality and respect #humanrights #LGBTpride" on her Twitter account (she also sent the message in Spanish).

Critics of US support for Honduran president Porfirio Lobo Sósa quickly jumped on the comment and asked if US police and military funding to Honduras would be conditioned on ending killings against members of the LGBT community to which she indirectly replied "Many Honduran ‪#LGBT‬ have repeatedly told me how much they appreciate USG support of SVU which has arrested 12 ppl connected to LGBT murders."

It turns out that on the same day Ambassador Kubiske sent those tweets she was holding a public LGBT pride month event in which she reiterated some of the warnings her predecessor Hugo Llorens had given the Honduran government a year and a half earlier.

Here is a translated excerpt of her comments that day as reported by La Tribuna:

Honduras has serious issues towards the LGBT community because it does not respect their rights and for us that is a key issue. That's the reason why several officials from United States have come to Honduras to ascertain that investigations of these crimes are done in an effective and prompt manner... All vulnerable groups need protection and when crimes are committed against them they deserve an investigation and a proper judicial process.

El Heraldo also quoted the Ambassador as saying the following:

We certainly acknowledge the advances made during the previous year but we have to keep in mind that the number of violent attacks against the LGBT community have continued to increase, unfortunately.

La Tribuna also noted Interim Director for the USAID office in Honduras Ken Seifert was a guest of honor "announced" he was gay and read excerpts from his published novel "The Rising Storm".

USAID, as I wrote last month, is on the verge of launching an LGBT Global Development Partnership Initiative.

COSTA RICA:  US Ambassador to Costa Rica Anne Andrew celebrated an LGBT pride "roundtable" on June 27h inviting several Costa Rican LGBT advocates to her residence for breakfast.

On the Embassy's online site, Ambassador Andrew also highlighted the 2008 wedding of Cynthia Wang to an unnamed female partner and runs an essay from Ms. Wang on the meaning of LGBT pride.

Ms. Wang is the current Vice Consul in the American Citizen Services section of US Embassy in Costa Rica.

An excerpt from her essay:

Since we moved to Costa Rica my wife and I have felt extraordinarily well received. Some of our most intimate friends are ticos [ed. - a diminutive term for Costa Rican].  We feel a deep love and respect for this country and its culture and at a moment in time in which Costa Rica is debating LGBT rights let us hope that tolerance, compassion and a commitment to protecting human rights - a Costa Rican tradition - will also be reflected in public policies.  Here is hoping that the Costa Rican government and its civil society extends protections to all citizens, whether they be gay or heterosexual.

Two days before the breakfast roundtable Ambassador Andrews also posted the following video on YouTube under the Embassy's account...

CHILE: My friend Michael K. Lavers covered it for The Washington Blade just so I wouldn't have to and thus:

Jason Jeffreys of the U.S. embassy in Santiago spoke at the Gay Liberation and Integration Movement’s annual Equality and Human Rights for Sexual Diversity March. Jacqueline Vera, whose son Daniel Zamudio was brutally beaten to death in a downtown Santiago park in March, Education Minister Harold Beyer, a number of presidential candidates and lawmakers and Jon Benjamin, the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Chile, were among those who also participated.

“As the Human Rights Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, one of a number of policy objectives that Secretary [of State Hillary] Clinton has determined is the concept of equal protections for all, including the international LGBT community,” Jeffreys told the Blade. “I wanted to participate because I wanted to share with Chile the fact that the [U.S. government] stands with them in this regard.”

Jeffreys, whose boyfriend is Chilean, added that Zamudio’s death affected him personally. He attended candle light vigils and marches and spoke with Chilean politicians about what he described as the importance of anti-discrimination laws. Jeffreys also delivered a letter on behalf of the U.S. ambassador to Chile, Alejandro Wolff, to Zamudio’s family at his funeral.

“I jumped at the chance to be able to speak at this event to continue with this support,” he noted.
Chilean lawmakers in April passed an LGBT-inclusive hate crimes and anti-discrimination bill that had languished for seven years. President Sebastián Piñera and other leading politicians backed the measure in the wake of Zamudio’s death.

Apparently that is a grande latte cup in his hand. Are there Starbucks in Chile? Oh, and he only spoke in English according to the Embassy's website. ¡Inglés sin barreras!

Earlier in June, the Embassy also posted a podcast conversation with Julio Dantas, coordinator of Todo Mejora (the Chilean version of the It Gets Better Project) and Fulbright scholar Jenn Lerner who, according to the site, is conducting research on gay life in Chile.

PANAMA: If I hadn't asked my friend Augutín Clement, I probably would have missed this one.  It turns out that on June 25th the US Embassy in Panama actually sent a contingent to participate in Panama City's annual pride march.

In the description accompanying a photo from the event the embassy stated the following:

President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have asked embassies throughout the world to promote and defend all human rights. Members of the US Embassy and their families participated in the Gay Pride March in Panama to celebrate diversity, promote tolerance and support the fight against HIV/AIDS.  This was the US Embassy's first official participation in support of this initiative in Panama.

"The US Embassy rocked," says Augustín, "They had shirts that said 'Estamos Unidos' ['We Are United'] and as they went by people shouted 'Long live, Obama! Long live equality!' It was truly moving."

That's a photo of Agustín, his hubby César Pereira and Duty Chief of Mission John Law as featured on the embassy's flickr account.

Johnathan D. Farrar, the current US Ambassador to Panama, did not join the contingent but he did invite Augustín to the embassy's July 4th celebration in honor of his advocacy for LGBT rights in Panama.

ECUADOR: A number of embassies not mentioned in this post did not necessarily actively participate in local pride events or held pride events of their own but added pride proclamations from Obama and Clinton on their websites as was the case with the US Embassy in Ecuador. Unlike those other unmentioned countries, they also went a step further.

On June 22nd, the embassy also released a statement by Ambassador Adam E. Namm in which he applauded Obama and Clinton for their pride month declarations and highlighted the embassy's role as one of several "co-sponsors of the GLBTI Pride Week activities in Quito" (others include UNAIDS and several local and national government agencies).

La Républica says that embassy staff participated in the inauguration of this year's film festival and a conference on human rights and the LGBT community.  In addition the paper says that the embassy promoted a "High Heel Race" in which men tried to outrun each other while wearing high heels.

The event is similar to annual events that take place in Washington, DC. and Madrid, Spain.  According to the paper, the embassy said that the event was meant to make people think about the role of social gender norms.  El Comercio has a photo gallery.

Interestingly, while it didn't receive as much media attention as Mari Carmen Aponte, Ambassador Namm was also among a number of Obama diplomatic appointees whose confirmation was blocked by Senate Republicans for months on end.  The lynchpin was Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio who also had a large role in keeping Aponte's appointment in check until it became politically unsustainable for him to continue voting against their confirmation.

Ambassador Samm started serving in his current diplomatic position on May 31st, a year after the seat had been vacated.

EL SALVADOR: Finally, while Ambassador Aponte returned to El Salvador on June 30th and a bit late to celebrate LGBT pride, it was particularly gratifying to see her receive such a warm welcome despite claims from certain US Senators that she was not welcome there.

It is also particularly satisfying to see some of the most homophobic conservative religious elements in El Salvador and the United States recoil in frustration.  I won't translate this piece but will leave a link here for posterity.

Thank you, Madam Secretary Hillary Clinton.

--- UPDATES ---

MEXICO: On July 12th the US Embassy in Mexico invited a number of guests to the embassy and presented their entry into the "It Gets Better" project.  The video went live on YouTube on July 16th.

On their Facebook page, the embassy described the video as follows:

The US Embassy in Mexico has supported members of the LGBT community.  In this video we have included representation from the art, business and government worlds (including members of our Embassy).  All have come together to give an anti-bullying message to be shared with the It Gets Better Project.

And on the embassy's blog they host a post by my friend Enrique Torre Molina about the video's launch which includes a cute photo of Enrique hanging out with Gabriel Gutierrez Garcia and other friends at the event ("The Embassy Gets Better" - Spanish).

SPAIN (not part of Latin America, of course, but part of Ibero-America): On July 17th, 2012, the US Embassy in Spain held a historic first meeting with some of the top leaders of the LGBT movement in the country.  They included Pedro Zerolo, Carla Antonelli, Augustín López, Raúl Garcia, Toni Poveda and Boti G. Rodrigo, the current president of the Spanish State LGTB Federation (FELGBT).

On their Facebook page, the embassy posted additional images and described the meeting as follows:

Ambassador Alan D. Solomont met with leaders of the LGBT community in Spain at his residence on July 17th. They had a conversation about the history of LGBT rights in Spain, their successes and their challenges during the last few years and on how the Embassy can continue supporting human rights.  Participants showed enthusiasm for recent comments made by President Obama in favor of gay marriage in the United States and suggested steps the United States might take to support LGBT rights - particularly in countries were those communities suffer great persecution. Referring to comments made by Secretary Clinton in Geneva in December of 2011 that "gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights", the Ambassador expressed his wish that this roundtable would only be the beginning of closer relationship between the Embassy and LGBT groups in Spain.

Reactions:

• US Embassies in Latin America get down with gay pride (Towleroad)
• Latino Coalition launches 'Familia es Familia' LGBT equality campaign (Think Progress)
• US embassies across Latin America celebrate Pride (AMERICAblog Gay)

Leading Costa Rican LGBT-rights activist Abelardo Araya dies at 42

Abelardo Araya, one of the leading LGBT-rights advocates in Latin America, has passed away at 42 years of age.

Friends and relatives found Araya dead at his apartment on Thursday after not hearing from him for a couple of days. Police have ruled out foul play and believe that he died of a heart attack. Araya had recently spent a few weeks at a local hospital for ailments related to high blood pressure, heart problems and diabetes.

La Nación says that Araya developed his thirst for activism while living in Ecuador in the 1990's. When he returned to Costa Rica in 1998 he became the coordinator of a program offering support to parents and relatives of gay and lesbian children at the Latin American Health Prevention and Education Institute.

He would later launch Movimiento Diversidad (the Diversity Movement), a non profit LGBT-rights organization which sought to visibilize the Costa Rican LGBT community and increase its political power.

Speaking to Telenoticias 7, Marco Castillo, the organization's attorney and a close friend of Araya's said that while members of the LGBT community already had begun to organize, Araya was the first person in Costa Rica to organize public LGBT conferences and offer invitations to media to cover the events.

Araya had last appeared on Telenoticias 7 on December 29th when he announced that members of the LGBT community would provide entertainment to the public during the end of the year bullfighting ceremonies. Yet another way that Movimiento Diversidad sought to give the community a public face.

One of Araya's biggest political battles was promoting the legal recognition of same-sex partnership rights.  In 2006, several legislative leaders sought his counsel in authoring a bill that would make civil unions legal for same-sex couples in Costa Rica. Several versions of the bill have been drafted but have failed to get much traction to this date.

In May of 2011, Movimiento Diversidad also provided support for two gay couples who went to court and demanded the right to marry. The court ruled against the couples but the action drew so much attention that Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla was put on the spot.

Chinchilla, who had ran on a "family values" platform and had previously spoken against same-sex partnership rights, stunned everyone when she said she would actually not be opposed to the legalization of same-sex marriages in her country.

In December, 20 legislators sent President Chinchilla a letter asking her to be the lead sponsor of a same-sex civil union bill. She turned them down saying that her job as a president was to focus on the country's economy and public safety.

Former Costa Rican José Meino del Rio, one of the sponsors of the 2006 civil unions bill, showed up at yesterday's wake to talk about the integral part that Araya played in moving these bills forward.  Addressing Araya's mother directly, Meino del Rio spoke of the hateful homophobic insults her son had endured from the religious right.

The [2006] bill and others that have been introduced since then have created a national debate in which we heard, in effect, the voice of hate from the religious leadership. Pay it no mind, Mrs. Araya.  Have no doubt that wherever [Abelardo] is, he is looking at us. And, from there, he is saying "Have faith! Push forward! Do not let them win, do not give up! Let my death not be forgotten as an example because no one dies as long as someone remembers you'.

Tico Bears, of which Araya was a proud member, posted a video of Meino del Rio's remarks which I have excerpted above.

Even after death, homophobia in media: On a related matter, as news of Araya's death hit social media yesterday, people on Twitter were outraged by a story on Araya's passing posted without a byline in a Costa Rican MSN News affiliate.

The post, which has since been removed but can be read in a cached version here, was shocking in its homophobic insensitivity.

Saying that Araya had spent years fighting for "the so-called rights a same sex couple could enjoy," the writer chalked up his recent ailments as "just one additional problem that added to his suffering."

He goes on: "Araya had already spent more than ten years leading of these kind of people, a group that has grown larger than it ever should as the days go by; nevertheless, even though it's all sorrow to them, they will have to let the days pass and then sit down to figure out who might become the new captain of their Love Boat."

Kölbi, The cell company that runs the MSN News page on which the article was posted later apologized and said that the site had inadvertently reproduced content from a separate site not affiliated with the cell brand of MSN News.

"Kölbi reiterates the respect we have for sexual diversity and expresses our deep sense of solidarity with Mr. Araya's friends and family," said a statement from the company, "Kölbi commits itself to give absolute respect to sexual diversity, as it has done in the past, on the basis of the corporate guidelines of our parent company, the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity."

I have a feeling that Araya would be proud that, even in death, his legacy would lead to a national company restating their commitment to respect the LGBT community in his country.

Rest in peace, Abelardo.

UPDATE: Tuanix Interactive Media, which provides content for Kölbi, has released their own statement apologizing to the Araya family, to Kölbi and to MSN for the homophobic column.  They have announced that the author of the piece, Walter Carrera, was fired on the spot on the same day the company became aware of the column he had authored.

Related:

• Costa Rica's LGBT community mourns death of leader (Tico Times)
• Abelardo Araya's FB wall (Facebook)

Costa Rica: President Arias designates May 17th as "National Day Against Homophobia"

My friend Francisco Madrigal, a long-time LGBT rights advocate from Costa Rica, sent me wonderful news earlier this week.

On Wednesday, the Costa Rican government released Executive Decree 34399-S with signatures from President Oscar Arias Sanchez and Health Minister Dr. Maria Luisa Avila designating May 17th as the nation's official "National Day Against Homophobia."

The measure, which came at the request of the Center of Investigation and Promotion of Human Rights in Central America (Centro de Investigación y Promoción para América Central en Derechos Humanos or CIPAC), was actually signed on February 12th of 2008 and reads:

"Public institutions must amply disseminate the objectives of this commemoration. They also must facilitate, promote and support activities directed at the eradication of homophobia."

The May 17th date was chosen by advocates as commemoration of the date that the World Health Organization officially removed "homosexuality" as a mental illness in 1990.

Efforts to declare May 17th as an "International Day Against Homophobia" or IDAHO have been led by Frenchman Louis-Georges Tin and the International Lesbian and Gay Association as well as the Fondation Émergence in Canada.

There have been sporadic events and demonstrations throughout Latin America in past years on May 17th but this is the first time that I know of a Latin American president signing an official declaration recognizing the event.

In Mexico, LGBT rights advocates were successful in getting Mexico City to officially recognize May 17th as a "Day Against Homophobia" but efforts to have the federal government recognize a national commemoration have faltered.

ITN: Costa Rica blood bank challenge, domestic violence in Chile, Mexico turns right on gays

Costa Rican man claims the National Blood Bank discriminates against gay men: On January 9th, Teletica reported that Alberto Cabesas, through his lawyer Marco Castillo, is challenging the constitutionality of a law that bars gay men in Costa Rica from donating blood (the law currently bans donations from "homosexuals, bisexuals, promiscuous [people] and drug-addicts). Cabesas and Castillo argue that it is unconstitutional to base the ban on sexual orientation instead of personal behavior. Mr. Castillio, if you remember, also argued (unsuccessfully) in favor of same-sex marriage when the issue reached the country's highest court back in May of 2006.

Historic meeting between gay leaders and religious leaders in Chile: Also on January 9th, La Nacion reported that the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (MOVILH) brought together leaders of the Evangelical, Presbyterian, Christian, Pentecostal and Jewish religious movements for a closed-door meeting to dispel confusion regarding an anti-discrimination bill currently being discussed in the country's legislature. A press release posted on the organization's website says that Evangelical leaders expressed fears fears that they might be prosecuted under the new bill based on their beliefs but lawyers present were able to explain that it was one thing for a religious leader to express his belief that homosexuality is wrong, a right to freedom of speech that would still be protected, and quite another to incite violence against gays as members of the right-wing Crusade of Power Evangelical Movement did last year when they organized a protest and called for the kiling of gays. Jewish religious leaders, says the press release, have backed the measure for more than four years.

Chilean court upholds conviction against man accused of domestic violence against his male partner: Also in Chile, today's El Mostrador reports that a Court of Appeals in the city of La Serena has upheld the conviction of 23 year old Honorino Muñoz Tapia for the "ongoing abuse" of his male partner under the country's Inter-Family Violence laws. In doing so, the court accepted that a same-sex couple living together for an extended period of time should be recognized as a partnership and falls under the oversight of family laws. Mr. Tapia is to serve 41 days in prison and attend mental health and alcohol abuse counseling. He is also forbidden to get anywhere near the victims for a period of a year (he also was abusive towards his ex-partner's mentally disadvantaged son).

Comments by Mexico's new Health Minister augur anti-gay policies: A mere six weeks after conservative Felipe Calderon took possession of the Mexican presidency, his Health Minister is promising to end programs that he sees as promoting homosexuality and speaks of "more education and less condoms" when it comes to HIV prevention.

In an extensive interview posted today in Excelsior, José Córdova Villalobos (pictured above) says that he will prioritize youth pregnancy prevention campaigns that focus on parents as educators rather than other prevention methods including the promotion of anticontraceptives.

Villalobos also criticized the work his office under former president Vicente Fox:

Villalobos criticized campaigns by the Health Ministry in the past six years to prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases since he considers that frequently their message instead of being preventive, promoted high risk behaviors.

In particular, he expressed his rejection of campaigns that sought to eradicate discrimination against those who hold homosexual practices, a group that has become the primary transmitter of HIV/AIDS.

Villalobos was referring to a series of controversial public service radio announcements that the Ministry sponsored in 2005.

The paper publishes a transcript of one of the spots translated here as follows:

Mother: So you look very much in love, son, how long has it been?
Juan: Five months, mom
Mother: And likes the idea of being invited to dinner with our family?
Juan: Loved it! Even prepared a dessert dish that you are going to love!
Mother: I hope he likes what I made. By the way, what did you say was the name?
Juan: Oscar, his name is Oscar
VOICE OVER: Even if you think it's strange, many people still think badly of a situation like this one. Homophobia is the intolerance against homosexuality. Equality begins when we accept that every one is different.