Argentina at the FIFA World Cup: Homosex on their minds

What's up with the Argentina soccer world cup team and their latest obsession with homosex?

The latest: Back in May, before the tournament began, team coach and famed former player Diego Maradona (right) made an unusual promise: If Argentina returns from South Africa as the world champions, he will run naked around the Obelisk located in the heart of Buenos Aires.

Not that running naked is gay. But then came other comments by Carlos Bilardo, another former player and the team's current General Manager.

Appearing on a television news magazine show aired on June 4th, Dr. Bilardo, who is also a former physical therapist, was a bit bawdy and funny as heck.  Invited to talk on the topic of sex and soccer, Dr. Bilardo addressed whether players should have sex the day before a game, whether they masturbated in the locker rooms and whether there was an appropriate sexual position between an older man and a younger woman.

The clincher came just as Dr. Bilardo was getting ready to end the interview and walk out of the studio.

"Any promises Carlos, or not?" host Matias Marín asked him, "Diego [Maradona] said if he emerges the champion, [he'l run] naked to the Obelisk".

Here is Dr. Bilardo's response:



That, of course, was international news. From Peru's 100 Goles, "If Argentina is the champion, I'll let them do my ass". 

It's not the first time that Dr. Bilardo makes a similar World Cup promise. Four years ago, he offered to masturbate the player who scored the championship goal at the previous World Cup tournament (Italy won so Dr. Bilardo ultimately did not have to make good on his offer).

I guess he was upping the ante this year and at least one of the players indicated he would be more than game. Martin Palermo, who at 36 is playing in his first World Cup tournament, joked that if he scores the championship goal he'll "make Bilardo's dream come true" only if Bilardo accepts putting on a wig.

Who knows where all this is going with Argentina sitting pretty on top of the World Cup Group B standings with two wins and no losses. One thing seems true, the spirit of homosex doesn't seem to want to leave the team alone.  It's latest manifestation came during the press conference on Thursday after Argentina's 4-1 defeat of South Korea in the guise of a BBC reporter and some apparently faulty translation.



Look at those eyes widen in horror at the thought of homosex! Ah, Diego. Things haven't changed much since he played into rumors that Brazilian soccer idol Pelé began his sexual life with other boys. That also made worldwide news at the time.

But what else is new?  Soccer doesn't seem to indicate it will ever grow up when it comes to issues related to homosexuality.

RELATED:

• Roger Cohen: The Loose Vuvuzuela (NYT, June 21, 2010)
• Diego Maradona is not gay (The New Republic, July 2, 2010)

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.

Chile: Actor detained for sex with minors, claims discrimination (UPDATED)

[UPDATE: Didier van den Hoven was released from detainment by police on Tuesday, July 29, 2008, pending an investigation. Accusations that the actor had sexual contact with a second minor were withdrawn - More information below]

A Belgian-born actor who resides in Colombia and has been a cast member in three of the most-watched Spanish-language television soap operas in the Unites States in the last few years ("La Tormenta," "Pasion de Gavilanes," and, most recently, "El Zorro"), was detained Friday in Chile on charges that he engaged in sexual relations with two underage males.

42 year old Didier van den Hove, who was on vacation in the southern city of Puerto Natales, was arrested at the Índigo Hotel - where he had arranged to meet the two teens - and was accused of "carnal access to a minor between 14 and 18 years of age" - which carries a prison sentence of up to three years.

In an interview with van den Hove's lawyer Hermann Klasen published today in El Magallanes, he says that the actor is at peace with the knowledge that his television career is over but hopes that he will still be able to act in the big screen ("'My career in television is finished', the actor confessed to his lawyer"). His main concern, the lawyer says, is the impact of the scandal on his 9 year old son.

Klasen also tells the paper that the actor considers that the charges and the media coverage has been exaggerated as much as there was consent between all parties and that homosexuality is not prohibited in Chile. The actor, his lawyer says, also feels offended that he was taken out of court in hand-cuffs and with a yellow jacket that read "Charged."

Klasen said that van den Hoven has denied any interest in child pornography and that he hopes to be set free after a court hearing being held this evening.

La Nacion reports today that both teens were 17 years of age and that van den Hoven considered one of them to be his boyfriend ("Detained actor of 'El Zorro' plays his luck in Natales").

La Nacion Dominicana also reports today that the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (MoVILH), a national Chilean LGBT-rights organization, is backing van den Hoven ("Homosexual group protests detention of Colombian actor in Chile") pointing out that the national age of consent for heterosexual partners is 14 years of age while that of homosexual partners is 18 which MoVIHL says is discrimination.

In a Telemundo online chat from 2005, van den Hove was asked by fans if he was married and he replied that he had never married but did have a son.

Update (July 29, 2008): Today's El Magallanes reports that van den Hover was released from detention yesterday on his own recognizance and ordered to stay in Puerto Natales ("Belgian-Colombian actor regains liberty, but was left charged").

The actor was accused of having sexual relations with a minor under 18 years of age and of possessing "pornographic materials" depicting minors but only charged with the latter charge (no mention of previous reports that van den Hove had sexual relations with a second minor). He will have to remain in Chile for a period of two months while the fiscal office conducts an investigation.

The court stated that a computer had been confiscated from the accused and that they will be looking to see if it contains pornographic images involving minors or indications that the actor had paid for sex an accusation that the actor's lawyer completely denied.

van den Hove, when given an opportunity to respond to these charges told the court that "When we speak of underage pornographic material, we have to be very explicit on those points, there are many photos of myself as an adolescent and of my son, my brother, even photos of when I was a baby."

He also told the court that it was absolutely false that he had paid money for sex and that he was astounded by the accusation. "At no point am I denying my sexual condition,' he said, "but I would like you to be more explicit [on the charges]."

Outside the court, the actor standing next to his lawyer, told reporters that he had carried a six-month relationship with the minor and that they had met through a friend in common and said that he didn't consider that their relationship was a crime.

"To moralize about sexuality is such a complex subject," he said," "I have to laugh a little because we know nothing about the issue, science has not set the last word; If we speak about sexuality how much do we know to be able to legislate about it, what is good and what is bad? One thing is clear to me and this is that abuse is wrong. Laws about sexual crimes are very delicate."

In the meantime, in an article published yesterday in Diario Electronico de La Patagonia after the ruling ("MoVILH denounces the case of the actor before the UN"), an unnamed representative from MoVILH is quoted as saying that the law is the law and that charges will be imposed whether tey like it or not but that they are concerned that the court has also called for the two-month investigation based on mere suspicions that the relationship between the actor and the 17 year old indicates an interest in paedophilia. They also highlight that the court recognized that there was no other sexual contact between the actor and a second minor, as previous reports had specuilated.

MoVILH also reminded reporters of the 2000 wedding between Chilean tennis player Marcelo Ríos and Giuliana Sotela, noting that he had been 23 years of age while she had been 15 years of age.

"No one suspected in this case, and in so many others, that Ríos had any links to paedophilia or with underage pornographic material," MoVILH stated, "On the contrary, the union was celebrated nation wide."

They said that they would bring the discriminatory age of consent law before the United Nations tribunal.

Peru: Two gay high-school seniors caught having sex in classroom, LGBT rights organizations oppose expulsion

Above:Students at the San Jose de Chiclayo National School in Chiclayo, Peru, Class of 2007.

Earlier this year I wrote about a young lesbian couple in Manizales, Colombia, who were thrown out of their high school and then sent back by a court order that said that the school administrators had discriminated against them for being gay (see 'Related' posts below).

Last week a newspaper from the northern coastal plain city of Chiclayo, Peru, reported that two male high-school students were on the verge of being kicked out school after being caught having sex in an empty classroom ("2 students are discovered practicing a homosexual act," Destapa, July 16, 2008).

The article itself has a sensationalistic tone and it's one thing for two girls to be thrown out of school for holding hands or kissing and quite another for two students to have sex in a classroom without disciplinary action but what caught my attention was that the students seem to be challenging the school.

The two 5th grade secondary-school students (12th grade in the US) at the San José de Chiclayo National School allegedly took advantage that the school's art teacher was absent and used the empty classroom during the art class period to engage in sex. The paper says that they were discovered by other schoolmates and that twenty classmates were witnesses to the "homosexual act."

School principal Gonzalo Supo Capuñay told Destape "Let you be certain that the students will take a definite leave from the school, because the conduct of one or two students will not dim the prestige of the San José de Chiclayo National School."

As of last week, though, disciplinary action was pending an investigation of the allegations.

The students, who were identified only as Erick P.Q. y Kevin M.L. in the paper for being minors, aparently also spoke to Destape. "What's with the uproar," one is quoted as saying, "if in the class there are 5 more students who are homosexual and everyone knows them."

It's unclear which of the students said it since Destape only says it was "the one that took the passive role."

Journalistic integrity for you!

Homosexual Movement of Lima (MOhL), Peru's oldest gay rights organization has released a statement opposing the expulsion of the students and offered legal assistance arguing that it's discriminatory to prevent the free expression of one's sexuality.

The Boletin Diversidad blog ads that the school is an all-boy's school. They also oppose the expulsion in what they call one of the most conservative regions in the country.

Update:

• Peru: Gay students pulled out of school after being caught in compromising situation (August 26, 2008)

Related

• Colombia: Student who was kicked out of high-school for being a lesbian speaks up against discrimination (June 4, 2008)
• Colombia: 1st day back in class for high school lesbians who were booted out (April 29, 2008)
• Colombia: Allowed back in school by court order, lesbian students are heckled by student body (April 26, 2008)
  

ACT UP gets horny for gay pride: Marchers needed!

The Press Release:

COME MARCH WITH ACT UP/NY FOR PRIDE 2008!
Sunday, June 29 - 11:30am
56th Street at 6th Avenue
917-653-7267 (cell)

This year we will be focusing on getting the word out about our exciting new harm reduction campaign that we are launching in print and on the web. Infection rates in NYC are up by 33% since 2001 among young gay and bisexual men under 30 years of age. Prevention efforts are hampered by years of abstinence only teaching, which has affected even AIDS organization's educational materials which often are timid. Our first effort will be published in this weeks Gay City News showing an inviting young man starting to dress himself by opening a condom, with the following text:

"Infection Rates are UP! The only thing you need to wear are condoms!"

The CDC's recently released statistics for 2005 show that, men who have sex with men accounted for 71% of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses among men. This is another reason we need to mobilize attention to this issue. We need an edgy, gay-sex-positive, safe-sex promotional campaign in response to this alarming rise in new infections among
young gay and bisexual men under 30. That's why ACTUP/NY is creating this new campaign to promote effective safe sex messages targeting gay youth. Our contingent will be displaying our hot new posters, promoting the launching the new campaign website, and of course, distributing condoms to all the parade-goers.

No matter what your age or gender, we need you to march with us. We don't want a tiny contingent, we need a contingent that helps set a tone that safer-sex is a LGBT community standard. Monogamy, domestic partnership and marriage won't solve this problem because, they don't really work among a very large section of young men.

We'll also have vintage ACTUP banners and chants throughout for what promises to be a fierce and fun showing at pride. We hope to see you marching in the contingent!

Spain: Organizations decry homophobic attacks against gay men caught having sex in public bathrooms

Above: Isaac Rodríguez explains what happened after he was caught in a Pio Prince Mall bathroom stall with another man (ADN Television).

Remember Senator Larry Craig's bathroom incident? You probably do as it became almost as big a news story as Britney Spears' meltdown last year (actually, my friend Michael Rogers broke the story over at his BlogActive blog).

If memory serves well, some of the reaction back then - including from gay media - expressed disgust, disdain and utter shock at the fact that some men use public restrooms to cruise other men - as well as the usual lurid coverage that accompanies stories like these.

The whole bru-ha-ha led to amusing commentary from Rex Wockner and a handy video guide of signals gay men use to cruise other guys by Rod Townsend (the Felching Flytrap is particularly effective - or so I've been told).

Which brings us to Spain: It may not be a story about a homophobic politician being caught in his own hypocrisy, but I was struck by an article published yesterday in Madrid's ADN ("Sex in public bathrooms, homophobic aggressions") and the tone of the coverage.

Basically, representatives of LGBT rights organizations tell the newspaper that security guards at some public establishments such as shopping malls and train stations are being overtly aggressive and have verbally and physically assaulted men found having sex with other men in public bathrooms. They say that these attacks are homophobic and that security guards who are overzealous in taking justice in their own hands should be brought to court.

"A month and a half ago I witnessed how a man attacked another at the Atocha train station because he was offended by a look," said Miguel Ángel González, President of the LGTB Collective of Madrid (COGAM), "he began to hit him until the security guards showed up, they quickly took the victim away, while the nothing happened to the attacker" [Funny, I remember walking into that exact bathroom during a visit to Spain and being shocked by how cruisy it was].

He says the victim never reported the incident and explains that a lot of the men that cruise the bathrooms are in the closet and afraid to bring charges against the attackers.

Manuel Ródenas, an attorney specializing on LGBT rights, tells ADN that there is a legal vacuum when it comes to these cases since there are no laws that address instances in which the aggressor walks away free.

"[Having sex in public bathrooms] is not a crime as long as it can't be categorized as exhibitionism;" says Ródenas, "The victims do it with discretion and do not want anyone to find out, but the security guards often open the stall doors, breaking their intimacy and forcing the proof."

Now, if you have read articles about public restroom sting operations in the United States usually you see a number of men being arrested or charged by police with their names and addresses sometimes published the next day in the local newspaper. I can't remember any instance in cases like these in which a man has gone on record or on camera to defend his actions.

Well, check the video above (larger version here).

Isaac Rodríguez, tells ADN about being assaulted by a security guard at the Prince Pio Mall back in February after being caught in a bathroom stall with another man.

"I was in a stall with a guy, a security guard came in, looked below the stall doors, saw that there were more than two legs and gave a strong kick to the door and pulled us out. He began to insult and threaten us. He said he was a Nazi and that he'd be our worst nightmare."

"The security guard grabbed my head and pushed it against the mirror, but the aggression did not leave a mark or an injury, so I wasn't able to present proof."

In the video he says that the attack lasted for 20 to 30 minutes and that it was rather unpleasant. He also shows exactly which bathroom stall he was using which for some reason I find really funny but, hey, I have a weird sense of humor. He also says that straight couples sometimes use public spaces for sex as well but are never taken under custody or attacked.

Rodríguez has taken the security guard to court.