As commercialized as Valentine's Day has become over the years, it also has become a prime opportunity for the LGBT community to make our lack of partnership rights visible whether it's in the United States or any other country that 'observes' the unofficial ode to lovers.
Definitely less massive but just as important were several demonstrations that took place yesterday throughout Latin America.
Peru: Meet Jonathan and Oscar (right), college students and members of the LGBTI Student Bloc of Lima. In what Blog de Lima calls the 2nd annual "Kisses against homophobia" street action, they joined other several gay and lesbian couples and tried to take over the main public space inside a popular Lima shopping mall.
The couples held hands and kissed as they made their way through the mall but ran into heavy security as they tried to congregate inside the mall's main gathering spot. Several couples embraced each other and kissed for the cameras once they left the building (thanks to leading Peruvian LGBT rights advocate Jorge Alberto Chávez Reyes for providing images and video).
Meanwhile, across town, members of the Peruvian TTLGB Network congregated at the "Love Park" in Lima's Miraflores district for a symbolic marriage ceremony between same-sex couples. The Network, which had participated in previous kiss-in actions, said that they wanted to highlight the lack of same-sex partnership rights in the country.
"Just as the laws have to change in Mexico and Argentina, making civil rights be available for everyone, that's what our community demands", said well-known lesbian attorney Susel Paredes, who participated in the ceremony and symbolically married her partner, as quoted by the EFE news service.
There are conflicting reports of how many couples participated in the symbolic marriage. EFE says there were five but Peruvian media says that there were four as well as a heterosexual couple who was there in support for same-sex partnership recognition but did not participate in the ceremony.
Argentina: I haven't seen any coverage yet, but on the eve of Valentine's Day, the leading network of organizations advocating for marriage equality in Argentina called for members of the LGBT community and allies to participate in the 2nd annual "Picnics for the Same Love". The Argentinian LGBT Federation, in collaboration with ElMismoAmor.org [off-line at this moment] were the leading organizers (source: AG Magazine).
Two Argentinean men became the first same-sex couple to marry in all of Latin America back in December after a court declared that it was discriminatory to deny them the right to marry but other gay couples wishing to marry are awaiting an expected Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of allowing gay couples to do so.
I do know that, as part of the Valentine's Day events, Argentinean advocates launched their YouTube video version of Lily Allen's "Fuck You":
Chile: Chile is further back on the path of recognizing marriage equality but that didn't keep members from the United Movement of Sexual Minorities (MUMS) to take to the capital's Army Plaza and demand the right to marry.
"Chile is a country in which not everyone is equal," said MUMS director Fernando Muñoz, "it's a country where the laws keep you out and put you on the margin specifically in the sense that there is no recognition of same-sex partners or of common-law partners in the law that recognizes partnerships, nor of those who might want to conform one."
Muñoz also said that if the current law specifically establishes that marriage is only allowed for procreation and implied that it was hypocritical to keep gays from marriage but allow straight couples who cannot procreate to marry even if the law said they don't qualify (source: Radio Cooperativa).
Mexico: As in Argentina, marriage equality is a red-hot topic in Mexico ever since the Mexico City legislature passed a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry in Mexico's capital city (the law goes into effect in March). The measure, which also explicitly would allow same-sex couples to adopt, has run into vehement opposition from right wing politicians and religious leaders - and will also be heading to the country's Supreme Court for review later in the year.
Yesterday's La Jornada reported that different LGBT rights organizations from Jalisco, Colima and Guanajuato marched down the streets of Guadalajara to demand equal partnership rights. The group, mostly made up of lesbian and gay members from different regional university student groups, carried signs and expressed a desire for having similar rights granted to gays and lesbians in Mexico City. The group gathered outside the University of Guadalajara and made their way to the city's main plaza where they staged a kiss-in as the shadow of the city's Metropolitan Cathedral fell on them.
Milenio describes the scene outside the Cathedral and gives a better sense of how massive the march was. They estimate the crowd at 350 and say that, in addition to the kiss-in, eleven gay and lesbian couples also participated in a symbolic wedding ceremony. They also report homophobic insults and obscenities being hurled at marchers even as organizers expressed relief that there were no outbursts of violence.
"We received many threats form many people who said they were not going to allow us to march, including many who said they would be waiting here at the Cathedral to prevent us carrying on with the event, but at the end, none of that came to be," said Karina Velasco Michel.
These weren't the only LGBT-rights demonstrations that took place yesterday in Mexico, nor in other cities throughout Latin America, but I wanted to give you a flavor of what went on.
Each week I get a fair amount of promotional e-mails and press releases from people promoting something or other they think I might write about on this blog. Most times you wonder if the promoters sending those press releases have even seen the blog since the stuff they are promoting clearly doesn't fit within the topics I address (no, I will not write about your latest neon red Valentine's Day dildo). At other times, they are clearly product placement pitches which makes you wonder why the company simply doesn't take an ad on the blog (no, I'm certainly not going to write about the latest hair product being used by Eva Longoria). And then, there's those few promotional e-mails that actually do fit in with the blog, some of which also go by the side particularly if I haven't been blogging consistently during a period of time.
And then, well, your mouth just drops when you get something like this.
When disaster struck the impoverished island nation of Haiti, it also struck close to the hearts of boyfriends Luke Montgomery and Nate Gudias. Having lived in Haiti and founded an AIDS orphanage in the coastal town of Jacmel, Montgomery feared the worst when no word was received from the orphanage. Within 48 hours the couple raised over $10,000 from family and friends in the gay community and were on a plane bound for the Dominican Republic which borders Haiti. When news reached them that children in the AIDS orphanage were unhurt but that the local hospital had collapsed on its patients the couple says they were transformed into "cause commandos" with a mission to get medicine and medical supplies to survivors.
Now, a month after the catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the island nation, Montgomery and Guidas have decided to expand their personal mission and go public with their efforts through the launch of causecommandos.com and a series of YouTube clips showing their work. Their goal? To rally support from the LGBT community for Haitian relief causes and to allow site visitors to "directly buy medicine, food & tents".
"We're on a mission to help as many people as we can with medicine, food and tents for shelter. We're buying the supplies across the border in the Dominican Republic and running them by boat into the parts of Haiti that aid is still slow to get to. When a country is as poor as Haiti was before the quake, even the biggest relief effort is not enough. So we're stepping up to the plate and hoping that the gay community can join us," says Montgomery.
Their efforts are not the first time that gays in the United States have stepped up for Haiti. The Red Cross launched an LGBT Haiti Relief Fund that has raised more than $150,000; a small LGBT foundation based in San Francisco with previous work in Haiti called the Rainbow World Fund also launched one of the most immediate LGBT-specific responses to the earthquake; and the good men of Onyx, a "brotherhood of Men of Color in the Leather lifestyle" raised $1,200 for Haiti at a fundraising party. Olivia, Atlantis and RSVP, the leading travel cruise ship companies in the LGBT community, also called for the LGBT community to donate money in collaboration with the Red Cross. But I was first taken aback and then actually amused by the "Amazing Race" feel of Cause Commandos site and video.
I mean, my first reaction was actually that it trivialized the suffering going on in Haiti by adopting some of the 'reality show' elements in promoting assistance for Haiti and featuring yourself as the lead super-heros in the midst of all of it. But then those feelings actually subsided - I do tend to criticize everything - and began to see it for what it was. Two guys with a personal past commitment to Haiti who actually lived there before the earthquake using the internet to call others to do good. The "give now" button on their site takes you to their Paypal account so I can't voucher for how donations might be accounted for. But I also don't see any reason to think that the guys are anything but genuine in their intention. They do say that 100% of proceeds will go towards helping people in Haiti. And, looking again at the video, I actually have come around to think it's a pretty smart idea to engage certain segment of the LGBT community.
Yup. Luke Montgomery is Luke Sissyfag reborn. In 1995, Montgomery told The Advocate "I wish people would forget about the person named Luke Sissyfag and move on, I have. It's not part of me anymore".
It would be tough to outrun that past so I guess Montgomery has learned to live with it. He probably knows that putting that blurb there will probably get Cause Commandos more attention. For those of you who have no idea who Sissyfag is, I won't bore you with details. Let's say he was incredibly polarizing and, in some ways, Montgomery might still be. But last year I was purging my files, news clippings, and old magazines, and ran into a couple of articles I had saved about him. I'd actually nearly forgotten about him but I was shocked by the charge I felt in looking at clippings from that time. Whether he likes it or not today, he was a shock to the system, and I might have disagreed with a few of the things he did and said. I was equally shocked when blogger and friend Michael Petrelis ran this post in May of last year.
It's fascinating to me to see a man who was such a public figure go into media hibernation and emerge years later as a different person. In that sense, good bye Luke Sissyfag, welcome back Luke Montgomery. For more information:
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.
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.
NOTE: This post replaces and expands on an item I wrote at the end of 2009. I'm replacing the post because it was a bit rushed and because, much to my surprise, it's suddenly become the most discussed topic in Mexico during the past few days.
The video: It all started with a televised segment from a Mexican morning show called "Matutino Express" which aired on December 18th.
In it, lead host Esteban Arce welcomes sex columnist Elsy Reyes to the show for what he says will be a discussion on the difference between 'sexual orientation' and 'sexual preference'.
At first, things seem to run smoothly as Reyes begins to define both terms. But, just as she begins to talk about the fact that homosexuality is not considered to be an illness, he stops her at the 1:23 minute mark of the video and asks "So, is it normal to be a homosexual?" Watch:
Reyes initially sidesteps the question and tries to be gracious about her host's grilling. But Arce wants a direct response from her. "There are things that are normal: Being a man or being a woman" he says,"To be a homosexual is normal?"
When Reyes finally says that many studies show that being gay is an orientation and, as such, it is normal, Arce cuts her off again by saying "no, no, no". He states that Reyes and others might consider homosexuality to be an orientation but asks, for a fourth time, "is it normal?".
Reyes attempts to answer once again but it's clear that Arce is not getting what he wants to hear from her. So he simply interrupts her once again and indicates where his thoughts are going. He says that "what is natural" is for a man and a woman to come together and procreate. He then asks if anything that deviates from sexual relations between a man and a woman is "natural" or "normal".
In vain, Reyes says that sexual relations are not only limited to procreation. Arce's response? "It's not what you believe - it's what it is."
When Reyes says that she is sharing knowledge from the many studies she has read and not relying on her beliefs, Arce responds "What studies! You don't need to be a genius to know that there's a female and there's a male!"
And the hits keep coming!
Arce jokes that "eating cheetos and masturbating in the afternoon" is a sexual preference but isn't necessarily "normal".
When Reyes brings up studies that show that homosexual behavior have been observed among other animal species, he says that male dogs who engage in sex with other male dogs have been deprived of sex for a long time and are "letting themselves go" and that their behavior is considered to be "animal dementia".
He also says that younger people are susceptible to "letting themselves go" and turning gay even "if they look to you like men". "There is a lot of degeneration and a lot of drugs", he explains, as if homosexuality could also be the result of using illegal drugs.
By the end of the segment, Arce doesn't seem to care that he is speaking over the expert they invited to the show and, as she urges tolerance, he keeps repeating that she shouldn't be giving the wrong information to people.
Finally, he states that sexual relations not meant for procreation and not between a man and a woman are not a normal or part of nature. He dismisses Reyes as she is still trying to make a point with an "OK, thank you, let's leave", and that is the end of things.
Initial reaction: The original YouTube video was posted on December 19th, a day after it was broadcast, by someone with the handle of MikeParkRevolutions. I first saw it through a Google Alert but I didn't initially post it because it was hard to identify the actual broadcast date and location. I recognized Arce from a Telemundo gossip show called "Cotorreando" so I erroneously assumed that it was from the United States and I was so incensed by it that I actually forwarded it to GLAAD on December 24th.
In the meantime, I uploaded it to my YouTube page and began to translate it for posting on this blog. With additional research, I found out that Esteban Arce had left Telemundo in 2007 and now worked for Televisa in Mexico. I finally posted the video and a brief note on my blog on December 29th. The women at Macha Mexicopicked up on it on the 30th. Mexican newspaper Milenio had also picked up on it back on December 21st but the newsbrief drew little notice at the time. And I think that was it... until the new year.
On Monday, January 4th, my contacts at GLAAD, alerted me that they had sent the link I gave them to NotieSe and other LGBT media in Mexico. They also alerted me that Mexican LGBT news web-portal Anodis had just published an article about it ("People point out television host's homophobia"). Later that day, El Financiero picked up on a press release sent out by folks involved with Anodis demanding an apology from Esteban Arce ("Esteban Arce's homophobic comments are questioned").
And then, Twitter: That afternoon I started noticing that my Tweeter feed had begun to show links information related to the incident. That was the first time that I noticed the Twitter hashtag #EstebanArceFueraDelAire (#EstebanArceLeaveTheAir) being used to ask Televisa to fire Arce. I found out that the President of Televisa's Board of Directors, Emilio Azcarranga, was also on Twitter (@eazcarraga) and I started urging interested Tweeters to send complaints directly to him.
On Tuesday, January 5th, Mexican mainstream media picked up the Twitter revolt. El Gráfico, a subsidiary of one of the largest Mexican newspapers, El Universo, carried the headline "Twitter lashes out against Esteban Arce" on its print edition (they also posted the video I uploaded on YouTube on its online edition).
Sex columnist Elsy Reyes, who also has a Twitter account (@elsyreyes) posted a link to her version of what happened during the taping of the show on her blog ("Clearing up what happened on Matutino Express and sending thanks"). She said that she had been astounded by the amount of attention that her seven minutes on the show had drawn and apologized to the LGBT community for not having been able to defend herself better and for not having been able to express her views completely. She also noted the "pejorative" and "homophobic" comments made by Esteban Arce but stopped short of calling him a homophobe. She said that she was still unsure whether he had meant his comments to be homophobic.
He was wrong on one account: Someone had taken advantage of the moment to open a Twitter account under Esteban Arce's name and was responding as if he were the real deal. One prominent reporter actually fell for it and interviewed the fake Arce for a national newspaper. Azcarranga wanted to tell people that the account was a fake but, unbeknownst to him, Arce did and still does have a Twitter account (@estarc62).
By Wednesday, January 6th it seemed as if every other press media in Mexico had picked up on the story. The YouTube video I posted had gone to the #1 position on YouTube's "Most Watched" list and thousands of people were logging in to watch each day. On Wednesday, the government also stepped in: The National Council to Prevent Discrimination (CONAPRED) announced that it was considering whether to act upon several complaints received about the broadcast and said that they would soon determine if there were merits to those who said Arce's comments had been discriminatory ("CONAPRED opens complaint against Esteban Arce based on homophobia"). As for Esteban Arce, aside from a couple of Tweets on the issue, he remained silent.
His apology came on the morning of Thursday, January 7th, when the first live edition of "Matutino Express" of 2010 aired live. Watch:
That's right. The only apology Esteban Arce made when he went back on air was to Elsy Reyes for having interrupted her. Using carefully edited clips from the previous show, Arce denies he is a homophobe and paints himself as the victim of intolerance. No mention of him having argued that sex between a man and a woman for the purpose of procreation as the sole "natural" and "nornal" human behavior in this world, no mention of masturbating while eating cheetos, no mention of teens "letting themselves go" into homosexuality, no mention of his repeated attempts to silence Reyes when she brings up academic research on the topic of homosexuality, and, most laughably, an argument that he in no way had meant that gays suffered "animal dementia" when he claimed that dogs who had homosexual behaviors usually were diagnosed which such an illness (he might not have said that gays suffered "animal dementia" but he certainly was making a direct comparison).
Arce also riles against "social networks", including Twitter, and says that the attention given to his statements are the result of people with "bad faith" uploading the segment online. To be expected, and as they did during the controversial segment, the other co-anchors back him up on everything and only speak up to say he is being victimized.
Note the absence of Reyes or anyone who might speak for the LGBT community to give their point of view (Reyes has said that, even though she was a weekly guest on the show, she has yet to receive an invite to come back).
On Friday, January 8th, CONAPRED served official notice to Arce that there were 18 complaints against him before the agency. If found guilty of promoting discrimination, Arce could face a year to three in prison unless he publicly apologizes for his statements on his show ("CONAPRED notifies Esteban Arce about complaints").
Comments on YouTube: Since MikeParkRevolutions posted the original YouTube video on December 19, it has amassed nearly 147,000 views and 5,106 comments. My translated version of the video has gathered another 62,000 and 790 comments since December 27th. My translated video of Esteban Arce's "apology" has drawn 56,000 views and 272 comments since January 7th and also reached #1 on YouTube's "Most Viewed" list in Mexico and #2 on the US "News & Politics" list (see top image).
Comments left on the videos I have uploaded range from those who are furious at Arce to those who back him unconditionally. What's striking is that a lot of those who back Arce and ask that gays "tolerate" his comments actually make the case for those of us who were troubled by his comments. One extreme example of this is the following comment:
I am in agreement that people should not be homophobic, but don't let gays mix with society. Send them to an island and burn them or something like that. I don't want my daughter to grow up with the idea that it's normal since they are even condemned in the Bible...
Or, more insidiously...
Well, he's right! It's not normal!I don't have anything against homosexuals. What's more, I have a lot of friends like that... and the majority are the best! But let's be realist. You need an ovum and sperm to create life. Period. He's not insulting anyone. Just saying what is the truth.
Arce is a wolf in sheep's clothing. By vilifying gays using the same language that fundamentalist religions use against that without actually saying that we are evil sinners, he can claim that he's just spreading simple facts and not being homophobic, giving an example to others of how they can actually justify their own homophobia in the language of freedom of speech and tolerance.
Overreaction? As media coverage of the clip in question grew during the week and coverage began to appear everywhere, complaints about media overkill also began to surface.
Some say that the outsize attention being given to Esteban Arce is actually promoting a show that had poor ratings and turninng him into a larger personality trhan he ever was. Others say that media have latched to the issue as a way to keep people entertained instead of focusing attention on issues such as increasing poverty and violence. Others say that to go after Arce and not go after religious and political figures who are just as homophobic but have more power is counter-productive.
Indeed, when Mexico City granted marriage rights to same sex couples two or three days after the "Matutino Express" segment aired on Televisa, Cardinal Norberto Rivera said the law was "perverse" and "immoral" and warned about the declining civilization. CONAPRED and other public interest groups have responded and asked them to measure their reactions and be more respectful of the LGBT community, but the reaction to their homophobic statements certainly hasn't reached the level it reached with Arce.
This might be in part because people expect such comments to come from the likes of Cardinal Rivera. He has made similar comments in the past and will make similar comments in the future. In other words, his words probably didn't surprise anyone, and even people who rejected his statements might have seen them as par for the course.
But, with Arce, that was not the case. Arce is supposed to be a somewhat neutral television show host and watching him become visibly upset that his fundamentalist religious views are being challenged by a guest and try to stop her by interrupting her at every chance is akin to watching a kid cover his ears and say "Nanananananana" when he doesn't want to hear something. And, as he found out, more than a few people thought his behavior more than reprehensible and decided to pass it along to others.
It's also true that he has gained notoriety, but for all the wrong reasons. It's his one television appearance that will probably forever define his career.
But what many are missing here is that Televisa and Arce might not have ever felt the need to respond or explain themselves if it wasn't for Tweeter and the same social networks that Arce described as lacking any "seriousness". It also puts other people on Mexican television on notice that similar homophobic shenanigans won't be taken down without a response.
As for those comments, perhaps my favorite thing has been this parody of a "Peanuts"cartoon strip, which uses Arce's comments to great effect...
[Source: Blog del Mono Hernández] Panel 1 -Voice coming from TV Set: "Eating cheetos and masturbating in the afternoon is a preference but it's not normal"; Panel 2 - Voice coming from TV Set: "When you put a dog in, they let themselves go, and that's considered to be 'animal dementia'"; Panel 3 - Snoopy: "The more I hear demented animals on TV, the more I care for you..."
In Latin America, April Fools' Day doesn't come in April - nor is it called "April Fools' Day"... discuss.
Actually, it's called "Innocents' Day" and it comes around every December 28th.
Anyhow, considering all the hoopla surrounding the decision last week by Mexico City's Legislative Assembly to grant gays the right to marry and adopt, a Guatemalan newspaper thought that it would be hilarious to prank Guatemalan gay couples yesterday and make them believe that their government had also granted them the right to marry.
In an article titled "The gays will be able to create a family in Guatemala", El Periódico reported that Guatemalan president Álvaro Colom had broken away from his past and promised to promote a law making it easier for gays to marry. President Colom, according to the article, had hosted a surprise Christmas dinner with the country's LGBT leadership on Saturday and had been able to work out every difference that the LGBT rights movement might have held with his government. The article also said that most of the government's ministers had been present at the dinner, including the ministers of Defense, Education and Athletics, and that Colom had taken the opportunity to personally apologize for making comments against the LGBT community in the past.
In addition, the paper said that the Guatemalan president vowed to institute a series of measures to prevent discrimination against the LGBT community in the country, and that he would require any private institution doing business with the country to prove that at least 10% of its workforce was LGBT.
But, wait! It was all a prank!
In the last sentence in the article, the paper said "Lastly, the leader asked all communication media representatives to distribute the news until today, December 28th, Innocents' Day", the only sign that readers had been had.
A few readers caught up with the prank leaving messages behind calling it in poor taste. Others thought it was the real deal, including Guatemalan homophobes who called the news a travesty. And yet, so far, there has been no apology forthcoming from the paper's editors.
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.
From Rex Wockner's weekly syndicated international LGBT news column via Bay Windows:
Mexico City’s Legislative Assembly voted 39-20 to legalize same-sex marriage Dec. 21... Federal benefits, such as pension, inheritance and social-security rights, will remain off-limits to married gay couples without changes in federal law to recognize the Mexico City marriages.
The bill, which also grants gay couples the right to adopt, is expected to be signed into law by Mayor Marcelo Ebrard in January. The law would go into effect in March.
The Empire State Pride Agenda has just posted this video on YouTube in the wake of the recent disappointing vote on marriage equality in the New York State Senate. In it, the Pride Agenda thanks the legislators who voted in favor of the bill and also gives the following warning to those who voted 'no':
We will not go away. We will only grow stronger. We will keep fighting. In the streets. In your districts. Until we win.
Considering the current status of the California state budget, I'm not sure whether I would even congratulate anyone who might want to become the state's finance director. And yet, earlier in the week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he had appointed 34 year old Ana Matosantos to the previously vacated position.
The Sacramento Bee and other major English language papers note that Matosantos, who was born in Puerto Rico, would become the youngest person and the first Latina to ever fill the post (her appointment is still pending approval from the California State Senate).
Interestingly, none of the major English-language newspapers make note that Matosantos is also an openly lesbian woman. That information actually came from the Spanish-language newspaper La Opinión who interviewed her for an article that ran on Tuesday. An translated excerpt:
Montesanos speaks openly and with no need to hide her personal life. She confesses that she is single, a lesbian and has a partner. "Once you have confessed to your parents, it doesn't matter what others might think." she says certain of herself [...] Additionally, I feel happy because my nomination reflects the diversity lived in the state, and California siempre pa' adelante [using a Puerto Rican colloquialism in Spanish].
[NOTE: That contradiction about being single and having a partner comes directly from the Spanish-language text].
After Senate approval of her appointment, Matosanos will have to present Schwarzenegger's state budget in January. In a statement, the Governor gave Matosanos full support by saying "In the coming year, our state will have to make incredibly challenging and tough budget decisions, and Ana has the knowledge and expertise necessary to guide my administration through that decision-making process."
With the pending appointment, Matosanos would become one of the highest ranking gay Latinos appointed to political office in the United States.
Yesterday I highlighted a couple of interviews that journalist Rex Wockner did during his stay in New York in October. I'd helped to transcribe those interviews from the original recordings and noted that there was a third interview that might or might not see the light of day - and that I'd make note of it if and when it was published.
Well, Rex just posted his interview with Scott Long tonight on his blog and it's truly worth a read. Scott is the Director of the LGBT Division at Human Rights Watch and, in it, he speaks candidly about his long-standing work on LGBT rights around the world.
Of particular interest, are his comments on a proposed and draconian anti-gay bill making its course through the Ugandan legislature which would make homosexuality a crime punished by death.
An advance quote:
When we first were leaked the text of it, a bunch of us were just looking at it in astonishment. (T)he preparation for it has been laid by years of fanatical homophobic agitation in Uganda that comes from the president and comes from the first lady and comes from ... the minister of ethics and integrity, James Nsaba Buturo, who are all obsessed by homosexuality. But the groundwork has also been laid, again, by these years of religious agitation, which has been promoted by U.S. evangelicals...
To read more about the involvement of U.S. evangelical leaders in this horrible bill as well as the rest of Rex's interview with Scott, please go here.
In a case that has been making it's way through the Peruvian courts since 2003, Perú's Constitutional Court has had final say on whether gays can serve in the country's police academy - as well as other armed forces institutions.
In a 3-2 ruling, the court declared that a "sexual option cannot be a prerequisite or precondition to determine capacity or professional ability" and ordered the institution to reintegrate a police cadet who had been kicked out on rumors he was gay.
The student, only identified by his initials, had always denied allegations that he is gay, but had argued that he should not have been kicked out based on mere rumors. The court ruled in his favor and went a step further saying that gays should not be denied service in the police or the military.
"To sustain [something like] this is not only anachronistic, but attempts against the principle of human dignity".
I had previously posted this annotated YouTube video in which the student was interviewed as well as one of the justices from the Constitutional Court who voted in the affirmative (Carlos Fernando Mesías Rámirez).
Others have posted excerpts from these posts already but I wanted to bring attention to a couple of interviews that my friend Rex Wockner did during a rare stay in New York in late October. While in the city, he took an opportunity to interview two of my favorite bloggers: Andy Towle who runs Towleroad and Joe Jervis who blogs at Joe.My.God.
Both Andy and Joe have been more than generous in picking up on the stuff I write about here on Blabbeando and I haven't always acknowledged it or thanked them for it. This gives me a chance to highlight their tremendous work and also say gracias. Additionally, when it comes to these interviews, I also had the pleasure of transcribing the original interviews from Rex's digital recorder while I was in Maine in early November to cover the heartbreaking marriage equality vote so, in some ways, I am incredibly familiar with their words. They bring up a number of interesting issues about their high profile as bloggers and what it takes to keep up with their daily input.
I'll just pick up on a couple of key points they raise and provide a link to their full interviews:
Joe Jervis a/k/a Joe.My.God (left) on being fed information (click here for full interview):
"I am very aware of being managed. And I'm aware when obviously lots of LGBT organizations and other groups want to get their message out and how they'll try to massage me into being sympathetic either to their point of view or to feeling obligated to parrot their press release or their event or their rally or whatever, and I try to keep them at arm's length, you know, both emotionally and not to overstep my position journalistically. There are a few groups that are rather notorious for trying to manage bloggers, to make sure that the message they want is the one that we put out. And that's not to say that there aren't a lot of good people doing good work and their message isn't the right message. It usually is. But I'm also very leery of becoming their sock-puppet, and you learn by error. A few years ago, you might be flattered that someone from some major progressive or LGBT group might want to get you on the phone and ask for your opinion, and then a little bit wiser and later you realize that they were sweet-talking you into basically regurgitating to your readers exactly what they want them to read and believe. And so with bitter experience you start treating those sort of conversations with a jaundiced eye".
Andy Towle who runs Toleroad (right) on keeping up with the latest (click here for full interview):
"I feel overwhelmed right now because I'm not reading and I'm doing this interview instead, but, you know, it's how I regularly feel if I'm out or whatever. It's like there is always a constant barrage of news and things happening, so the struggle to keep on top of it is a constant challenge and I think anybody who's in news these days understands the same thing -- that it's just, you know, like a 24-hour thing and to stay on top of it, you just have to constantly keep reading".
I also transcribed a third interview that might or might not eventually see the light of day. It does not involve a blogger but I will highlight it, as well, if and when it is published.
In the meantime, please click through the links given above and read the full interviews with Joe and Andy.
There are more than a few interesting bloggers out there and one that caught my eye early in my own blogging timeline was "Chris P." who blogged at Coming Out at 48.
The sub-head below the blog title read "At 48, a married man tells his wife he is gay. Life stops in its tracks and then begins again. He still goes to sleep in the evening and he still rises in the morning, but everything has changed" and his blog entries were a fascinating series of semi-daily observations by a man whose whole world had suddenly shifted as he made his first tentative steps out as a gay man, not without some trepidation.
I wasn't the only one reading. Coming Out at 48 was featured in a New York Times article in August of 2006 ("When the Beard is Too Painful to Remove"). Here is an excerpt from the article:
The loss [of a long term spouse] comes on top of the adolescent awkwardness of not knowing the social norms of a new world, described on the blog Coming Out at 48. Its author, who identifies himself only as Chris, writes of changing his clothes many times before heading to his first gay bar, finding it empty and not realizing he had arrived too early. He writes of not understanding the sexual terminology in gay personal ads and looking for an “always gay’’ man to teach him what he needed to know.
In an e-mail exchange, Chris compared the experience to “living abroad,’’ where the “thrill of a new place’’ competes with “the deep loneliness’’ of unfamiliarity. It is not, he said “the existential loneliness of not knowing who you are and where you belong, but the loneliness of ‘What am I going to do this weekend?’ ‘How am I supposed to behave?’ or ‘When will the phone start to ring?’ ’’
Eventually, "Chris" found surer footing in this new world an met someone with whom he clicked. Coming Out at 48 remained online (it's still in my blog roll) but most blog entries disappeared. "Chris" decided to focus on his new life instead. Until now.
Meet Paul. For a while now, I have been keeping in touch with "Chris", whose real name is Paul, and he recently reached out to say that he had launched a brand new blog. He felt the itch to write again and to share his most recent experiences. His new blog, "Coming Out / Staying Out" has been added to my blog roll. It's still in its infancy but I am sure it will be worth your time. Feel free to ad it to your RSS feeds.
Spend a night at any of the gay bars in Jackson Heights, Queens, and you will probably hear one of her songs. For more than a decade, Olga Tañon has been the queen of Merengue and her songs, full of women who leave philandering lovers, women who strike back at lying men, and women who make it on their own despite the struggles, struck a nerve among some of the gay Latino immigrants that made Queens their home. Gay men probably identified with the telenovela-type of set ups in the lyrics and the idea of a strong woman overcoming bad relationships in her life. Or the idea that anyone could overcome hardship. Oh, and it helped that the songs were incredibly catchy and were ready-made for the dance floor. You haven't seen two gay men truly dance merengue unless you have seen them dancing to "Mentiroso" (below) or "Que se Valla".
Not that she only sings merengue and salsa, she has also explored Tex-Mex music in an album and recorded a rather mawkish and cringe-inducing Spanish-language version of the hymn of the United States last year called "Nuestro Himno" in support of undocumented immigrants (she was joined by with other recording stars including Wyclef Jean, Don Omar, Gloria Trevi, Ivy Queen and Pitbull).
Anyway, here is the thing: Recently I wrote about the murder of Jorge Steven López Mercado in Puerto Rico and the rallies that the brutal killing inspired in the United States and Puerto Rico. I also noted that two of Puerto Rico's most beloved stars, Calle 13 lead singer René Pérez and former Miss Universe Denise Quiñones, not only showed up at the San Juan rally but also publicly condemned the murder in a video captured by my friend Pedro Julio Serrano. René, as a symbol of his solidarity for the gay community, later went on to use his Twitter account to repeat the words he said on video: "I am 'homo' because I am 'Homo-sapiens', I'm 'sexual' because I am a sexual human being. Hence I am 'homo-sexual.'"
I personally thought it was a watershed moment when it comes to the Latino community and LGBT issues. Usually, when Latino super-stars come out in support of our rights it's either because it's late in their career and they want to market themselves to the gays that love them (see Gloria Trevi and Lucía Méndez) or because they are about to be outed (see Christian Chavez). But René and Denise's statement seemed incredibly heartfelt and uncensored in ways that a star's public relations handlers might not necessarily allow (in Denise's case, she is the exception to the rule and has been there for us before). But the remarks came just before the thanksgiving break and didn't necessarily get much traction.
Now comes Olga Tañon. In an article posted on Monday on Primera Hora, she unequivocally steps up against homophobia as yet one more Puerto Rican music superstar stands with us.
In the article, the singer repudiates the indifference shown by the island's political and religious leaders have shown towards the crime. She says it makes her feel ashamed and incredibly bothered by those who use excuses not to do a thing about the crime:
[it's] much rougher because many times it can't be seen; the injustice committed daily against gays, bisexuals, lesbians and transgenders in Puerto Rico, Latin America and almost the entire world, in denying them the same rights as the rest of the community and singling them out as if they were different.
She applauds René and Denise and says:
As artists, it is our responsibility to carry the correct message, a message of unity, of tolerance, of acceptance, of respect towards a way of being [...] To use the name of God to separate someone and treat them differently is a very ugly thing. I have fans who have told me that they do not want to go on living because of rejection from their homophobic parents and that is something we have to act upon; that is something that should make all of us hurt and should make us react [...] They have the right to be who they feel to be and not as the community wants them to be [...] Even though, at the end, common sense is enough for you to repudiate rejection... Look, to be gay is nothing wrong. Sexual orientation, in itself, is nothing wrong; it cannot be used as a reason to punish or to reject. Everyone's conduct is another 20 pesos and has nothing to do with orientation. Why don't people understand that?
Just like René, Olga means what she says. In a weekly radio show in which she answers questions from fans, she will devote the whole hour TOMORROW NIGHT to the issue. She is promoting the hour on her official website. Tune in to Olga Tañon or to IsMiO on Wed., Dec. at 8PM EST to hear Olga discuss homophobia, LGBT rights, and justice for Jorge Steven López Mercado.
Today, after months of public and private pressure on the New York State Senate to bring a marriage equality bill to the floor for a vote, it finally happened. The Assembly had already passed their version of the bill and Governor David Paterson had vowed to sign the bill if it reached his desk. But passage in the Senate was never a done deal and today the bill was voted down by a margin of 38 to 24.
The loss wasn't necessarily a surprise, although it was certainly disappointing, particularly coming on the heels of the heartbreaking loss in Maine. But the margin, with 8 Democrats voting against the bill and NO Republicans voting in favor was certainly a big shock. Personally, I believed that a few Republican votes might make up for the Democratic deficit that had been evident for months. That did not happen.
Tonight at Times Square, an impromptu call for a protest rally drew approximately 200 to 300 people despite the threat of rain. My photos here. Selected ones below...
Rainbow flag designer Gilbert Baker came up with this banner. Black script on yellow. "N.Y. Crime Scene".
Angered by the results, the crowd was energetic and seemed ready for action. But there was also an air of uncertainty as what the next step should be. Most of the anger seemed directed at the 8 Democrats who voted against the bill with the crowd chanting "Vote them out! Vote them out!"
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer came out to the rally and spoke to reporters in condemnation of today's vote.
Blogger Joe Jervis (Joe.My.God) was there to cover the rally and to express his displeasure, singling out Queens Senator Hiram Monserrate.
Not proud to be a New Yorker tonight...
Update: Video of the rally from In The Life Media:
An quick update on the brutal murder of 19 year old Jorge Steven López Mercado in Puerto Rico:
After the multiple vigils and rallies in the United States over the weekend demanding that the murder of the young gay man be investigated as a hate crime, and a meeting Tuesday with the Puerto Rican branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, authorities in the island have announced that, for the first time ever in Puerto Rico, a little known 2002 statute will be used to go ahead and investigate the murder as a hate crime.
Myriam Mercado and Jorge López, parents of Jorge Steven, participated in a vigil that took place yesterday in San Juan, along with Jorge Steven's brother, Jorge Gabriel. Ms. Mercado, who has moved the world by releasing a statement professing her love for her gay son and putting out a videotaped message of thanks to all who have expressed their support throughout the world, tearfully addressed the crowd last night once again to express thanks. "You have given us hope at our most difficult moment as a family," she said. 9 year-old Jorge Gabriel led the crowd in chanting "Long-live Steven".
Political leaders were conspicuous in their absence. Two weeks after the horrible crime and the worldwide outrage it has elicited and there is still no word whatsoever from Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño, a conservative darling who is being mentioned as a potential 2012 Republican U.S. presidential candidate.
Amazingly, two well-known and extremely well-loved Puerto Rican showbiz darlings did make an appearance. René Pérez, lead singer for the most successful reggaeton band in the world, Calle 13, and Denise Quiñones, Miss Universe 2001, marched in last night's vigil in support of Jorge Steven's family. After the vigil, they stopped to give my friend Pedro Julio Serrano the following declarations on video:
René: OK, we just left the vigil for Jorge Steven, eh, so, and against hate crimes. Let's hope that the government begins to work and speaks about... ah, speaks about this, which is an evil - which takes place world-wide - but, here, what happened was atrocious. The crime was vicious... vicious... viciously awful, and strong and unjust, and it's also unjust that it hasn't even been spoken about. Speaking of stupid things, they honor Paris Hilton in the Senate, and they cannot speak about this? Denise: It's so important that all of us give an example, of ourselves, all of society, the politicians, our leaders, they should begin to give an example to break this... this cycle of hate, of inequality, of homophobia, which is... of intolerance... which is completely destroying our unity as Puerto Ricans, as, as human beings, and our dignity. So, I am here as well, with René and with everyone, in solidarity with Steven's family also, next to Steven, and we send him kisses... eh... and I believe... he must be happy to see all the unity this has created and all the conciousness this has created and... this is his symbol [laughs] a very big kiss to all his family and to Jorge Steven.. René: I am "Homo" because I'm "Homo-sapiens", I am "sexual", hence I am 'Homo-sexual" as well.
A week ago or so, on Tweeter, I sent a message out to René hoping he'd give me a statement repudiating the murder. He quickly responded and said "it's among the worst crimes that Puerto Rico has lived through".
So tonight, knowing how influential René is among Latino youth, I was frankly shocked and moved by his comments. More than that, at the end of the video, René seems to ad-lib a play on words basically saying everyone is equal, hence everyone is gay. He's not admitting he is gay, but he is calling on everyone to join the protest. He could have left it at that; at a video that might have been seen by a few people. But, later, using his Tweeter account (@Calle13Oficial), he polished the statement a little more: "I am 'homo' because I am 'Homo-sapiens', I'm 'sexual' because I am a sexual human being. Hence I am 'homo-sexual.'"
Simply, wow! Here is the top-selling reaggaton artist in the world publicly saying that the struggle of the LGBT community is the struggle of us all. Just powerful, powerful stuff. As Denise says in the video, Jorge Steven "must be happy to see all the unity this has created and all the consciousness this has created."
Sweetly, with a tinge of sadness for a life lost, the former couple, now close friends, stop for a moment and give the same signal that Jorge Steven used to give to everyone he loved as a way to remember him.
Earlier today, I attended a vigil in memory of Jorge Steven López Mercado that took place at Pier 45 in the West Village of Manhattan. I will probably post some images tomorrow. But, tonight, I wanted to share this video that my friend Pedro Julio Serrano sent me, in which Myriam Mercado, Jorge Steven's mom, expresses gratitude to the hundreds that showed up today at the different vigils throughout the United States in memory of her son. It was shot earlier today and I have taken the liberty of translating her words...
Hi. My name is Myriam. I am Steven's mom. My family and I are incredibly grateful for all the love, the unconditional support that you have given me. That's what gives me the strength, in part, it gives me the force for me to bring a message: Love conquers hate. And this we have to shout to the world. Because... Steven was a human being. He was my son. He was a brother. I ask you and beg you, everyone in the world, that we should love everyone else no matter what's there. Behind of what is there, there is a human being, just like my son, who did not deserve this. In the name of my family and my own, I offer my hand, I don't have how to pay back every... the demonstrations and the love that I have received. So we are all going to bring a message: Love conquers hate. And together, we have the strength.
More than a few people might be wondering why I haven't written about the brutal murder of Jorge Steven López Mercado in Puerto Rico last week.
The young man's body was found decapitated, dismembered and burned in what appears to be a homophobic hate crime, and the news has drawn unparalleled worldwide attention leading to a number of vigils taking place tomorrow in the United States.
I will write more about this in the future but I wanted to point out, even at this late hour, a guide to the different vigils taking place tomorrow: http://mercado-vigil.tumblr.com .
I also want to highlight the tremendous work that my friend Pedro Julio Serrano has been doing to bring awareness about the crime and to demand justice from Puerto Rican authorities.
Today PJ met Myriam Mercado, Jorge's mom, as well as some of his friends in Puerto Rico. PJ just posted the above pic on Facebook and it nearly broke my heart. In It, PJ and Jorge's mom recreate one of Jorge's signature poses (left).
Tonight she released the following statement:
When my son told me he was gay, I told him, 'Now, I love you more'. I want to tell the world that hatred is not born with human beings, it is a seed that is planted by adults and is fostered creating a climate of intolerance and violence. We must change our ways and understand that anyone... could have been my son. And I want everybody to know that Jorge Steven was a very much loved son.
So join a vigil if you are near any of the cities where they are taking place and join Miriam Mercado in urging justice for the horrific murder of her 19 year old son. I will certainly be joining protesters tomorrow on the Chelsea Piers here in New York.
For full details check out Boy in Bushwick who has been covering the case all week long.
And, for now, I will leave you with the following YouTube videos. They show Pedro Julio at a rally that took place on Thursday in Puerto Rico, and videos posted on YouTube honoring the life of Jorge Steven.
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As commercialized as Valentine's Day has become over the years, it also has become a prime opportunity for the LGBT community to make our lack of partnership rights visible whether it's in the United States or any other country that 'observes' the unofficial ode to lovers.
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