Venezuelan government urged to provide political asylum to gay Ugandans

On Wednesday members from a number of "sexually diverse" organizations friendly to the Nicolás Maduro government announced they would petition the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry to grant political asylum to any LGBT Ugandan citizen seeking refuge in the country.

The announcement, carried by the official government news agency AVN, said the groups would submit a written statement to a Foreign Ministry representative urging the government to "suspend any type of collaboration or plans to strengthen a relationship with Uganda by making a public statement addressed to the international community and Uganda and to and grant political asylum to gay Ugandans."

On Thursday, members of the Hugo Chávez Command for Sexual Diversity, Equality Venezuela and the Venezuelan United Socialist Party Youth Committe handed the letter to an an unnamed representative outside the Foreign Ministry offices and said that they decided to speak up as citizens of an important nation.

"The reason we came to the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry is that we do not consider the Bolivarian Government to be just any government at this time in the world - at least among third world countries," said Chea Rodriguez speaking to the EFE news agency, adding "this is a country that has great influence."

The LGBT community in Venezuela is as politically polarized as the general Venezuelan citizenship with LGBT allies to the Maduro government preferring to call themselves the "sexually diverse" instead of lesbian, gay, bisexal or transgender.

They have defended him from charges he used homophobic tactics against the opposition in the past and believe that his government will grant them rights never achieved in the many years Hugo Chávez held on to the presidency.

But, as surprising as it is that AVN carried the first reports of plans by these "sexually diverse" organizations to ask the government to condemn Uganda's homophobic policies it remains to be seen if the Maduro government actually responds considering he has also met and enjoys a friendly relationship with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and has never raised a finger to protest Iran's policies towards the Iranian LGBT population.

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• Venezuela urged to offer asylum to Ugandan gays (EFE via Global Post)