The official Spanish-language definition for "marriage" will be changed to reflect new gay reality

Darío Villanueva, the Secretary of the Real Académia Española (RAE), has said that the 2013 edition of their influential "Dictionary of the Spanish Language" will reflect the reality that gay couples can get married in several nations and localities throughout the world.

In an interview published yesterday ("RAE: Dictionary will include 'matrimonio homosexual'", EFE), Villanueva said specific changes to the dictionary's entry for "matrimonio" were still making their way through a lengthy approval process but stressed they would "appear without a doubt" [matrimonio is the Spanish word for "marriage"].

From the article:

The approval - in 2005 - of the law in Spain that allows marriage between same-sex people - Argentina has also joined in this current month -  led the Academy to consider "the need to modify the meaning of the word 'marriage' to reflect 'that reality which the law has created'".

Based in Madrid, the RAE has been the Spanish kingdom's regulatory body for the usage of Spanish since the early 1,700's, and stands today as the lead regulatory body for the language throughout the world.

Villanueva said that one of the points to be ironed out before publication is whether the final text would explicitly name the countries and localities which allow gay couples to marry.  

"Marriage" vs. "Homosexual Marriage": In it's heading and text of the article, EFE specifically states that the RAE will include the term "homosexual marriage" in it's 2013 edition but that's not so clear to me from Villanueva's quotes.

If that's the case, I am more than certain that LGBT-rights advocates throughout the world will raise the issue that "marriage" in itself hasn't changed and that, instead, some countries and localities have allowed their gay citizens to have access to the institution of marriage.  Furthermore, while a human being can be described as being "gay", a noun such as "marriage" doesn't really have a sexual identity.  Expect a clarification to come soon from RAE or from EFE.

Pederastia, Sodomia, Espray: The changes to the 2013 edition of the RAE's dictionary are part of 2,996 amendments or additions planned for the print edition. Among them are changes to the definition for the Spanish words for "sodomy" and "pederasty" to clarify that the practices are not exclusively linked to homosexuality and the addition of terms and definitions for words such as the verb abducir ("abduct") and the noun espray (an anglicism stemming from the word "spray").

Venezuela: President Chavez is too macho to be gay

It didn't take long for Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to react to questions about his sexuality as raised by an OpEd piece printed last week in one of Spain's leading newspapers.

Here's what he told thousands of sympathizers yesterday in a rally that took place in the city of Barquisimeto about the 'accusation,' according to EFE:

I've been accused of everything. The only thing they haven't accused me of is being homosexual. Well, now they've started to accuse me of being homosexual. I don't have anything against homosexuals because I respect whichever human condition...

Hm, if he'd only stopped there...

... but the thing is: I consider myself sufficiently macho to pulverize any accusation along those lines

Ah, let's see what Chávez' supporters have to say of his inability to consider that masculinity might not always denote heterosexuality, his belief that being called gay is an "accusation" (would anyone who is alleged to be heterosexual consider it an "accusation"?) or his usage of the word "condition" when talking about homosexuality.

Or at the very least ask him to support a same-sex civil-unions bill that some of the leading LGBT organizations and activists are asking the Chávez government to support?

I for one, would be more interested in knowing just to what extent he respects the gays through government policy than about who he boinks in bed - or whether he thinks of himself as being the most macho of machos.
Previously:

• Embassy in Spain defends Chávez from gay rumors (Sept. 12, 2007)
• Is President Hugo Chavez - gulp! - gay? (Sept. 8, 2007)

ZERO Latin America

Some interesting gay-themed publishing news, although details remain somewhat sketchy.

Spain's ZERO magazine, one of the better gay-themed publications in the world released it's it's 100th issue over the weekend.

Reportedly the cover has a metallic silver look and reflects the reader's image, a stunt reminiscent of the much-ridiculed Time magazine 2006 "Man of the Year" issue which chose "You" as the cover person. EFE also says that for the special issue, ZERO is running a gallery of new photos of people that might have graced their cover in the past (although I doubt it will include Reverend José Mantero who shocked the world when he came out as an openly gay Catholic priest on ZERO's cover but later criticized the editorial direction the magazine had taken).

I guess I'll wait for it in the mail but that's not necessarily what caught my attention.

The most interesting part of the EFE reports is that ZERO editor Miguel Ángel López also says that Grupo Zero Communications is considering a purchase bid from an unnamed North American organization who is ready to pay "various millions of Euros."

Even more interesting: The unnamed organization says that it intends to buy ZERO as a way to enter into the "international scene" with plans of launching a Latin American version of the magazine as well as open it up to "audiovisual media" (an international Spanish-language gay channel?).

All this is very exciting (hm, I'd be willing to work there) but few other details were offered. López would only say that a final decision on the sale of ZERO would not be taken until at least two weeks from the date of the original EFE report (Sept. 9).

If it does happen, I wonder what the impact will be on an array of small and mostly web-based "magazine" efforts in Latin American countries (including Mexico's Anodis and Enkidu, Argentina's AG Magazine, Peru's Diario de Lima Gay, Brazil MixBrasil and Chile's Gay Magazine among others). We'll keep you posted if there are any developments.

Venezuela: Is President Hugo Chavez - gulp! - gay?

UPDATES SINCE THIS WAS FIRST POSTED:

• President Chavez is too macho to be gay (Sept. 16, 2007)
• Embassy in Spain defends Chávez from gay rumors (Sept. 12, 2007)

ORIGINAL POST BELOW:

[h/t: Dos Manzanas] Well-known Spaniard journalist Luis María Ansón, who used to direct the Spanish-language news agency EFE and also ran ABC, one of Spain's leading newspapers, is ruffling a few feathers with an opinion piece titled "Chavez and homosexuality" that was published yesterday in the opinion pages of Spain's El Mundo (it's only accessible to subscribers but has been put up at the online page of the anti-Chavez Venezuelan newspaper noticias24).

Here is my translation:

"Chávez and homosexuality" by Luis Maria Ansón (El Mundo, Friday, September 8, 2007)

In Venezuela, the great majority of men and women have brown or black-colored eyes; a minority, blue. It is a thing of nature. It would be absurd to discriminate those men or women with blue eyes in regards to their political, social or economic rights. In that great country, the immense majority of men and women are heterosexual; a minority, homosexual. It is a thing of nature. It would be absurd to discriminate politically, socially or economically against gays and lesbians. From the communist tyranny of Castro in Cuba to the satrap dictatorship in Saudi Arabia, there are still many the countries in which homosexuals are denied basic rights.

There should be agreement that, in western democracies, injustice and persecution against the homosexual sector - to a lesser or greater degree – have ended. Today, in nations governed by pluralist democracies, the average citizen accepts the homosexual reality without [engaging in] discrimination, ridicule or humiliation. To call a man a homosexual or a woman a lesbian is no longer an insult but instead, on the contrary, in many cases it strengthens the gay pride.

I say all this so that there is no doubt whatsoever that I am not trying to offend to anyone when I echo what many serious homosexuals affirm through internet regarding the Venezuelan military leader (caudillo). They affirm that he is gay even if he has not stepped out of the closet.

Much like it happens with the Freemasons, who no longer have to hide because no one is persecuting them, homosexuals know that they can leave the closet with no problem. It seems logical that if a president is a Freemason, a Jehovah’s Witness or belongs to Opus Dei, the nation he governs should know it. And also that if a president is gay, his country should have knowledge of this condition.

Several organizations of homosexuals in Venezuela congratulate themselves on the reality of the sexuality they attribute to their military leader who governs them with methods copied, by the way, from orthodox Castro-ism. I neither want to address the question nor leave it aside because I don’t know [the answer]. Now, it does seem to me that the public opinion of the great Hispano-American country has the right to know if what these groups say is true or not. Furthermore an ambassador with a good reputation confirms the same thing without the smallest pejorative intent, since to be gay today in the western democracies is only one more bit of data which is the source of pride for the majority of those affected by it.

Military leader Chávez imitates Castro the tyrant even in the unmeasured length of his speeches. It wouldn’t be a bad thing if he dedicated a few minutes of his uncontrollable verbal-diarrhea to clarify what so many people in his country are saying. This would contribute to make possible in Venezuela what has already been conquered in Spain, Holland, Denmark and other European nations: That heterosexuals are able to work at companies, without making fun or rejecting homosexuals. The problem of Chávez is not, in any case, his sexual condition but a political system that tries to impose and tries to root out any vestige of political freedom. The new military leader has already decided, as Castro has, that his rule will be for life, and – with the help of pro-Castro agents and the western world’s myopia – continues to advance every day the Soviet socialist program that he has decided to impose on Venezuela (Luis Maria Ansón is a member of the Real Spanish Academy).

Obviously some things jump at you immediately: Mr. Ansón, for one thing, is no friend of Fidel Castro, socialism or Communism - or a fan of Chávez.

He also tries to argue that he is not a homophobe either but his words betray him: I wonder, for example, if he would question Chávez' sexual "condition" if Ansón got his desired proof that the Venezuelan president is indeed not gay; in addition, I am glad that he feels that being "affected" by homosexuality is no longer such a biggie now that we have won the right for heterosexuals to stop making fun of us. Ah! Liberation!

OK, I know my gaydar is bad most times but I am pretty certain that Chávez is straight. I also know that there are little bits of truth in this opinion piece: When Chávez found himself in power, some of the right-wing elite that was previously in power spread all sorts of unfounded rumors in attempts to topple him and so did anti-Chávez press outlets. Among the rumors were attacks "on his manhood": How he was surrounded by a cadre of gay advisers and military leaders and how even Chávez might also be gay.

As for all those anonymous "serious homosexuals" and gay organizations: I know of no gay-rights organization in Venezuela that has ever claimed that Chávez is or might be gay although I do know of one that reveres him as if he were a God and parrots his every exclamation as if it were all that the Venezualan gay community needed.

The truth is that, while there are a few instances when he has used rhetoric bunching up homosexuals with prostitutes and drug-dealers and in which his anti-United States policies have caused major disruptions in access to HIV medicines in the country, overall Chávez has not had a strong anti-gay record or - unfortunately - a pro-gay one either. And I say this as someone who thinks Chávez is a clown who is lucky to have millions of dollars from oil production to appease the population and burnish his popular cred while his ego and dictatorial fever just grows unchallenged (much blame goes to the right-wing Venezuelan oligarchy who choose to demonize Chávez without offering a viable political alternative).

For example, Agence France-Press reported yesterday that Tamara Adrian, a transgender university professor (also a Latin American representative to the International Gay and Lesbian Law Association and a former National Assembly candidate) led a group of advocates to the Venezuelan parliament where they asked the legislative body to legalize same-sex unions.

"We are asking for the right to marriage or to a legal union similar to those called concubine relationships," said Adrian, "and the recognition of joint maternal or paternal rights in the families of gay or lesbian couples."

The group was also petitioning for the community to be included in legislation that prohibited discrimination.

I'm not sure how far they will go. It's a little bizarre but even those Venezuelan newspapers that reported on these demands picked it up from the AFP report and none the portals of Venezuelan gay advocacy organizations that I visited made any mention of the group's efforts.

But, if recent history is right, while the measure might receive nominal support from some legislators, don't hold your breath for Chávez to do anything about it or use his extensive political power to do anything significant for the LGBT community in Venezuela anytime soon.

On political asylum, a warning

Just before I left for Colombia I sat down with Diego Senior, the NYC correspondent for Colombia's Caracol radio, to discuss political asylum due to fear of persecution based on sexual orientation. In the interview I spoke of several cases in which I have been involved (in assessing a case, working with legal service providers and lawyers to provide information on specific countries or in translating materials or at the asylum hearing).

A few things made it into the interview including a warning to those who might think that it is easy to be granted political asylum in this country particularly if the person has little if any documentation of persecution or if they lie about past experiences (the interview has since been picked by the Spanish-language news agency EFE which led to a reporter tracking me down in Bogota for an article that appears in this week's Cambio).

This comes to mind after reading a post today on Arthur Leonard's blog on a gay man from Peru who lived in Bolivia as an adult and then moved to the United States where he finally requested political asylum claiming he feared to be sent back.

The case reads like a primer on what not to do when applying for asylum:

1. There is a one-year window from his/her arrival in which a person can solicit political asylum in the United States (unless the person can prove special circumstances that might have kept him from applying during that first year). The man entered the United States in 2001 but waited until 2003 to submit the asylum application.

2. The man did not provide evidence for any of the alleged discrimination either while living in Peru or Bolivia and provided conflicting testimony about one of the incidents. Sometimes cases are won without specific evidence but any evidence that is submitted obviously strengthens a case and if the case is weak from the beginning any contradictions in the testimony can be damaging.

3. Even if true, the courts noted, the claims of discrimination presented did not rise to a level where they proved that the man would be tortured or persecuted if sent back home.

No surprise, then, that an Immigration Judge first threw out the asylum claim based on the man's failure to apply within a year of entering the country and that, on appeal and seeking "withholding of removal," the Board of Immigration Appeals and 11th Circuit Court of Appeals both rejected his appeal and, thus, his right to stay in the United States.

I just wish more people who think that applying for political asylum is easy would read the outcome of cases like these.

To read more details about this specific case:

• Gay South American denied US Refuge (Leonard Link)

Thanks Mad Professah! You are right - I should have listed some resources:

• Immigration Equality can be found here
• The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission can be found here