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International LGBT Conclave Spotlights Progress, Pitfalls

    Evidence of enlightenment and of new risks to Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights in Latin America were illuminated this month in an…

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    Evidence of enlightenment and of new risks to Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights in Latin America were illuminated this month in an international conference held in West Hollywood, a community well known for its pioneering thought and action advancing the gay movement.

   Among cited gains were constitutional protections for LGBT residents in Ecuador, federally funded campaigns to combat machismo and spread awareness about HIV in Mexico, and legislation granting same-sex couples rights equal to those of heterosexuals in Colombia.

   The spread of LGBT freedoms throughout the world was a focus of the Global Arc of Justice Conference hosted March 11-14 by the Williams Institute of UCLA, the International Lesbian & Gay Law Association (ILGLAW), and the city of West Hollywood.

   This four-day international event attracted 300-plus professionals from 200 countries, according to organizing team member David Cruz, a professor with the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.

   Participants ranged from Tatiana Cordero, a human rights attorney in Ecuador; Colombia lawyer Germán Perfetti, who represents ILGLAW in Latin America; Jorge Saavedra, the openly gay, HIV-positive general director for the National HIV/AIDS Programs in Mexico; and Judge Karen Riffo, who lost custody of her three daughters in Chile because of her lesbian identity. She testified against her country at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. 

   “We have surpassed Proposition 8 a long time ago,” said Perfetti, talking about the Colombian court ruling in 1991 that instituted protection for the LGBT community from any form of discrimination. “Same-sex couples in Colombia enjoy all the benefits that heterosexual couples can obtain.”

   Proposition 8 was an amendment to the California Constitution defining the meaning of marriage as limited to a union between “a man and a woman.”  tHE statewide proposition was passed by California voters, eliminating same-sex couple’s right to marry.

   Perfetti waged a legal battle against Colombia through the United Nations after her country refused to grant same-sex couples similar rights.

   Riffo, who is litigating in Chilean court to regain custody of her daughters, said, “Institutionalized heterosexuality has dominated the family model in Chile and normalized the idea that only a man and a woman can have a family. This has created second-class citizens in our country.”

   Despite steps forward in LGBT rights movement, Cordero, who took part in creating laws that protect LGBT people in Ecuador, said institutionalized male dominant mentalities still exist, even within the LGBT community.

   “We installed a reform that includes lesbian and transsexual autonomy from the LGBT movement because we saw there was still machismo within our own community,” Cordero explained.  “That movement has been named Lesbicotrans.”

   Other questions came up as to whether the transsexual community should be considered part of the LGBT movement.

   “The transsexual community needs to gain its own autonomy,” Riffo proclaimed.  “They by far have worked harder to obtain their rights than any other movement. Strengthening your community will put you at the forefront of the LGBT battle.” 

   How is it is possible that LGBT rights in Latin America have surpassed those of the United States?

   “The reason why America has not advanced is because under the Bush administration it has regressed eight years,” submitted Saavedra. “The recommendation I would make is to push your courts to start taxing the churches that took part in pushing for Yes on Proposition 8 and then to work alliances with all the minorities.”

   Activist Sergio García Padilla, who traveled from Spain to attend the conference, said efforts such as these contribute to the fight for equal rights. Spain, along with Canada, is one of the few countries that grant same-sex couples the right to marry.

   Asked what LGBT supporters must do to reach out to the Latino community in California, Padilla said, “Work with whatever community you are in. Most importantly, it’s being ‘out’ — and your family seeing that you are OK. It takes time, but eventually they will get used to it.”

   (Jacky Guerrero is a contributing writer for Hispanic Link News Service in Southern California. Email: [email protected])

   For more information about the Williams Institute, visit http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/home.html

   For more information about the ILGLAW you can visit http://www.ilglaw.org/

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