News

Chilean voters elect country’s first openly gay politician

Jaime Parada Hoyl won seat on Providencia council. Two transgender candidates also won local council candidates.

Published

13 years ago

November 19, 2012

Jaime Parada Hoyl on Oct. 28 became Chile’s first openly gay candidate elected to office. (Photo courtesy of Jaime Parada Hoyl)

A Chilean LGBT rights activist late last month became the first openly gay political candidate elected in the South American country.

Jaime Parada Hoyl, spokesperson for the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, on Oct. 28 won a seat on the municipal council in Providencia, a wealthy enclave of Santiago, the country’s capital. The area is one of the South American country’s wealthiest and most conservative areas.

Josefa Errázuriz, who backed Parada and appeared in one of his campaign ads, defeated long-time Providencia Mayor Cristián Labbé, a retired colonel who was security agent for the secret police that operated during the first four years of Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship that began in 1973.

Parada also mocked Labbé as a homophobe in a web ad his campaign produced.

“Labbé symbolizes what we don’t want for Providencia: Entitled, exclusion and a dark past in the dictatorship’s intelligence services,” says the spot. “That is why we honor him with this ‘tribute.’”

Parada further described Labbé as a “recalcitrant fascist” during an interview with the Washington Blade on Nov. 19.

“We did not just present ourselves as gay in the election,” he said when asked about his historic election. “We put forth a platform that had a lot to do with a political agenda, and that is why our campaign had an impact. It had a lot to do with sexual diversity and discrimination in general. It was not something we would have been able to imagine with the setbacks of a few years ago. And with this opportunity we can communicate the contrary.”

Parada became a prominent figure in Chile’s growing LGBT rights movement earlier this year after a group of self-described neo-Nazis allegedly beat Daniel Zamudio to death in a Santiago park because he was gay.

Thousands of Santiaguïnos marched in the streets nearly every day to show their solidarity with Zamudio in the days and weeks after the brutal March 3 attack that left him in a coma. Parada told the Blade in September while he and eight other LGBT Latin American activists were in the United States on a State Department-organized trip that Zamurio’s death underscored persistent anti-LGBT discrimination and violence in the country.

President Sebastián Piñera in July signed a hate crimes and anti-discrimination bill with sexual orientation and gender identity and expression that had languished for seven years. Chilean lawmakers passed the measure in April following Zamudio’s death.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights in March ruled in favor of lesbian Judge Karen Atala who lost custody of her three daughters because of her sexual orientation. Piñera in Aug. 2011 proposed a bill that would have allowed same-sex couples to enter into civil unions, but he has yet to formally introduce it.

Same-sex couples in neighboring Argentina can legally marry.

Voters in Lampa outside Santiago re-elected transgender Councilwoman Alejandra González. Trans activist Zuliana Araya also won a seat on the Municipal Council in the coastal city of Valparaíso.

“Chile has made progress, but I tell you nothing is unique and nothing is the most important,” said Parada, who described the election results as a “small event in the chain” of events that have brought more visibility to LGBT Chileans and the country’s growing LGBT rights movement. “Everything is adding up.”

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Hungary

New Hungarian prime minister takes office

Péter Magyar’s party defeated anti-LGBTQ Viktor Orbán last month

Published

13 hours ago

May 9, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

Péter Magyar votes in Budapest, Hungary on April 12, 2026. He has been sworn in as the country's new prime minister. (Screen capture via APT/YouTube)

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office on Saturday.

Magyar’s center-right Tisza party on April 12 defeated then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition. Vice President JD Vance less than a week before the election traveled to Budapest, the Hungarian capital, and urged Hungarians to support Orbán.

Orbán had been in office since 2010. He and his government faced widespread criticism over its anti-LGBTQ crackdown.

The European Commission in 2022 sued Hungary, which is a member of the EU, over the country’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law. The European Union’s top court, the EU Court of Justice, on April 21 struck down the statute.

The EU while Orbán was office withheld upwards of €35 billion ($41.26) in funds to Hungary in response to concerns over corruption, rule of law, and other issues.

Hungarian lawmakers in March 2025 passed a bill that banned Pride events and allowed authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those who participate in them. MPs later amended the Hungarian constitution to ban public LGBTQ events.

Upwards of 100,000 people last June defied the ban and marched in Budapest’s annual Pride parade.

“Congratulations to [Péter Magyar] on becoming prime minister of Hungary,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on X.

“This Europe Day, our hearts are in Budapest,” she added. “The hope and promise of renewal is a powerful signal in these challenging times.”

“We have important work ahead of us,” noted von der Leyen. “For Hungary and for Europe, we are moving forward together.”

Local

Comings & Goings

Whitman-Walker honors Rep. Sarah McBride

Published

1 day ago

May 8, 2026

Peter Rosenstein

U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].

Congratulations to Congresswoman Sarah McBride (D-Del.) on being honored with this year’s Stonewall Award from Whitman-Walker Health. Amy Nelson, senior director of Legal Services, said, “Congresswoman Sarah McBride is working to make healthcare accessible to all, and this award recognizes her support of healthcare as a human right. Our legal program supports families facing unprecedented challenges to stay healthy and safe – families that Congresswoman McBride champions with a deep understanding of the issues they face and the legislative expertise of how to support them.”

McBride, in a press release, said, “I am honored to accept this year’s Stonewall Award from Whitman-Walker Health — an organization that has spent 40 years doing vital work to ensure every person can access the dignity of care. In the wealthiest and most developed nation on earth, the ability to receive care should not be a matter of luck—it should be the law of the land. I am proud to be recognized as a partner in this work and to support Whitman-Walker Health in their mission to build a healthier society for all.”

Congratulations also to Wes Drummond who will join Clear Space Theatre Company in Rehoboth Beach, Del., as its third artistic director. Managing Director Joe Gfaller said, “This is an exciting moment of growth for Clear Space as we welcome Wes to join our remarkable team. I am confident he will be an excellent partner as we work with our entire staff, board, and committed team of volunteers, to ensure Clear Space can achieve its full potential in pursuit of our mission to unite and enrich our community through every production on stage, and every arts-based learning program we offer throughout our community.”

On accepting the position Drummond said, “I’m honored to join Clear Space Theatre Company as artistic director, and beyond excited for what we’re about to create together. Clear Space has established itself as a vital and vibrant part of the cultural life of coastal Delaware, and I feel incredibly fortunate to step into this next chapter alongside such a passionate and dedicated team. Rehoboth Beach is a place defined by creativity and community, and I look forward to listening, learning, and building meaningful relationships across the region in the months ahead. My vision is to help Clear Space continue to grow as a bold, forward-thinking, cultural force, that champions fearless storytelling.”

Drummond served in leadership roles at Duluth Playhouse in Duluth, Minn., from 2021 to 2026, including four years as executive director followed by one year as executive producing artistic director, guiding the organization through a period of significant transformation and stability in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a director, he has worked extensively in New York City, Chicago, and at regional theaters across the country, directing both musical theater and plays with a focus on storytelling that bridges classical works with contemporary perspectives. He has collaborated with leading figures in the industry, including Tony Award-winning director Matthew Warchus, and Tony-nominated director Michael Greif. He is an associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Wes earned his MFA in directing, Penn State University, where he studied under Tony-nominated director, Susan H. Schulman.