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30 Colombian LGBT activists attend training

Four day gathering is first of its kind in South American country

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Wilson Castañera, Colombia, Caribe Afirmativo, gay news, Washington Blade
Wilson Castañera, Colombia, Caribe Afirmativo, gay news, Washington Blade

Wilson Castañeda of the Colombian LBGT advocacy group Caribe Afirmativo. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Roughly 30 activists from across Colombia attended a four-day training in the Colombian capital from May 30-June 2 designed to encourage LGBT people to become more involved in the country’s political process.

The program, which was coordinated by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Institute and the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, was the first to take place as part of the USAID-backed LGBT Global Development Partnership that will contribute $11 million over the next four years to advocacy groups in neighboring Ecuador and other developing countries.

Out Bogotá City Councilwoman Angélica Lozano Correa and Blanca Durán Hernández, mayor of the Colombian capital’s Chapinero district that has a large gay population, are among those who took part. They and others advocates from Colombia and the United States spoke about a variety of topics that ranged from campaigning as an openly LGBT candidate to fundraising and responding to opponents.

Lozano, Durán, Victory Institute President Chuck Wolfe, Francisco Herrero of the National Democratic Institute and Tatiana Piñeros, a transgender woman whom Bogotá Mayor Gustavo Petro in 2012 appointed to run the city’s social welfare agency, also took part in a May 30 panel on how out political leaders and officials can advance the Colombian and American LGBT rights movements. Marcela Sánchez, executive director of Colombia Diversa, a nationwide LGBT advocacy group, moderated this event that took place at a Chapinero hotel.

“We recognize the importance of strengthening capacities for those who want to become involved,” Sánchez told the Blade after the panel. “This is why we entered this alliance with the Victory Institute.”

The training, which is the first of its kind in the South American country, took place less than a month before gay Colombians can begin to legally register their partnerships.

Colombia’s Constitutional Court in 2011 ruled the country’s lawmakers have to extend the same benefits that heterosexuals receive through marriage to same-sex couples within two years. The tribunal’s deadline is June 20, but the Colombian Senate in April overwhelmingly rejected a bill that would have extended marriage rights to gays and lesbians in the South American country.

The court in 2009 ruled same-sex couples who live together must receive the same rights Colombian law affords to unmarried heterosexual couples. It also overturned the ban on openly gay soldiers in a separate ruling it issued the same year.

Colombia’s non-discrimination law that includes sexual orientation took effect in 2011.

Federíco Ruíz Mora of the Santamaría Fundación, a Cali-based group that advocates on behalf of trans Colombians, told the Washington Blade in April while he was in D.C. on a State Department-sponsored trip that he and other activists plan to seek legal protections based on gender identity and expression.

A report from the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Transgender Women (REDLACTRANS) notes 61 trans women in Colombia have been reported murdered between 2005-2011. A separate report that Colombia Diversa released last month indicates 58 of the reported 280 LGBT Colombians who were murdered between 2011-2012 were killed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.

Wilson Castañeda Castro, director of Caribe Afirmativo, an advocacy group that works in Barranquilla and other cities along the country’s Caribbean coast, told the Blade on Friday that police violence against LGBT Colombians remains a serious problem. Lozano said in a separate interview she hopes those who targeted, tortured and killed LGBT Colombians during the country’s armed conflict that began in the 1960s are held accountable in any peace settlement that could emerge from talks between the government and members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (or FARC in Spanish) that continue to take place in Cuba.

Participants: Political involvement helps advance LGBT rights

Those who took part in the Bogotá training said it will help LGBT Colombians become more involved in their country’s political process as the movement grows stronger and more visible.

“One of the ways to make further advance our rights as an LGBT community is to win political office,” Durán told the Blade on Saturday. “To have groups of people learn about tools, to have the skills to conduct these campaigns to me is very important.”

Lozano admitted she was a bit surprised that such a program took place in Colombia, but she described it as “positive.”

“It is incredible to me that programs like this exist,” she said.

Castañeda noted his organization, like Colombia Diversa, is non-partisan. He agreed with Durán that it remains crucial for LGBT Colombians to become involved in the country’s political process.

“We become involved in every election to present the LGBT agenda to candidates,” Castañeda said.

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India

Indian political parties for the first time include LGBTQ rights in election platforms

Voters will begin to cast ballots on April 19

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(Photo by Rahul Sapra via Bigstock)

The world’s largest democratic exercise will begin in India on April 19 as citizens begin to cast their votes in the country’s election.

This year’s election is different because national level political parties for the first time are promising to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples as part of their election platforms. 

The Indian National Congress, one of India’s oldest political parties, promised after wide consultation that it would introduce a bill that would recognize civil unions between couples who are part of the LGBTQ community. The party, which has governed India for the majority of the period since independence from the U.K. in 1947, has refrained from taking a stance on laws that include Section 377, which criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations.

Then-Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad in 2011 when the INC was in power said homosexuality is a disease. He made the controversial comment while speaking at an HIV/AIDS conference in New Delhi, the Indian capital.

“Unfortunately, this disease has come to our country too,” said Azad. “Where a man has sex with another man, which is completely unnatural and should not happen but does.”

When the Delhi High Court was hearing the Naz Foundation case, the Home Affairs Ministry opposed the striking down of Section 377 based on its belief that homosexuality cannot be morally condoned. The INC never struck down Section 377, which criminalized homosexuality, in parliament.

A 5-judge panel on the Supreme Court on Sept. 6, 2018, decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on April 4 unveiled its platform with a range of socialist commitments, including support for LGBTQ rights. Among these pledges is to amend the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 to address community concerns and ensure legal recognition and protection for same-sex couples akin to marriage. 

The platform also outlined plans to introduce a bill similar to the Special Marriage Act of 1954, which allows partners to be listed as dependents and facilitating like inheritance, alimony in the event of divorce and other issues. The party further pledged to enact a comprehensive anti-discriminatory bill that would include LGBTQ people, ensure quotas in educational institutions and implement horizontal reservations in employment. 

Addressing the issue of crimes against LGBTQ people, the platform promised to treat such offenses on par with crimes against heterosexuals. The platform also calls for tackling bullying, violence and harassment of gender non-conforming and LGBTQ people in educational settings, enforcing anti-hazing policies and combating hazing based on sexual orientation and gender identity. 

The platform further touched issues related to transition and informed consent.

The Special Marriage Act of 1954 is a law that provides for civil unions among Indians and Indian nationals who live abroad, regardless of the religion or faith followed by either party. This law enables people from two different religious backgrounds to enter into marriage. Parliament in 2019 passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act that extended rights to trans people.

Brinda Karat, a former member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, and leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), spoke with the Washington Blade and said the current government has homophobic ideas that are not acceptable to the party.

The ruling government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is striving to secure more than 400 parliament seats in the upcoming election, aiming for a substantial majority. 

Various polls conducted by Indian news organizations indicate a probable victory for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. In response to the BJP’s dominance, Congress and several national and regional parties have joined forces as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. 

This alliance comprises 26 opposition political parties. Despite its formation, however, there is no clear coalition strategy in place and only two parties have included LGBTQ-specific policies in their election platforms. 

The Blade reached out to Congress’ spokesperson for comment, but has not received a response. The BJP also did not respond to a request for comment.

The party has yet to release its election platform. 

Ankush Kumar is a reporter who has covered many stories for Washington and Los Angeles Blades from Iran, India and Singapore. He recently reported for the Daily Beast. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is on Twitter at @mohitkopinion. 

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Africa

Ugandan activists appeal ruling that upheld Anti-Homosexuality Act

Country’s Constitutional Court refused to ‘nullify’ law

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(Image by rarrarorro/Bigstock)

Twenty-two LGBTQ activists in Uganda have appealed this month’s ruling that upheld the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act.

The Constitutional Court on April 3 refused to “nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act in its totality.”

President Yoweri Museveni last May signed the law, which contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.”

The U.S. subsequently imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan officials and removed the country from a program that allows sub-Saharan African countries to trade duty-free with the U.S. The World Bank Group also announced the suspension of new loans to Uganda.

Media reports indicate Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha and Jacqueline Kasha Nabagesara are among the activists who filed the appeal.

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Africa

Congolese lawmaker introduces anti-homosexuality bill

Constant Mutamba’s measure seen as distraction from country’s problems

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Congolese MP Constant Mutamba (Photo courtesy of Mutamba's X account)

A member of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s National Assembly who is a leader of the country’s opposition party has introduced a bill that would criminalize LGBTQ people.

Part of the bill that Constant Mutamba, leader of the Dynamic Progressive Revolutionary Opposition platform, has put forth states anyone who “commits a homosexual act (including acts and gestures) will be liable to a 5- or 10-year prison sentence.”

The country in recent years has seen government leaders and civic society target the community with anti-LGBTQ sentiments.

The Superior Council for Audiovisual and Communication, Media Regulatory Authority  last June cautioned the media against showing LGBTQ-specific conversations. Several activists have criticized Mutamba’s bill, saying it seeks to move attention away from governance, service delivery and other pertinent issues in the country.

Sirius Tekasala, a human rights activist, said a person’s sexual orientation does not impact issues of governance.

“The proposed bill does not go in the direction of improving the socio-economic life of the Congolese people,” said Tekasala. “It’s not homosexuals who prevent you from doing your job well or from breathing. This is a violation of human rights.”

Mbuela Mbadu Dieudonné, a social analyst and trade unionist, said the bill is just a way of deviating people from the pertinent issues.

“He should suggest how to get the Congolese people out of this precariousness of life which is growing on a daily basis,” said Dieudonné. “When we don’t know the real problems of the Congolese people, he sets himself up as the great director of scenes to distract the Congolese people.”

Many Congolese, however, seem to support the bill and have applauded Mutamba for drafting it.

This is not the first time that such kind of a bill has been drafted.

An anti-homosexuality bill introduced in 2010 would have sentenced people who engage in consensual same-sex sexual relations to between three and five years in prison. The measure, however, did not become law.

Mutamba’s bill, however, may pass with Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act in effect. The country’s Constitutional Court earlier this month upheld it. Burundi, Tanzania and other neighboring countries are also considering similar measures.

Many Congolese people view LGBTQ rights as a Western phenomenon that disregards their religious and cultural beliefs. LGBTQ Congolese are among those who have fled the country and sought refuge in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya and other places.

Consensual same-sex sexual relations are not criminalized in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but Congolese law does not recognize same-sex marriages.

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