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Chilean Senate advances civil unions bill

Supporters say measure ‘strengthens’ families

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National Congress of Chile, gay news, Washington Blade

The Chilean Senate on Tuesday advanced a bill that would allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions. (Photo by the Photographic Collection of the Library of the National Congress of Chile; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

The Chilean Senate on Tuesday voted to advance a bill that would allow same-sex couples in the South American country to enter into civil unions.

The vote took place several hours after lawmakers began to debate it.

Senators rejected four proposed amendments that, among other things, sought to exclude unmarried heterosexual couples from the proposal. It also contains an amendment on child custody.

Opponents of the measure — known by the Spanish acronym AVP that roughly translates into life partner agreement in English — successfully blocked two previous votes that were expected to take place last week.

“The AVP does not weaken families, but it strengthens them because it extends protections to them,” said Álvaro Elizalde, spokesperson for President Michelle Bachelet’s government.

Sen. Manuel José Ossandón Irarrázabal, who represents portions of Santiago, the Chilean capital, is among those who spoke against the proposal.

“Marriage is between a man and a woman,” said Ossandón as opponents of the bill who had gathered inside the Senate chamber applauded. “I recognize that homosexuals have rights…I recognize that is not the AVP.”

The Movement for Homosexual Liberation and Integration, a Chilean LGBT advocacy group, applauded lawmakers for advancing the measure.

“Family diversity and the rights of children triumphed today,” said the group in a press release.

Former President Sebastián Piñera first introduced the civil unions bill in 2011.

A Chilean Senate committee in August voted unanimously to advance the measure to the full chamber.

The bill will now go before the Chilean House of Deputies where a vote could potentially take place in the coming weeks. Bachelet is expected to sign the measure into law if it receives final approval.

“We are advancing towards a more respectful and inclusive Chile,” said Andrés Ignacio Duarte Rivera, a Chilean LGBT rights advocate, on Tuesday.

Chilean LGBT rights movement marks advances, setbacks

Bachelet, who took office in March, publicly supports marriage rights for same-sex couples and a proposal that would allow transgender Chileans to legally change their name and sex without sex reassignment surgery.

Chile last month co-sponsored a resolution against anti-LGBT violence and discrimination that the U.N. Human Rights Council adopted.

Jaime Parada Hoyl, a former spokesperson for the Movement of Homosexual Integration and Liberation who is a member of the Providencia Municipal Council in Santiago, and trans activist Zuliana Araya, a member of the Valparaíso Municipal Council, are among the growing number of openly LGBT elected officials in the conservative country.

In spite of these advances, anti-LGBT discrimination and violence remain serious concerns among Chilean advocates.

Zaconi Orellana Acevedo, a 22-year-old trans woman, was killed in a town outside of Santiago in August.

Advocates have also urged Chilean lawmakers to strengthen an LGBT-inclusive hate crimes and anti-discrimination law that Piñera signed in 2012. The statute is named in honor of Daniel Zamudio, a 24-year-old man whom a group of self-described neo-Nazis beat to death inside a park in Santiago earlier that year because he was gay.

Bachelet supports efforts to strengthen the Zamudio law, but some advocates have expressed frustration that she has not done enough to advance marriage rights for same-sex couples and other LGBT-specific issues in the country.

The Movement for Homosexual Liberation and Integration in 2012 filed a lawsuit with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on behalf of three Chilean same-sex couples seeking marriage rights.

Piñera’s government argued against the “new definition of marriage” in a brief it filed in the lawsuit last year. Advocates continue to pressure Bachelet to formally reject her predecessor’s position in the case.

Hunter T. Carter, a New York-based lawyer who represents the Movement for Homosexual Liberation and Integration in the case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, told the Blade on Tuesday the advancement of the civil unions bill is “a small step forward toward fuller equality” in Chile.

“We will not rest however until there is full marriage equality, because AVP does not convey all the same status, rights and benefits as marriage — which is only available to opposite sex couples,” he said.

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Congress

Sens. Butler, Smith introduce Pride in Mental Health Act to aid at-risk LGBTQ youth

Bill is backed by Democrats in both chambers

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U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) speaks at the International LGBTQ Leaders Conference on Nov. 30, 2023. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

U.S. Sens. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced the Pride in Mental Health Act on Thursday, legislation that would strengthen resources in mental health and crisis intervention for at-risk LGBTQ youth.

“Accessing mental health care and support has become increasingly difficult in nearly every state in the country,” said Butler, who is the first Black LGBTQ senator. “Barriers get even more difficult if you are a young person who lacks a supportive community or is fearful of being outed, harassed, or threatened.”

“I am introducing the Pride in Mental Health Act to help equip LGBTQ+ youth with the resources to get the affirming and often life-saving care they need,” she said.

“Mental health care is health care,” said Smith. “And for some LGBTQ+ youth, receiving access to the mental health care they need can mean the difference between living in safety and dignity, and suffering alone through discrimination, bullying, and even violence.” 

The Minnesota senator added that data shows LGBTQ students are experiencing “an epidemic” of “anxiety, depression and other serious mental health conditions.”

For example, a 2023 study by The Trevor Project found that 54 percent of LGBTQ youth reported symptoms of depression, compared to 35 percent of their heterosexual counterparts.

Joining the senators as cosponsors are Democratic U.S. Sens. Ed Markey (Mass.), Bob Casey (Penn.), Peter Welch (Vt.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Cory Booker (N.J.), and Tammy Baldwin (Wis.). Baldwin was the first LGBTQ woman elected to the House in 1999 and the first LGBTQ woman elected to the Senate in 2013.

Leading the House version of the bill are LGBTQ Democratic U.S. Reps. Sharice Davids (Kan.), Eric Sorensen (Ill.), and Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), along with 163 other House members.

Organizations that have backed the Pride in Mental Health Act include the Human Rights Campaign, GLSEN, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Education Association (NEA), National Center for Transgender Equality, Seattle Indian Health Board, PFLAG National, The Trevor Project, American Psychological Association, Whitman-Walker Institute, InterACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth, National Alliance on Mental Illness, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Mental Health America, and Center for Law and Social Policy.

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District of Columbia

D.C. mayor honors 10th anniversary of Team Rayceen Productions

LGBTQ entertainment, advocacy organization praised for ‘vital work’

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Rayceen Pendarvis co-founded Team Rayceen Productions. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser today issued an official proclamation declaring Monday, March 18, 2024, as Team Rayceen Day in honor of the local LGBTQ entertainment and advocacy organization Team Rayceen Productions named after its co-founder Rayceen Pendarvis.

“Whereas Rayceen, along with Team Rayceen Productions co-founder, Zar, have spent 10 years advocating for the Black LGBTQI+ community using various forms including in-person events, social media, and YouTube,” the proclamation states.

The proclamation adds that through its YouTube Channel, Team Rayceen Productions created a platform for “Black LGBTQIA+ individuals to discuss various topics including spotlighting nonprofit organizations and small businesses, voter registration and participation, the state of LGBTQIA+ rights and resources in D.C, gender equality and equity, and the amplification of opportunities to bring the community together.”

It also praises Team Rayceen Productions for its partnership with the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs in helping to produce “exciting events like the District of Pride talent showcase held each June and the iconic 17th Street High Heel Race celebrated in October.”

“Whereas I thank Team Rayceen Productions for its vital and necessary work and am #DCProud to wish you all the best as you continue to support Black LGBTQIA+ residents across all 8 Wards,” the proclamation continues.

“Now, therefore, I, the Mayor of Washington, D.C., do hereby proclaim March 18, 2024, as TEAM RAYCEEN DAY in Washington, D.C. and do commit this observance to all Washingtonians,” it concludes.

“We thank Mayor Bowser for this special proclamation, which highlights where it all began, with the Black LGBTQIA+ community of Washington, D.C,” Team Rayceen Productions says in a statement. “Starting with The Ask Rayceen Show, Reel Affirmation, and events with D.C. Public Library to Art All Night, Silver Pride by Whitman-Walker, and events with the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, we are #dcproud of what we have accomplished in the Nation’s Capital,” the statement says. 

“For TEAM RAYCEEN DAY, we thank the diverse group of individuals who have made everything we have done possible by volunteering their time and talents over the past decade – as online co-hosts, event staff, performers, DJs, photographers, and more,” says the statement.

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U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court declines to hear case over drag show at Texas university

Students argue First Amendment protects performance

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The U.S. Supreme Court justices on June 30, 2022. ((Photo by Fred Schilling of the U.S. Supreme Court)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear a First Amendment case over a public university president’s refusal to allow an LGBTQ student group to host a drag show on campus.

The group’s application was denied without the justices providing their reasoning or issuing dissenting opinions, as is custom for such requests for emergency review.

When plaintiffs sought to organize the drag performance to raise money for suicide prevention in March 2023, West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler cancelled the event, citing the Bible and other religious texts.

The students sued, arguing the move constituted prior restraint and viewpoint-based discrimination, in violation of the First Amendment. Wendler had called drag shows “derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny,” adding that “a harmless drag show” was “not possible.”

The notoriously conservative Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who former President Donald Trump appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, ruled against the plaintiffs in September, writing that “it is not clearly established that all drag shows are inherently expressive.”

Kacsmaryk further argued that the High Court’s precedent-setting opinions protecting stage performances and establishing that “speech may not be banned on the ground that it expresses ideas that offend” was inconsistent with constitutional interpretation based on “text, history and tradition.”

Plaintiffs appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is by far the most conservative of the nation’s 12 appellate circuit courts. They sought emergency review by the Supreme Court because the 5th Circuit refused to fast-track their case, so arguments were scheduled to begin after the date of their drag show.

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