News
Elections in Chile: LGBTQ candidates make their mark
Eight queer people elected to write new Constitution
Editor’s note: The Washington Blade published a Spanish version of this story on May 20.
CONCEPCIÓN, Chile — LGBTQ activists and organizations celebrated the results of last weekend’s historic elections in Chile in which eight openly queer candidates were elected to write the Latin American country’s new Constitution.
They are Jennifer Mella, Valentina Miranda, Bessy Gallardo, Pedro Muñoz, Javier Fuchslocher, Gaspar Domínguez, Rodrigo Rojas and Tomás Laibe, who represent 5.2 percent of the total of 155 seats that will make up the Constitutional Convention.
“Although the representation of people with different sexual diversities remains low, it is a historic step to have constituencies that allow us to install the urgency of our demands, and promote respect and protection of the rights of the LGBTIQ+ population in the new constitution and in society. The commitment of feminist and progressive forces regarding these issues will also be very relevant, and as an observatory we will be attentive to that discussion,” explained Marion Stock, coordinator of Les Constituyentes, Marion Stock, in a statement after the votes were counted.
The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh), meanwhile, described “as historic that eight openly LGBTIQ+ people had been elected as constituents, inasmuch as this allows the rich diversity of Chile to have a voice and vote in the most important transformation process faced by the country.”
“We hope that the new constitution explicitly guarantees nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression; as well as by all the categories protected in the Zamudio Law; and full equality of rights is recognized for all individuals, couples and families, whatever their composition. Only with this, each and every one of the homo/transphobic laws and public policies that still persist in Chile can be eliminated at once,” said Movilh spokesperson Óscar Rementería.
Laibe from the Socialist Party of Chile, who was elected in the southernmost area of the country, views his presence and that of seven other LGBTQ people at the convention will help replace the current constitution as a cultural milestone. The current Chilean constitution has been in place since Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship.
“I think it is a milestone that, first, we have had more than 40 candidates of sexual diversity to this Constitutional Constitution,” said the political scientist during an interview with Lo Que Queda del Día on Cooperativa radio. “It is a milestone in the history of Chile and it will probably set the tone for what the rest of the elections, in which I am sure we will have more of a presence, will be.”
He added that “we feel proud in our case, because we were the only diverse candidacy in the southern region, where we are so isolated and suddenly we are much more conservative than in the rest of the country and we do not realize that in Santiago they pass things and that perhaps there is a cultural advance that is very different from what is happening in the regions.”
“It has been very important to nail down this flag, to talk about sexual diversity throughout the campaign to try to make visible this problem that is part, I think, of the diagnosis of the social outbreak: There are flags that have been hidden, invisible, for a long time; there are people who feel discrimination every day and who experience inequality and discriminatory treatment in education, health, at work,” said Laibe. “That is going to be, without a doubt, one of the struggles that we are going to have to address in the Constitutional Convention.”
Chileans in the last elections not only elected Constitutional Convention members. They chose their new community and regional representatives. And the LGBTQ community also saw positive results in these races.
The Washington Blade spoke with Cristian Martínez, an LGBTQ activist who was elected as a councilmember in Molina, a city that is 210 kilometers south of the Chilean capital of Santiago.
His race made national news a few weeks ago due to the fact that an Adventist college distributed openly anti-LGBTQ text to its students. Martínez last Sunday made history in Molina as the first openly gay person to be elected as an elected official in his home region.
“My city and my region is rural and conservative. We are a rural area, however, there is a process of change and that is demonstrated by the fact that they have elected me, an openly gay person as a councilor, but it is slower than what is happening in the big cities, I believe that we are going slower here with respect to the LGBTQ+ community and particularly trans people, therefore visibility is the most important thing,” Martínez told the Blade.
“As long as residents do not know trans people, lesbian, bisexual, gay, intersex people, etc., they will not know how to love, respect and welcome them, I believe that making ourselves visible is the most important thing and there you have to do a job that we are advancing. I believe that my town is willing to advance on these issues, but the challenge is huge. There are slightly more conservative Christian communities that also exert social pressure in certain spaces. I believe that this will be lessened as we become more visible,” concluded the now-elected councilor.
Martínez told the Blade that it was “super important” for LGBTQ activists “to participate in these elections because after the social outbreak, all activists and people who participated in social movements felt the responsibility and obligation to assume responsibilities of popular election in the elections that took place. they came, in our territories, in our communes, in our spaces.”
Chile, in this way, leaves behind the prejudices that say LGBTQ people are unqualified to hold public office and this will allow further political inroads, especially in the next elections in November when Chileans go back to the polls to elect a president and members of Congress.
Cristian Martínez (Photo courtesy of Cristian Martínez)
Congress
Top Democrats re-introduce trans bill of rights
Lawmakers spoke outside US Capitol on Wednesday
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) announced the reintroduction of a “Trans Bill of Rights” on Wednesday.
Despite chilling winds and snow on the ground, transgender activists, LGBTQ rights advocates, and trans-supporting lawmakers gathered outside the U.S. Capitol to announce the reintroduction of the “Transgender Bill of Rights” resolution to protect trans Americans, as the Trump-Vance administration continues to target LGBTQ Americans.
About 30 people gathered outside to hear from legislators and individuals impacted by recent White House policies.
“Today we say loud and clear that trans rights are human rights, and they must be protected every single day of every single year,” Markey told the crowd. “We stand together in solidarity with the trans community and with those who have too often been left behind by a system that refuses to recognize their humanity. We are here to ensure that every trans and gender-diverse person in America can live freely and safely and authentically. That’s what the Trans Bill of Rights is all about.”
Markey is leading the resolution on the Senate side, while Jayapal is pushing it forward in the House.
“With the Trans Bill of Rights, we are laying out a comprehensive vision to provide protections for transgender and nonbinary people — a vision that ensures every single person has a chance to thrive,” Jayapal said. “A vision that says: you are us, you belong, and you are worthy of the same rights as everyone else. This bill supports amending the Civil Rights Act to ensure that trans people have the same rights and protections as all other Americans. It creates a level playing field where trans people no longer have to fight tooth and nail to get the same treatment as their cisgender friends.”
The resolution for House and the Senate reads:
“Recognizing that it is the duty of the federal government to develop and implement a Transgender Bill of Rights to protect and codify the rights of transgender and nonbinary people under the law and ensure their access to medical care, shelter, safety, and economic security.”
Trans Legislation Tracker, an independent research organization that collects data on anti-trans legislation from the hyper-local level to the floor of the U.S. Senate, found that in 2025, 1,022 measures were proposed across the country to restrict the rights of trans Americans — from health care removals to bathroom bans.
Markey directly called out those lawmakers for what he described as discriminatory actions taken against trans Americans who, as he pointed out, are fighting for rights that everyone else is inherently given.
“Trump and MAGA Republicans have used the power of government to spread fear and hate across our country. They have tried to ban lifesaving and medically necessary health care, strip anti-discrimination protections, and turn trans lives into political talking points for their benefit. Well, we have a message for them: we are louder, we are stronger, and we are not going anywhere. We’re in this fight for the long term,” the Massachusetts senator said.
Jacobs, a co-chair of the Transgender Equality Task Force within the Congressional Equality Caucus, also spoke at the event.
“Trans Americans are being targeted just for being who they are — by laws and court decisions that try to erase them from classrooms, from courts and fields, from health care and public life. These attacks aren’t about safety or fairness,” Jacobs said. “They’re about hatred and instilling fear. And we know how quickly fear can warp into suspicion and violence with deadly consequences.”
In addition to lawmakers, trans Americans and supporters spoke.
Olivia Hunt from Advocates for Trans Equality, LaLa Zannell from the American Civil Liberties Union, as well as three additional people who have been actively harmed by the ongoing wave of anti-trans legislation, shared their stories.
Hunt emphasized the staggeringly high number of anti-trans bills being introduced in statehouses across the country — despite trans adults making up less than 1 percent of the population, according to the Williams Institute’s 2025 data.
“Since 2020, thousands of anti-LGBTQIA+ bills have been introduced in statehouses across the country,” Hunt said. “It’s a veritable tidal wave of political bullying disguised as legislation, and most of these bills specifically target transgender and nonbinary people — especially trans youth and their families. This is a moment that demands action.”
Hunt, who is trans, helps trans people in D.C. obtain legal documents that match their gender identity — something the Trump-Vance administration has stopped.
“Trans youth deserve to be protected by their government. They shouldn’t have to be protected from their government,” she said. “It’s long past time that our federal laws reflect and protect the reality and dignity of all people. Trans people have always existed — we are your neighbors, your family members, your community — and we belong.”
Zannell, who spoke proudly about her trans identity, explained why the bill is necessary and how it would protect trans people in all facets of their lives.
“I stand here as an unapologetic Black trans woman who has led this movement for over a decade to get us to moments like this. The reintroduction of the Trans Bill of Rights will aim to protect access to gender-affirming care, prevent discrimination in housing and public spaces, and preserve legal recognition,” Zannell said. “My hope is that this affirms our government’s duty to protect all trans and nonbinary people.”
The Transgender Bill of Rights is cosponsored in the Senate by U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
In the U.S. House of Representatives, the resolution is led by Jayapal, co-led by Jacobs and U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), with nearly 100 other representatives signing on as co-sponsors.
“To all trans people across the United States: you are seen, you are valued, and you are loved,” said Markey. “And I want you to know there are people who will fight for you every single day on the floor of the House and Senate to win those rights for you.”
Senegal
A dozen Senegalese men arrested for ‘unnatural acts’
Popular journalist and musician among those taken into custody
Senegalese police have charged a dozen men with committing “unnatural acts.”
The New York Times reported Pape Cheikh Diallo, a popular television reporter, and Djiby Dramé, a musician, are among the men who authorities arrested. They appeared in court in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, on Monday.
Le Soleil, a Senegalese newspaper, reported authorities arrested the men on Feb. 6 “for intentional transmission of HIV, unnatural acts, criminal conspiracy, and endangering others.” The newspaper further notes the men have been placed in “pre-trial detention.”
Senegal is among the countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized.
Police in Kaolack, a town that is roughly 135 miles southeast of Dakar, in 2015 arrested 11 people who allegedly engaged in same-sex sexual acts during “a celebration of a gay marriage.” The National Assembly in 2021 rejected a bill that would have further criminalized homosexuality in the country.
Local
Local LGBTQ groups, activists to commemorate Black History Month
Rayceen Pendarvis to moderate Dupont Underground panel on Sunday
LGBTQ groups in D.C. and elsewhere plan to use Black History Month as an opportunity to commemorate and celebrate Black lives and experiences.
Team Rayceen Productions has no specific events planned, but co-founder Rayceen Pendarvis will attend many functions around D.C. this month.
Pendarvis, a longtime voice in the LGBTQ community in D.C. will be moderating a panel at Dupont Underground on Sunday. The event, “Every (Body) Wants to Be a Showgirl,” will feature art from Black burlesque artists from around the country. Pendarvis on Feb. 23 will attend the showing of multimedia play at the Lincoln Theatre that commemorates the life of James Baldwin.
Equality Virginia plans to prioritize Black voices through a weekly online series, and community-based story telling. The online digital series will center Black LGBTQ voices, specifically trailblazers and activists, and contemporary Black queer and transgender people.
Narissa Rahaman, Equality Virginia’s executive director, stressed the importance of the Black queer community to the overall Pride movement, and said “Equality Virginia is proud to center those voices in our work this month and beyond.”
The Capital Pride Alliance, which hosts Pride events in D.C., has an alliance with the Center for Black Equity, which brings Black Pride to D.C. over Memorial Day weekend. The National LGBTQ Task Force has no specific Black History Month events planned, but plans to participate in online collaborations.
Cathy Renna, the Task Force’s director of communications, told the Washington Blade the organization remains committed to uplifting Black voices. “Our priority is keeping this at the forefront everyday,” she said.
The D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center is also hosting a series of Black History Month events.
The D.C. Public Library earlier this year launched “Freedom and Resistance,” an exhibition that celebrates Black History Month and Martin Luther King Jr. It will remain on display until the middle of March at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 901 G St., N.W.
Top Democrats re-introduce trans bill of rights
A dozen Senegalese men arrested for ‘unnatural acts’
Meet D.C.’s Most Eligible Queer Singles
Local LGBTQ groups, activists to commemorate Black History Month
