South America
Former Bogotá mayor elected Colombia’s first leftist president
LGBTQ and intersex activists welcomed Gustavo Petro’s election
Former Bogotá Mayor Gustavo Petro on Sunday won the second round of Colombia’s presidential election.
Petro — a member of the Colombian Senate who was once a member of the M-19 guerrilla movement that disbanded in the 1990s — defeated former Bucaramanga Mayor Rodolfo Hernández by a 50.5-47.3 percent margin.
The former Bogotá mayor will be Colombia’s first leftist president when he takes office in August. Petro’s running mate, Francia Márquez, will be Colombia’s first female vice president of African descent.
“This is for our grandmothers and grandfathers, women, young people, LGTBIQ+ people, indigenous people, peasants, workers, victims, my Black community, those who resisted and those who are no longer with us … for all of Colombia,” tweeted Márquez after she and Petro won. “Today we are beginning to write a new history!”
Esto es por nuestras abuelas y abuelos, las mujeres, los jóvenes, las personas LGTBIQ+, los indígenas, los campesinos, los trabajadores, las víctimas, mi pueblo negro, los que resistieron y los que ya no están… Por toda Colombia. ¡Hoy empezamos a escribir una nueva historia!
— Francia Márquez Mina (@FranciaMarquezM) June 19, 2022
Petro and Hernández faced off after they didn’t win at least 50 percent of the vote in the first round of the Colombian presidential election that took place on May 29.
Petro faced criticism ahead of the election because of his previous M-19 membership and fears his government will seek closer ties to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government, among other things.
One source in Bogotá on Sunday noted to the Washington Blade that Petro during the campaign pledged to fight violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and to implement policies “for the reaffirmation of gender and sexual orientation identities without barriers for all non-binary and transgender people in Colombia.” Tatiana Piñeros, a transgender woman who ran Bogotá’s social welfare and tourism office during Petro’s mayoralty that ended in 2015, welcomed the election results.
“I am very excited,” Piñeros told the Blade.
Wilson Castañeda is the director of Caribe Afirmativo, an LGBTQ and intersex rights group in northern Colombia.
Castañeda on Sunday said Petro and Márquez showed the “greatest commitment to the agenda of LGBT rights” out of the six campaigns in the election. Castañeda noted the campaign held “various meetings” with LGBTQ and intersex rights groups and pointed to the policies he implemented when he was Bogotá’s mayor.
“For the LGBT movement in Colombia, the triumph of the ‘Pacto Histórico’ campaign led by Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez is very significant,” said Castañeda.
Angélica Lozano, a bisexual woman who became the first openly LGBTQ person elected to the Colombian Senate in 2018, and Mauricio Toro, the first out gay man elected to the country’s Congress, both praised Petro and Márquez.
“We will begin to write with all illusion a new page in the history of Colombia,” said Bogotá Mayor Claudia López, who is married to Lozano, in a tweet.
Al fin ganamos!
Felicitaciones al nuevo presidente de Colombia @petrogustavo y a la nueva vicepresidenta de todas y todos los colombianos @FranciaMarquezM!
Empezamos a escribir con toda ilusión una nueva página en la historia de Colombia!#ElCambioEsImparable! pic.twitter.com/3X9fNa0On5
— Claudia López Hernández (@ClaudiaLopez) June 19, 2022
Chilean President Gabriel Boric, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Honduran President Xiomara Castro and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken are among the world leaders who also congratulated Petro and Márquez.
“On behalf of the United States, I congratulate the people of Colombia for making their voices heard in a free and fair presidential election,” said Blinken in a statement. “We commend the many officials, public servants, and volunteers whose dedication made these elections possible.
“The United States and Colombia enjoy deep bonds between our peoples, shared values and shared interests in democracy, security, inclusive economic prosperity and human rights,” added Blinken. “Cooperation between the United States and Colombia has improved public health, livelihoods, rule of law and environmental protections in both our countries and throughout the region. We look forward to working with President-elect Petro to further strengthen the U.S.-Colombia relationship and move our nations toward a better future.”
Chile
Far-right José Antonio Kast elected Chile’s next president
Advocacy group declares ‘state of alert’ over president-elect’s opposition to LGBTQ rights
José Antonio Kast on Sunday won the second round of Chile’s presidential election.
Kast is the far-right leader of the Republican Party who was a member of the country’s House of Deputies from 2002-2018. He defeated Jeannette Jara, a member of the Communist Party of Chile who was former labor and social welfare minister in outgoing President Gabriel Boric’s government, by a 58.2-41.8 percent margin.
The election’s first round took place on Nov. 16.
Kast and Jara faced each other in the runoff after no candidate received at least 50 percent of the vote in the first round. Kast will take office on March 11.
“Under his leadership, we are confident Chile will advance shared priorities to include strengthening public security, ending illegal immigration, and revitalizing our commercial relationship,” said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday in a statement. “The United States looks forward to working closely with his administration to deepen our partnership and promote shared prosperity in our hemisphere.”
The Washington Blade has previously reported Kast has expressed his opposition to gender-specific policies, comprehensive sex education, and reforms to Chile’s anti-discrimination laws. The president-elect has also publicly opposed the country’s marriage equality law that took effect in 2022.
The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, a Chilean LGBTQ and intersex rights group known by the acronym Movilh, in a statement acknowledged the election result. Movilh also declared a “state of alert, given this leader’s (Kast’s) public and political trajectory, characterized for decades by systematic opposition to laws and policies aimed at equality and nondiscrimination of LGBTIQ+ individuals.”
“We urge the president-elect and far-right sectors that follow him to understand and internalize (the fact) that the rights of LGBTIQ+ people are inscribed in the universality of human rights, and they are not built upon an ideology or a political trend,” said Movilh in its statement. “This is not, and never has been, a left-wing or right-wing issue, although some on both sides have gone to great lengths to suggest otherwise, without any basis other than their own partisan or electoral aspirations.”
Organizado Trans Diversidades, a group that advocates on behalf of trans and nonbinary Chileans, on social media said it will “continue the fight for our community’s human rights.”
Colombia
Colombia anunció la inclusión de las categorías ‘trans’ y ‘no binario’ en los documentos de identidad
Registraduría Nacional anunció el cambio el 28 de noviembre
Ahora los ciudadanos colombianos podrán seleccionar las categorías ‘trans’ y ‘no binario’ en los documentos de identidad del país.
Este viernes la Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil anunció que añadió las categorías ‘no binario’ y ‘trans’ en los distintos documentos de identidad con el fin de garantizar los derechos de las personas con identidad diversa.
El registrador nacional, Hernán Penagos, informó que hizo la inclusión de estas dos categorías en los documentos de: registro civil, tarjeta de identidad y cédula de ciudadanía.
Según la registraduría: “La inclusión de estas categorías representa un importante avance en materia de garantía de derechos de las personas con identidad de género diversa”.
Estas categorías estarán en el campo de ‘sexo’ en el que están normalmente las clasificaciones de ‘femenino’ y ‘masculino’ en los documentos de identidad.
En 2024 se inició la ejecución de diferentes acciones orientadas implementar componentes “‘NB’ y ‘T’ en el campo ‘sexo’ de los registros civiles y los documentos de identidad”.
Las personas trans existen y su identidad de género es un aspecto fundamental de su humanidad, reconocido por la Corte Constitucional de Colombia en sentencias como T-236/2023 y T-188/2024, que protegen sus derechos a la identidad y no discriminación. La actualización de la Registraduría implementa estos fallos que ya habían ordenado esos cambios en documentos de identidad.
Por su parte, el registrador nacional, Penagos, comentó que: “se trata del cumplimiento de unas órdenes por parte de la Corte Constitucional y, en segundo lugar, de una iniciativa en la que la Registraduría ha estado absolutamente comprometida”. Y explicó que en cada “una de las estaciones integradas de servicio de las más de 1.200 oficinas que tiene la Registraduría Nacional se va a incluir todo este proceso”.
Brazil
Black transgender singer from Brazil wins three Latin Grammy Awards
Liniker performed at Las Vegas ceremony
A Black transgender singer and songwriter from Brazil on Nov. 13 won three Latin Grammy Awards.
Liniker, who is from Araraquara, a city in São Paulo State, won for Best Portuguese Language Song for her song “Veludo Marrom,” Best Portuguese-Language Urban Performance for her song “Caju” from her sophomore album of the same title, and Best Portuguese Language Contemporary Pop Album for “Caju.”
She accepted the awards during the Latin Grammy Awards ceremony that took place in Las Vegas. Liniker also performed.
“I’ve been writing since I was 16. And writing, and poetry, have been my greatest form of existence. It’s where I find myself; where I celebrate so many things I experience,” said Liniker as she accepted her first Latin Grammy on Nov. 13. “And being a composer … Being a trans composer in Brazil — a country that kills us — is extremely difficult.”
Liniker in 2022 became the first openly trans woman to win a Latin Grammy.
A dangerous precedent on trans rights in Texas
Top 10 international LGBTQ news stories of 2025
A pledge to keep fighting in 2026
Top 10 LGBTQ national news stories of 2025
Looking back at the 10 biggest A&E stories of 2025
Out actor talks lead role in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
This gay author sees dead people
How to cope when a partner gives you the silent treatment
The 25 greatest queer movies of the 21st century so far
