South America
More than 180000 people participate in Chilean capital’s Pride march
Flooding from heavy rains prompted organizers to delay event

The Chilean capital’s annual Pride march took place on June 25 after organizers postponed them because of heavy rains that authorities have described as the worst in 30 years.
The weather front affected central and southern areas of Chile and caused floods that have affected a large part of the population. The march, however, was unexpectedly well-attended.
More than 180,000 people participated in the march the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation organized.
“We are very happy with this unexpected reception,” said Movilh spokesperson Javiera Zúñiga. “While it is true that Pride marches have always been massive, we expected a smaller turnout than in previous years because this time we had to postpone the parade for weather reasons. However, the opposite happened, since Pride 2023 became the most massive (one) that has been convened so far.”
Eleanor Berkenblit, a 21-year-old American woman from Sharon, Mass., who is studying in Chile, participated in a Pride parade for the first time in her life.
“I really enjoyed the march,” she told the Washington Blade. “I felt proud to be surrounded by people who looked like me, all dressed in colors with their flags and shouts of happiness. I was very excited to march, to be in community and to read the handwritten signs.”

March participants demanded Congress reform the country’s anti-discrimination law, known as the Zamudio law, and asked President Gabriel Boric’s government to support the creation of an institution that promotes and defends queer rights. They also demanded an end to violence against LGBTQ and intersex people in Chile, which has been on the rise over the last year.
An American tourist was recently the victim of a hate-motivated attack in Puerto Varas, a city in southern Chile that is roughly 630 miles south of Santiago.
“I was attacked in Puerto Varas at gunpoint between 8 and 9 a.m. on June 18 on the train tracks near the Bellavista crossing, in the vicinity of Phillipi Park, by a guy I met on a dating app,” said the man on TikTok after saying the person who attacked him identified himself as Benjamin.
“I took the gun away from him, but he took it back and hit me in the face (…) definitely (the aggressor) has some wounds on the back of the head, as I was able to inflict some of that during my struggle. I have reported all this to carabineros (the Chilean police),” he added.
Movilh, after speaking with the tourist and expressing its solidarity with him, sent his details to the U.S. Embassy in Santiago in order for them to provide further guidance and follow up with the investigations.
“Many people believe that after the approval of equal marriage and homoparental adoption, homo/transphobia ceased. However, they are wrong. In the last year, hate crimes have doubled,” said Ramón Gómez, Movilh’s human rights officer, in a speech during the Santiago Pride march.
The organizers said the large turnout “surprised” them, and said that it surpassed last year’s march, despite the cold and gray day in Santiago.
Several ambassadors participated in the march. Among them was Australian Ambassador to Chile Todd Mercer, who expressed his country’s commitment to the LGBTQ and intersex community. Ambassadors from Argentina, Denmark, the U.S., Finland, Ireland and Norway, among others, also attended.
Some parties within the governing coalition did not participate.
Fundación Iguales Executive Director María José Cumplido noted her disagreements with Boric’s government.
“We see with real concern that in more than a year of the current government we have not seen concrete advances in the rights of sexual and gender diversity in Chile,” said Cumplido. “Although we have had a good relationship with the Ministers of Justice and Foreign Affairs, there is a lack of an official interlocutor in these matters that we believe should be the Minister of Women and Gender Equality, who has been somewhat distant in the matter.”

Cumplido indicated her organization feels that “in addition to the reform of the Anti-Discrimination Law, we believe that the creation of an institutional framework that is housed in the Undersecretary of Human Rights is urgent, since the country needs to have an entity that is capable of preventing all types of discrimination in a transversal manner, not only that directed at LGBTI+ people, generating public policies that move towards the eradication of all types of violence.”
“Another of our focuses is to give immediate urgency to the José Matías Law, which addresses bullying and discrimination against students based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. We see with concern the rising figures of violence in schools, but if we zoom in on that, the attacks against trans students are becoming more frequent and that hurts us deeply and drives us to continue advocating for solutions,” added Cumplido.
Chileans on May 4 returned to the polls to vote for their representatives to the Constitutional Council, the new institutional body in charge of writing a new constitution. The Republican Party swept to victory in most of the country, winning a majority within the deliberative body.
“Today we are concerned about the position that the Republican Party may have regarding nondiscrimination in the drafting of the final text of the constitution,” Cumplido told the Blade.
Fundación Iguales and Movilh support amendments that would guarantee nondiscrimination in the proposed constitution that voters will consider at the end of the year.
Chile
Chilean lawmakers back report that calls for suspension of program for trans children
Country’s first transgender congresswoman condemned May 15 vote

The Chilean Chamber of Deputies on May 15 approved a report that recommends the immediate suspension of a program that provides psychosocial support to transgender and gender non-conforming children and adolescents and their parents.
The 56-31 vote in favor of the Investigation Commission No. 57’s recommendations for the Gender Identity Support Program sparked outrage among activists in Chile and around the world. Six lawmakers abstained.
The report proposes the Health Ministry issue a resolution against puberty blockers, cross-hormonalization, and other hormonal treatments for minors, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The report also suggests Chilean educational institutions should not respect trans students’ chosen names.
The report, among other recommendations, calls for a review of the background of all minors who are currently receiving hormone treatments. The report also calls for the reformulation of hormone therapy guidelines and sending this background information to the comptroller general.
Report ‘sets an ominous precedent’
Frente Amplio Congresswoman Emilia Schneider, the first trans woman elected to the Chilean Congress and a member of the commission, sharply criticized her colleagues who voted for the report.
“Today in the Chamber of Deputies the report of hatred against trans people was approved; a report that seeks to roll back programs so relevant for children, for youth, such as the Gender Identity Support Program; a program that, in addition, comes from the government of (the late-President) Sebastián Piñera,” Schneider told the Washington Blade. ”This is unacceptable because the right-wing yields to the pressures of the ultra-right and leaves the trans community in a very complex position.”
Schneider noted “this report is not binding; that is, its recommendations do not necessarily have to be taken into account, but it sets an ominous precedent.”
“We are going backwards on such basic issues as the recognition of the social name of trans students in educational establishments,” she said.
Ignacia Oyarzún, president of Organizing Trans Diversities, a Chilean trans rights group, echoed Schneider’s criticisms. commented to the Blade.
“We regret today’s shameful action in the Chamber of Deputies, where the CEI-57 report issued by the Republican Party was approved in a context of lies, misinformation and misrepresentation of reality,” Oyarzún told the Blade. “This only promotes the regression of public policies and conquered rights that have managed to save the lives of thousands of children in the last time.”
Oyarzún added the “slogan ‘children first’ proves to be an empty phrase without content used by those who today promote measures that push to suicide a significant number of children for the fact of being trans.”
The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, a Chilean LGBTQ rights group known by the acronym Movilh also condemned the approval of the report, calling it “transphobic” and accusing the commission of omitting the opinions of organizations and families that support the current policies.
Movilh notes lawmakers approved both the Gender Identity Law and Circular 812, which promotes respect for trans students’ rights, within the framework of an agreement with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
“The text of the approved report is scandalous, because it seeks to take away the access to health to trans minors, including denying them the psychosocial accompaniment that also includes their respective families,” said María José Cumplido, executive director of Fundación Iguales, another Chilean LGBTQ advocacy group. “Likewise, it attempts against school inclusion, since it intends to eliminate something as essential as the use of the social name in educational spaces. In short, it takes away rights and freedoms to trans people, especially to minors.”
Cumplido, like Schneider, pointed out that “although its content is not binding, we will be alert to the political and legislative consequences that it may produce and we will continue working to avoid setbacks with respect to the rights of trans people.”
The report’s approval reflects a global trend that has seen neighboring Argentina, the U.S., and other countries reserve policies for trans and nonbinary young people. The Peruvian Health Ministry recently classified gender identity as a mental illness, and lawmakers have passed a law that prevents trans people from using public restrooms based on their identity.

photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Experts and human rights activists warn the suspension of Chile’s Gender Identity Support Program and other programs could adversely impact the mental health of trans and nonbinary children who already face high levels of discrimination and are at heightened risk to die by suicide.
“We will defend the Gender Identity Support Program and the right to exist of trans children and youth across the country,” said Schneider. “I want to reassure the trans families of our country that we will not rest until our rights are respected and that we can continue advancing because there is still much to be conquered.”
Peru
Peruvian activists react to Pope Leo XIV’s election
American-born pontiff was bishop of Chiclayo

Pope Leo XIV’s election has sparked global reactions, but his appointment has struck a deeper chord in Peru.
The now-pontiff served for years as bishop of Chiclayo, a city in northern Peru. For LGBTQ leaders and activists in the country, Leo represents a figure who, while unlikely to overhaul church doctrine, could signal a shift towards a less hostile and more open Catholic Church.
“The fact that the new pope lived and served pastorally in Peru is no small thing,” said George Hale, director of Promsex, an advocacy group that is based in Lima, the Peruvian capital. “Leo XIV is deeply familiar with inequality, abuses of power, popular religiosity, and the pain of a society scarred by classism and exclusion. His support for victims of the Sodalitium scandal showed a courageous figure willing to listen when others remained silent.”
The Sodalitium of Christian Life, a Peruvian Catholic lay group implicated in cases of sexual and psychological abuse against minors, became one of the church’s worst scandals in Latin America. Leo’s direct involvement in sanctioning those responsible — and his central role in the group’s eventual dissolution — was widely viewed as a sign of his commitment to reform from within.
Former Congressman Alberto de Belaunde, one of Peru’s few openly gay political figures, also welcomed Leo’s election, describing his trajectory as “good news within the Vatican.” De Belaunde emphasized Leo’s time at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, where he served on the university’s assembly as the church’s representative.
“Unlike other pontifical universities, the PUCP is progressive and diverse,” De Belaunde said. “Monsignor Prevost always demonstrated a remarkable ability to dialogue and showed respect for differing views. That speaks volumes about both his intellectual and pastoral approach.”
The question still remains: How much could the church change under Leo’s papacy when it comes to LGBTQ rights?
“Sometimes, even just a change in tone makes a difference,” De Belaunde noted. “I grew up under the influence of Pope John Paul II and Bishop Cipriani, both known for confrontational rhetoric. When the pope says things like ‘Who am I to judge?’ — it doesn’t change doctrine, but it humanizes the discourse. And that matters.”
De Belaunde specifically referred to Pope Francis’s 2013 comments about gay priests. (The Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under Francis’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality did not change.)
“There are very conservative factions within the church, outright enemies of our rights,” said Congresswoman Susel Paredes, who is a lesbian. “But there’s also space for love of neighbor, as Jesus taught. Even if Pope Leo XIV were to chart a path toward full inclusion of LGBTQ people, resistance would remain. These things don’t change overnight.”
Paredes also highlighted Francis’s legacy — especially his vision of a synodal church. The Argentine-born pontiff who died on April 21 was Leo’s direct mentor.
“Pope Francis spoke of a church where ‘everyone, everyone, everyone’ walks together without distinction,” she said. “Leo XIV was already part of that vision when he worked in some of Peru’s poorest areas. That gives us hope and reason to watch his papacy with expectation.”

Activists, however, are clear-eyed about the limits of symbolic change.
“He (Leo) doesn’t appear to be a hostile figure,” Hale said. “But he’s not pushing for radical reform either. He won’t lead the fight for same-sex marriage or trans rights. But his more humane tone — his closeness to those on the margins — can help de-escalate hate speech, especially in a country like ours.”
Hale also pointed to a recent gesture from the new Leo that raised concerns: His public support for the Peruvian bishops’ statement opposing a court ruling that granted Ana Estrada, a woman with a degenerative disease, the right to die with dignity through euthanasia.
“By endorsing that statement, he reaffirmed official doctrine. And while he may be compassionate, he’s still aligned with traditional positions on some key issues,” Hale said. “That’s why we insist: We’re not expecting a revolution, but a shift in tone matters.”
Peru does not recognize same-sex marriages, and transgender people lack legal protections. Expectations about Leo’s papacy remain measured because church rhetoric remains a roadblock to civil rights.
“Rights are granted by laws, and the separation of church and state must remain fundamental,” said Paredes. “That’s where progress happens, in secular legislation.”
“Yes — it’s a breath of fresh air to have a pope who doesn’t slam the door shut, who has walked with Peru’s most excluded,” she added. “That gives us encouragement to keep going.”
Uruguay
Former Uruguayan president José Mujica dies at 89
One-time guerrilla fighter signed marriage equality law in 2012

Former Uruguayan President José “Pepe” Mujica died on Tuesday. He was 89.
Mujica, a farmer, was a member of Tupamaros National Liberation Movement, a leftist guerrilla group that carried out bank robberies and bombings and kidnapped politicians and businessmen in the South American country during the 1960s and 1970s.
Mujica spent nearly 15 years in prison. The right-wing military dictatorship that governed Uruguay from 1973-1985 tortured him and held him in solitary confinement for a decade.
Mujica in 1989 joined the Movement of Popular Participation, a party that is part of the Broad Front, a leftist political coalition. Mujica was Uruguay’s president from 2010-2015.
Laws that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples and legalized abortion took effect in 2013 and 2012 respectively. Mujica in 2013 also signed a law that legalized recreational marijuana in Uruguay.

Mujica earlier this year announced he would not undergo further treatment for esophagus cancer that had spread to his liver. The AP notes he died in his small house outside of Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital.
“With profound pain we announced that our friend Pepe Mujica has died,” said Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi, who currently leads the Broad Front, on X. “President, activist, guide, and leader. We are going to miss you very much, dear old man. Thank you for everything that you gave us and for your profound love for your people.”
Esteban Paulón, a gay congressman in neighboring Argentina, celebrated Mujica as a “guide” for “Latin American progressivism.”
“He made humility, honesty and austerity his hallmarks,” said Paulón on social media.