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Venezuelan police arrest 33 men at gay sauna

Raid took place in Valencia in Carabobo state on Sunday

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(Photo by Rarrarorro via Bigstock)

Police in Venezuela’s Carabobo state on Sunday raided a gay sauna and arrested 33 people.

A Venezuelan activist told the Washington Blade the arrests in Valencia, which is the country’s third largest city, took place “without a search warrant, without due process” and violated “the fundamental rights of 33 Venezuelan adults who were in full use of their mental and physical faculties.”

“[They were subjected to] degrading treatment,” said the activist. “[The police] deprived them of their liberty and subjected them to public ridicule.”

One local media report indicates an “orgy” was taking place during a “sex party” at the sauna when the raid took place.Ā 

The report indicates one of the participants who police arrested lives with HIV. It also said party organizers planned to sell videos of the men having sex they recorded.

The activist with whom the Blade spoke said a judge on Wednesday released 30 of the 33 men who were arrested and ordered them to report to authorities every 30 days until they go to trial. The activist noted the sauna’s owner and two masseurs will remain in custody until they are able to pay bail.

Discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation, gender identity and HIV is commonplace in Venezuela, a South American country that remains in the midst of an ongoing political and economic crisis.

Members of Venezuela’s General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence in January 2021 raided the offices of Azul Positivo, an HIV/AIDS service organizationĀ and arrested the group’s president and five other staff members. Police on Feb. 15, 2019, raided the offices of Fundación Mavid, another HIV/AIDS service organization in Valencia, and arrested three staffers after they confiscated donated infant formula and medications for people with HIV/AIDS.

Caribe Afirmativo and Fundación de Atención Inclusiva, Social y Humana (FUVADIS) are among the advocacy groups in neighboring Colombia that continue to work with LGBTQ and intersex Venezuelans who have fled their country in recent years.

“Persecution against LGBTIQ+ people in Venezuela is increasing,” said the Venezuelan Education-Action Program on Human Rights (PROVEA), a Venezuelan human rights organization, in a tweet. 

“We reiterate the need for due process, the right to private counsel and that every person knows the reasons for their detention,” added PROVEA. “To be homosexual is not a crime.”

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Colombia

Colombia anunció la inclusión de las categorĆ­as ā€˜trans’ y ā€˜no binario’ en los documentos de identidad

Registraduría Nacional anunció el cambio el 28 de noviembre

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(Foto via Bigstock)

OrgulloLGBT.co es el socio mediÔtico del Washington Blade en Colombia. Esta nota salió en su sitio web.

Ahora los ciudadanos colombianos podrĆ”n seleccionar las categorĆ­as ā€˜trans’ y ā€˜no binario’ en los documentos de identidad del paĆ­s.

Este viernes la RegistradurĆ­a Nacional del Estado Civil anunció que aƱadió las categorĆ­as ā€˜no binario’ y ā€˜trans’ en los distintos documentos de identidad con el fin de garantizar los derechos de las personas con identidad diversa.

El registrador nacional, HernÔn Penagos, informó que hizo la inclusión de estas dos categorías en los documentos de: registro civil, tarjeta de identidad y cédula de ciudadanía.

SegĆŗn la registradurĆ­a: ā€œLa inclusión de estas categorĆ­as representa un importante avance en materia de garantĆ­a de derechos de las personas con identidad de gĆ©nero diversaā€.

Estas categorĆ­as estarĆ”n en el campo de ā€˜sexo’ en el que estĆ”n normalmente las clasificaciones de ā€˜femenino’ y ā€˜masculino’ en los documentos de identidad.

En 2024 se inició la ejecución de diferentes acciones orientadas implementar componentes ā€œā€˜NB’ y ā€˜T’ en el campo ā€˜sexo’ de los registros civiles y los documentos de identidadā€.

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: ā€œse trata del cumplimiento de unas órdenes por parte de la Corte Constitucional y, en segundo lugar, de una iniciativa en la que la RegistradurĆ­a ha estado absolutamente comprometidaā€. Y explicó que en cada ā€œuna de las estaciones integradas de servicio de las mĆ”s de 1.200 oficinas que tiene la RegistradurĆ­a Nacional se va a incluir todo este procesoā€.

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Brazil

Black transgender singer from Brazil wins three Latin Grammy Awards

Liniker performed at Las Vegas ceremony

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Liniker (Screen capture via Liniker/YouTube)

A Black transgender singer and songwriter from Brazil on Nov. 13 won three Latin Grammy Awards.

Liniker, who is from Araraquara, a city in SĆ£o Paulo State, won for Best Portuguese Language Song for her song ā€œVeludo Marrom,ā€ Best Portuguese-Language Urban Performance for her song ā€œCajuā€ from her sophomore album of the same title, and Best Portuguese Language Contemporary Pop Album for ā€œCaju.ā€

She accepted the awards during the Latin Grammy Awards ceremony that took place in Las Vegas. Liniker also performed.

ā€œI’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,ā€ said Liniker as she accepted her first Latin Grammy on Nov. 13. ā€œAnd 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.

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Chile

Chilean presidential election outcome to determine future of LGBTQ rights in country

Far-right candidate JosƩ Antonio Kast favored to win Dec. 14 runoff.

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From left: JosƩ Antonio Kast and Jeannette Jara. The two candidates to succeed outgoing Chilean President Gabriel Boric will face off in a Dec. 14 runoff. (Screenshots from JosƩ Antonio Kast/YouTube and Meganoticias/YouTube)

The results of Chile’s presidential election will likely determine the future of LGBTQ rights in the country.

While Congresswoman Emilia Schneider, the first transgender woman elected to Congress, managed to retain her seat on Sunday, the runoff to determine who will succeed outgoing President Gabriel Boric will take place on Dec. 14 and will pit two diametrically opposed candidates against each other: the far-right JosƩ Antonio Kast and Communist Jeannette Jara.

Schneider, an emblematic figure in the LGBTQ rights movement and one of the most visible voices on trans rights in Latin America, won reelection in a polarized environment. Human rights organizations see her continued presence in Congress as a necessary institutional counterweight to the risks that could arise if the far-right comes to power.

Chilean Congresswoman Emilia Schneider. (Photo courtesy of Emilia Schneider)

Kast v. Jara

The presidential race has become a source of concern for LGBTQ groups in Chile and international observers.

Kast, leader of the Republican Party, has openly expressed his rejection of gender policies, comprehensive sex education, and reforms to anti-discrimination laws.

Throughout his career, he has supported conservative positions aligned with sectors that question LGBTQ rights through rhetoric that activists describe as stigmatizing. Observers say his victory in the second-round of the presidential election that will take place on Dec. 14 could result in regulatory and cultural setbacks.

Jara, who is the presidential candidate for the progressive Unidad por Chile coalition, on the other hand has publicly upheld her commitment to equal rights. She has promised to strengthen mechanisms against discrimination, expand health policies for trans people, and ensure state protection against hate speech.

For Schneider, this new legislative period is shaping up to be a political and symbolic challenge.

Her work has focused on combating gender violence, promoting reform of the Zamudio Law, the country’s LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination and hate crimes law named after Daniel Zamudio, a gay man murdered in Santiago, the Chilean capital, in 2012, and denouncing transphobic rhetoric in Congress and elsewhere.

Schneider’s continued presence in Congress is a sign of continuity in the defense of recently won rights, but also a reminder of the fragility of those advances in a country where ideological tensions have intensified.

LGBTQ organizations point out that Schneider will be key to forging legislative alliances in a potentially divided Congress, especially if Kast consolidates conservative support.

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