Noticias

"Freedom, justice and peace in the world are based on recognition of the inherent dignity of all members of the human family and of the equal and inalienable rights"; This is the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This Declaration has been the basis of many national constitutions in many countries around the world and has allowed as many independent and create new democracies.

 

Human rights are essential guarantees for us to live as human beings. Without them we cannot grow or fully exercise our qualities, our intelligence, talent and spirituality. The Declaration states that human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights they are entitled to life, liberty and security of person, freedom of expression, not to be enslaved, to a fair trial and equality before the Law.

 

Also freedom of movement, to a nationality, to marry and found a family and a job and equal pay.

This Statement has gained great moral weight thanks to its acceptance in countries around the world, but the reality of many of those countries that have adopted it as a basis are totally different. And that is why the GayLatino Network is born.

 

This network consists of Latino gay men, activists, and not by organizations, so their structure is based on the enrichment through ideas and personal experiences of its members. Regional leaders allow a global view on the political and social situation in Latin America that is relative to the backrest that the region gives to gay men, men who have sex with men, transgender and intersex males. So it is possible to analyze and identify regional needs and define advocacy strategies and activities to be performed, both with regard to homophobia, as in the response to HIV at a regional level

 

"The Network seeks to advocate for sustainable changes and extensive involvement of people” - Carlos Garcia de Leon, Mexican activist.

 

The importance of Red GayLatino lies mainly in the fact that makes visible collective and regional manifestation -Latin-American-, necessary to face oppression and marginalization that go through the bodies, sexualities, languages, spirituality, and forms of socialization, rooted by homophobia and various realities affecting the exercise of the rights of this community in Latin America.

 

In this region the situation of the LGBTI community is quite interesting. Issues such as discrimination against gay men, men who have sex with men and transgender and intersex women, have a direct impact in various fields such as health, homophobic crimes, inadequate application of justice, the persistence of laws, policies and discriminatory programs and, on the other hand, the impact of HIV in this population directly demonstrate how the provisions of the Declaration is not respected.

 

 

The "Declaration of Curitiba", made as a result of 1st GayLatino Regional Meeting held in Curitiba, Brazil in December 2015, shows schematically what the Network objectives are and what moves them.

 

Based on the Declaration of Human Rights, and when we see how these basic rights that all human beings possess and should be respected without distinction, are first violated by the governments of the countries in the region, and secondly, by society itself, these gay men decide to form a front responsiveness and visibility, "human rights allow us to position ourselves from a universal ethics and international instruments and mechanisms involving" Jaime Parada, Chilean activist.

 

Among the focal points that the Curitiba Declaration approaches, the fact that Latin America is a continent which its history shows oppression and marginalization, many of these due to colonization, which sowed in these countries sexual orientation discrimination is highlighted , gender identity and expression, which affects the full exercise of these rights in this community. Also these discriminatory attitudes are held in patriarchy, sexism and religious and ideological fundamentalism, which perpetuates the suffering of this community and their families and prevent access to the full enjoyment of their human rights.

 

Construction and experience of a non-binary sexuality is also claimed, to say, limited only to the stereotype of the man or woman and work for respect for sexual and reproductive rights, understanding the question of gender as a crosscutting issue for achieving these objectives. Due to the persistence of conservative fundamentalism hate crimes based on sexual orientation have increased, situations such as imprisonment, harassment, assaults, murders and other violence at the regional level highlight the absolute need to guarantee the secularism of the States, is say, in the political maneuvering of governments not influence religious principles.

 

Regarding the secular theme, the Network seeks that other governments, in addition to the Argentine, Brazilian, Mexican and Uruguayan, recognize gay marriage. Governments mentioned have already achieved a major breakthrough in terms of equal rights, it is now necessary that this achievement is extended to other countries in the region to guarantee freedom to form their families and backrests that marriage give couples, "The affective approach, though not very common, can give us a positive outlook “ Oliver Kornblihtt, Argentine activist. Gay men are still being deprived from the full enjoyment of all human rights and civil liberties, such as protection and equal access to the highest level of health and welfare, decent jobs, justice and education, nutrition, social services and protection from violence and discrimination, "we are not excluded from social problems such as crime and drug trafficking; those makes us even more vulnerable” Mr Javier Arellano, a Mexican activist.

 

 

It also being sought to end the absence and attrition at all levels of the education sector as a result of bullying and other forms of stigma, discrimination and homophobia, "A greater visibility, greater vulnerability. Our struggle is not against magical or invisible entities, but against structures, regimes that oppress us "Gustavo Pecoraro, Argentine activist. In most cases, this also affects other aspects such as access to cultural goods and the promotion of healthy habits, including sports and adequate food. And on the other hand, many members of this community are disabled, so they need the infrastructure and policies necessary for full development and respect for their dignity, "We potentiate the GayLatino Network to accompany human rights victories” Pablo Fracchia, Argentine activist.

 

Finally, it is endorsed by rethinking that financing systems imposed arbitrary conditions with communities, which demonstrates the enormous inequality in the region. Therefore, the adoption of mechanisms to redistribute resources in Latin American countries with a view to sustainability is needed, especially as HIV / AIDS disproportionately affects this community, "What health services are available does not mean that they are accessible "-Dr. Rafael Mazin (OPS). The situation of the pandemic reveals insufficient response has been given so far, the vulnerability that still exposed members of the LGBTI community in all aspects of their lives, which is why access shows clearly need to all technologies HIV prevention and other sexually transmitted infections, "Now we know how to treat the HIV and can make a difference" Cesar Galindo, a Guatemalan activist.

 

 

It is essential that regional leaders are strengthened, with particular emphasis on the youth and ethnic and cultural diversity, with ranges throughout the region and elsewhere in the world where there is presence of Latino gays, "There is a representation of the gay as white and following heteronormativity. Not all of as are white, we are mestizas"-André Mere, Peruvian activist. Therefore, it is necessary to call this space that can build the precise arrangements to work jointly, identifying the needs of regional advocacy to define strategies and activities to the achievement of local, regional and global goals.

 

During the meeting, the secretary of the GayLatino Network, Simon Cazal from SOMOSGAY (Paraguay) said: "What is written on paper is not written in stone. The idea is to enrich each other” which speaks well of the ideology behind the Network: A constant discussion group where regional needs and views and realities of these activists will form guarantees that this community needs.

In addition, they shall also be applied to the national constitutions of Latin American countries, as most governments hide behind these roles regardless the abuse they do to the basic human rights of the people of the LGBTI community, therefore, it is calling for a thorough review of the workings currently have certain homophobic governments, and a rethinking of laws and discriminating constitutions as well as the effective exercise of those that support the safety of all social members without any differentiation "the community is not in the disco or on the web: the community is outside, with people in the street. Being gay is a social actor” Ronald Céspedes, Bolivian activist.

 

"We cannot do things like we did yesterday, we must innovate. We have to think of other things, make alliances with other movements, not looking at our navels" Toni Reis, a Brazilian activist.

 

* All references to Latin American activists were collected during the 1st GayLatino Regional Meeting.