LGBT in Colombia

The initialism LGBT is used to refer collectively to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and members of the specific group and to the "community" (subculture) that surrounds them. This can include rights advocates, artists, authors, etc.

The LGBT community in Colombia, like in most Latin American countries is often subject of controversy regarding acceptance (transgender individuals, in particular) due to the prevalence of heterosexism and machismo or male chauvinism in latino cultures. [ [http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/prej_defn.html "Definitions: Homophobia, Heterosexism, and Sexual Prejudice"] .]

tatistics

There are no complete statistical studies on the number of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people in Colombia. Some research of the National Department of Statistics indicate that in the capital Bogotá, there are a rough estimate of 219,520 predominantly gay men and 615,000 men who have sex with men (MSMs). The numbers for women vary between 48,000 and 96,000. About 64% of the general population says they have issues with LGBT people (homophobia). [ [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:H2DQvevP1FUJ:www.ilsa.org.co/IMG/pdf/pobreza_col.pdf+homosexualidad+colombia+estadisticas&hl=es&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=co 403 Forbidden ] ] An extrapolation to the entire country's population estimates nearly a million gay men, 2.5 million MSMs and 350,000 lesbians.

LGBT History

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*1513: Spanish conquistador Vasco Nuñez de Balboa killed a group of native Americans with his dogs near the Darien Gap, who were said to be homosexuals.
*1514: One of the first books written about the Americas, "Historia General y Natural de las Indias" reports that homosexuality was fairly common in the territory of what is today Colombia [Thomas, Hugh. El imperio español: de Colón a Magallanes. Editorial Planeta, S.A. ISBN 8408049518]
*1610: The opening of the Spanish inquisition tribunal in Cartagena. The tribunal has autonomy to apply the death penalty in cases of sodomy.
*19th and early 20th centuries: Treatments supposed to cure homosexuality were applied, such as electroshock, hormones and monkey testicle xenotransplantation. [ [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:s39I3SAjnlIJ:www.salud.gob.mx/unidades/conasida/noticias/homofobia/articulos/luizmott.pdf 403 Forbidden ] ]
*1970s: In Medellín, a group of gay men led by León Zuleta started the first Colombian gay association (Zuleta was killed due to related causes in 1993) [http://www.teleantioquia.com.co/Programas/MasquePiel/Temas/2004-MovimientoGay-Junio29.pdf]
*1974: The American Psychiatric Association removed the homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, (DSM), its list of mental diseases. The national government, however did not adopt this standard and still classified homosexuality as a mental illness in the national disease codification "CIE" for several more years.
*1981: Homosexuality is declared legal by the Colombian government. (Prior to this year, homosexuality was considered a crime and punished with 5 to 15 years jail time)
*1982: The first gay pride parade was celebrated in Bogotá, with about 32 people marching. A contingent of nearly a hundred policemen were sent for crowd control.
*1983: The first official reports of AIDS-related deaths in Colombia
*1986-1989: Groups of illegal anti-gay social cleansing were formed around the country to take actions against the LGBT community. The media reported a rising bigotry and about 640 related murders during this period. Some groups that attributed themselves the crimes were "Manonegra" (black hand), "Amor a Medellín" (love to Medellín), "Amor a Manizales" (love to Manizales) and "muerte a HOMOSEXUALES" (death to homosexuals).
*1990: Manuel Velandia promoted the recognition of equal rights for HIV/AIDS-infected people.
*1991-1994: Reports of the media about several episodes of gay bashing against people leaving places suspected of being gay nightclubs in Bogotá, who were stripped, soaked with cold water and left in the top of Monserrate hill.
*1994: The first support groups for HIV/AIDS were created.
*1996: The first organized lesbian groups were created.
*1999: Psychologist Marina Talero created the first support groups for transgender people.
*During the early 2000s, the Colombian lawyer and LGBT Activist German Perfetti won legal actions for the achievement of important issues such as: social security for same-sex couples, the right to work for gay teachers, protection against unjustified job loss for LGBT–related causes, and the right to legal name change for transgender people. [ [http://www.degenerese.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=46 DeGeneres-E - Congreso inicia discusión de proyecto de ley que garantiza derechos de los homosexuales ] ]
*2000: The first National LGBT Convention was celebrated in Bogotá.
*2001: Creation of Planeta Paz (the Planet Peace Project) for bisexual visibility.
*7 February 2007: Colombian Constitutional Court recognizes proprietary equity (inheritance) rights for same-sex couples having lived together for more than 2 years and registered as a union in a public notary, thanks to the efforts of the public interest law group of Universidad de los Andes [es icon http://www.semana.com/wf_InfoArticulo.aspx?idArt=100889] .
*March 2007: The president of the Catholic Bishop council, Pedro Rubiano, together with other ecclesiastic authorities, made press statements against the recognition of same-sex couples by the national government [es icon http://www.puntogay.cl/Actualidad/112.html] .
*June 2007: The Colombian Congress, in the final stage of recognition of same-sex couples, decided to discard the project
*5 October 2007: The Colombian Constitutional Court rules that same-sex couples registered as a couple in a public notary must be granted the same social security (health care) benefits as those given to heterosexual couples.
*12 November 2007: The LGBT community center of Chapinero was closed for a month due to bureaucratic issues and lack of funds [ [http://www.agmagazine.com.ar/?IdNot=1981 Colombia: reabre sus puertas el Centro Comunitario gay lésbico trans de Bogotá | AG Magazine | Actitud Gay Magazine | Noticias y contenidos LGBT de Argentina, Latinoamérica y el mundo ] ]
*December 2007: Several transvestites murdered in Bogota's Santafé neighborhood. Reports of at least one million pesos (about 500 dollars) being paid in exchange for each murder. [ [http://www.agmagazine.com.ar/index.php?IdNot=1986 En Colombia, otra trans muerta, no importa | AG Magazine | Actitud Gay Magazine | Noticias y contenidos LGBT de Argentina, Latinoamérica y el mundo ] ]
*17 April 2008: The Colombian Constitutional Court rules that same-sex couples registered as a couple in a public notary must be granted the same pension benefits as those given to heterosexual couples. This ruling, together with the ruling of 7 February 2007 on property rights (inheritance) and the ruling of 5 Octber 2007 on social security means colombian same-sex couples have the same rights as heterosexual couples.

LGBT rights in Colombia

Organizations

There is about 20 registered LGBT Organizations in Colombia. Among others:
*Colombia Diversa Organization http://www.colombiadiversa.org COLOMBIA DIVERSA official webpage
*Lesbian Organizations: [http://www.degeneres-e.org/ “DeGeneres-E”] , “Triangulo Negro” ( Black Triangle) , “Lesbic Collective” and “Mujeres al Borde” ( Women to the Edge)
*Lambda project: HIV/AIDS- related
*Stonewall Javeriano. Student group by Pontificia Universidad Javeriana - Vicerrectoría del Medio Universitario - Asistencia para el fomento de Grupos Estudiantiles
*Círculo LGBT UNIANDINO, Universidad de los andes
*Grupo estudiantil UDiversia, Universidad distrital

Events

*SUNGAY Party is a charity event to raise funds for LGBT-related projects.http://www.colombiadiversa.org/mod.php?mod=userpage&menu=16&page_id=881&menu=32
*Gay Pride Day: 28 June, with parades in the main cities of the country.
*Ultravioleta. party from circulo lgbt, universidad de los andes.
*fiesta gitler. party from Stonwall javeriano, Pontificia universidad javeriana

Gay villages

Most of the LGBT-friendly places (nightclubs, bars, gay bath houses, etc.) in Bogotá are concentrated in the Chapinero area, including the only LGBT Community Center in the country, which opened in September 2006, and is sponsored by the Office of the Mayor of Bogotá. [ [http://www.bogota.gov.co/histo.php?idh=16170&patron=1 Bogotá.gov, Sitio Oficial de Bogotá ] ] . See also Zona Rosa de Bogotá.

Literature

*Fernando Vallejo: Our Lady of the Assassins (novel) (also adapted to film), El Desbarrancadero (The Precipice), El Rio del Tiempo (River of Time), Los Caminos a Roma (Roads to Rome) among others.
*Porfirio Barba-Jacob
*Alonso Sanchez Baute: Al Diablo la Maldita Primavera (To Hell with the Goddamn Spring). (also adapted to theater)
*Luis Fayad: Los parientes de Esther (Esther's relatives)
*Tomás Gonzalez: Primero estaba el mar (The sea was first)
*Ruben Velez: Veinticinco centímetros (25 centimetres), dec. 1997 published by W. C. Editores

Media

*Miau Colombia. Colectivo miau el primer programa de TV LGBT Colombiano en la red. www.miaucolombia.com
* “EL OTRO” (1970)published by León Zuleta [ [http://www.choike.org/nuevo/informes/687.html Choike - El movimiento LGBT en Colombia ] ] was the first gay publication released in a regular basis in the country.
*Planeta Informa [ [http://www.planetapaz.org/planetainforma/ Planeta Informa ] ]
*Indetectable [ [http://www.indetectable.org. Indetectable ] ]
*RUMBAG portal [ [http://www.rumbag.com ****rumbag**** ] ]
*Nemesis times magazine [ [http://www.nemesistimes.galeon.com Nemesis Times ] ]

Nightclubs

*Theatron: Located in Bogotá, is considered the largest gay nightclub in Latin America [ [http://www.eskpe.com/secc_eskpe/rumb_eskpe/rumbaqz/SITIORUMBA-WEB-NOTA_INT_RUMBA-2028914.html Bogotá + Amigos: Toda la información sobre Restaurantes, Cine, Noche, Teatro, Arte, Conciertos, Música y Adultos para vivir Bogotá con tus amigos. - vive.in ] ]
*Medellín nightclubs: Feathers-Splash [ [http://www.planb.com.co/wf_InfoEvento.aspx?IdEvn=292 Vacaciones paisas de culto ] ]

Resources

*Colombian-ito: On-line guide to gay resources all over the country [ http://colombianito.web1000.com Colombian-ito webpage]
*Guia Cereza [ [http://www.guiacereza.com/ ¡Bienvenido a GuíaCereza! :-D Moteles, Sex Shops, Clubes Swinger, Revisterías y Videotiendas Porno, Comunidad de Contactos Personales y Swinger, Relatos Eróticos, Webcam, Fotos, Chat y Foro de Sexo. Tiendas de Sexo, Zona Gay. La movida sexo y sexual de Medellín, Bogotá y Cali ] ]

References

External links

*Colectivo Miau www.miaucolombia.com
* [DeGeneres-E] http://www.degeneres-e.org/ in Spanish.
* [Mujeres Al Borde, Women on the Edge http://www.mujeresalborde.org/] in Spanish.