Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López did not specifically discuss the growing speculation over whether she will run for president of Colombia in 2026 when she spoke at Saturday’s LGBTQ+ Victory Institute’s Annual International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in D.C., or with the Washington Blade.

“In a week I am going to return to Colombia and I’m coming back with a very, very punctual task,” she said in a speech she gave after the Victory Institute inducted her into its LGBTQ+ Political Hall of Fame at the JW Marriott. “Democracy in the world in general needs emotional reconnection.”

López, 54, was a student protest movement leader, journalist, and political scientist before she entered politics.

She returned to Colombia in 2013 after she earned her Ph.D in political science at Columbia University.

In her speech, López said Juan Francisco “Kiko” Gomez, a former governor of La Guajíra Department in northern Colombia, threatened to assassinate her because she wrote about his ties to criminal gangs. A Bogotá judge in 2017 convicted Gómez of ordering members of a paramilitary group to kill former Barrancas Mayor Yandra Brito, her husband and bodyguard, sentencing him to 55 years in prison.

López in 2014 returned to Colombia and ran for the country’s Senate as a member of the center-left Green Alliance party after she recovered from breast cancer. López won after a 10-week campaign that cost $80,000.

“I was the only woman, the only LGBTQ member of my caucus,” she said in her speech. “Of course I had the honor, but also the responsibility to represent them particularly well, [and] of course all the citizens who trust me and all the citizens of Colombia.”

“Once you are elected, you are elected to represent equally and faithfully all of the people, not only your own people,” added López.

In 2018, López was her party’s candidate to succeed then-President Juan Manuel Santos when he left office. López in 2019 became the first woman and first lesbian elected mayor of Bogotá, the Colombian capital and the country’s largest city.

“This of course speaks incredibly well of my city,” she said in her speech.

López took office on Jan. 1, 2020, less than a month after she married her wife, Colombian Sen. Angélica Lozano. (López was not out when she was elected to the Senate.) Lozano was with López at the Victory Institute conference.

López’s term ended on Dec. 31, 2023. She will return to Colombia once her Advanced Leadership Fellowship at Harvard University ends this month.

“I ended my mayorship,” López told the Blade. “It has been, of course, the honor of my life to be the first female mayor of my city. It was an absolutely beautiful job, but very challenging.”

“I needed a year of rest, of relaxation, and I was fortunate to receive a Harvard scholarship this year,” she added.

López during the interview called for an end to polarization and reiterated her support for democracy.

“We need to listen to each other again, we need to have a coffee with each other again, we need to touch each other’s skin,” she said.

López said parties, candidates, and their political coalitions in Colombia and around the world need to “listen, reconnect, and organize with people” at the grassroots level. López also told the Blade there is a “global crisis of democracy.”

“Each country has its own contexts and challenges, but it seems to me that there is a common element there,” she said.

“So, I return to Colombia rested, grateful after a year of reflection, with proposals in mind, but determined to dedicate time to what I consider the most important work for democracy at this time, which is to reconnect from the grassroots,” added López.

‘I know what love and education can do for any person’

López took office less than three months before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“We were full of hope, ready to go to offer a new social and environmental contract for Bogotá society for the 21st century,” she said. “But a couple of (months) after being sworn into office, the pandemic of COVID-19 came.”

Unemployment and poverty rates soared in Bogotá during the pandemic, and the city’s residents had less access to health care and other basic services.

López noted her administration in response to the pandemic offered scholarships to young people, supported businesses, and increased funding of the city’s social services. López also said her administration implemented Latin America’s first city-based care system for female care givers, and build three more LGBTQ+ community centers in poor and working-class neighborhoods.

“I know what love and education can do for any person,” she said.

The U.N. Refugee Agency says upwards of three million Venezuelans are now in Colombia.

Then-Colombian President Iván Duque in February 2021 announced Venezuelan migrants who register with the country’s government will be legally recognized.

Former Bogotá Mayor Gustavo Petro, a former senator who was once a member of the M-19 guerrilla movement that disbanded in the 1990s, succeeded Duque as president on Aug. 7, 2022. Colombia and Venezuela restored diplomatic ties less than a month later.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council on July 28 declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the country’s disputed presidential election. Tamara Adrián, the country’s first transgender congresswoman who ran in the presidential primary earlier this year, are among those who denounced voting irregularities.

WPLG, a South Florida television station on March 16, 2021, reported López sparked controversy after she told reporters there have been “some very violent acts from Venezuelans.”

“First they murder, and then they steal,” she said. “We need guarantees for Colombians.”

López made the comments after a Venezuelan migrant murdered a Colombian police officer in Bogotá.

“The problem is not migration from Venezuela,” López told the Blade in response to a question about Venezuela. “The problem is authoritarianism in Venezuela and you have to keep the focus on it.”

“The problem is what it is: It is not the migrants, it is in Maduro, it is in the dictatorship, it is in authoritarianism.”

More than 200,000 people died in the war between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that began in 1962.

Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia Commander Rodrigo “Timochenko” Londoño on Sept 26, 2016, signed an LGBTQ-inclusive peace agreement. Colombian voters a few days later narrowly rejected it a referendum that took place against the backdrop of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric from religious and conservative groups.

Santos and Londoño less than two months later signed a second peace agreement, which also contains LGBTQ+-specific references.

López described herself as “a person totally committed to the peace process.” She added, however, she has “a bit of a bad taste in my mouth now that I look back.”

“The peace process with the FARC, which was to demobilize the FARC, period, certainly tried to have and had a gender focus, of course a diversity focus, a focus on human rights for all victims, and certainly (the) many LGBT victims who had been victims of FARC recruitment, abuse, stigmatization, etc.,” López told the Blade. “So, in some sense, or in many senses, having that gender and diversity perspective was a way of recognizing the victims of our community.”

She noted opponents lied about the LGBTQ+-specific provisions “to deceive and delegitimize the peace agreement.”

“It is not about making anything invisible, or even downplaying anything, but rather about being much more strategic in understanding that we do not want our flags and causes to be exposed in a way that ends up being a boomerang for our own community,” López added. “So, I say that is why it is a disappointment, because I think it is a lesson. At least for me, it made me think and it makes me think, and I have said it openly since then, that we have to be much more careful and much more, above all, strategic, in how we raise our flags so that they really do not only have symbolic, but real advances and so that in no case do they become a boomerang against ourselves.”

‘I know how you feel’

López during the interview praised the recent elections of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Uruguayan Vice President Beatriz Argimón, and other women in Latin America. She also expressed sympathy with LGBTQ+ Americans who are concerned about the incoming Trump-Vance administration.

“I know how you feel,” said López in her speech. “I’ve been there when we lost the peace referendum in 2016. I’ve been there when three candidates who represented independent, new alternatives in Colombia, and policies were killed by mafia groups in 1990. I’ve been there when a mafia cartel was able to fund and elect a president for all of us. I’ve been there when paramilitary groups were able to support and elect another president in Colombia.”

“I know how obscure and difficult and challenging and painful democratic times are, but we cannot (back) democracy only when we win,” she added. “It’s precisely when things are challenging, when we suffer defeats that are painful, that we need to attach to our democratic and humanistic values and principles.”

Chile’s municipal and regional elections that took place on Oct. 27 have brought with them a renewed focus on LGBTQ+ rights and diversity.

In a context where the center right has managed to stand out against the Republicans, political parties have incorporated into their platforms a commitment towards the inclusion of queer people. Some Chilean political scientists say the elections have shown a country inclined to vote for the opposition Chile Vamos coalition, even though the left governs Chile.

The ruling party, grouped in Contigo Chile Mejor, had a setback similar to what happened in the 2021 municipal and regional elections — it lost 39 communes that include Santiago, San Miguel, Ñuñoa, and Independencia.

Voters in Maipú, the country’s second most populous commune, re-elected Tomás Vodanovic from President Gabriel Boric’s Frente Amplio.

Frente Amplio also won in Viña del Mar, and other communes, and saw victory in others that include Valparaíso, where the Chilean Congress is located.

Openly LGBTQ+ candidates have emerged since 2012, and some of them have made history. These include Congresswoman Emilia Schneider, a Frente Amplio member who is transgender.

Several LGBTQ+ candidates have resonated with voters within the framework of these elections; not only highlighting their identity, but their commitment to the struggle for equal social rights. 

Gloria Hutt, president of Evolución Política (Evópoli), a party that is part of the Chile Vamos coalition, stressed the importance of diversity in its agenda.

“Part of Evópoli’s agenda is inclusion and diversity, including the diversity of communities of different sexual identities. And in this election we had a dozen candidates who belong to sexual diversities, some of them won, others did not, but it is part of the agenda with which we are permanently working,” Hutt told the Washington Blade.

“We believe that it is also part of the freedom of people to deploy their life project without anything else interfering but their own identity and without prejudice preventing them from deploying that identity,” she added. 

The reelection of figures, such as Viña del Mar Mayor Macarena Ripamonti, and Vodanovic’s success in Maipú reflect significant support for the progressive agenda.

“First of all I would like to emphasize that we saw an impeccable process where citizens were able to express their preferences,” Frente Amplio Secretary-General Andrés Couble told the Blade. “We believe that the results allow us to look to the future with optimism.”

Couble highlighted the importance of LGBTQ+ candidacies in decision-making spaces. 

“We think it is important to promote them and that they reach elected positions, because they allow us to bring the struggles for equal rights and respect and promotion of diversity to institutional spaces,” he said. 

Couble at the same time highlighted the victory of Bladymir Muñoz, the Chilean councilman who received the most votes, as an example of the advance towards a more inclusive representation. 

Muñoz is a Frente Amplio member. He received 41,669 votes in Maipú.

The LGBTQ+ Victory Institute will honor Peruvian Congresswoman Susel Paredes at its annual International LGBTQ+ Leaders Conference that will take place in D.C. in December.

Paredes, a long-time activist who in 2021 became the first lesbian woman elected to the South American country’s Congress, will receive the 2024 LGBTQ+ Victory Institute Global Trailblazer Award.

Paredes and her wife, Gracia Aljovín, married in Miami in 2016. The two women sued the Peruvian government after the country’s Constitutional Court denied their request to register their marriage. 

“It is a true honor and a recognition that I deeply value,” said Paredes in a post to her X account after she learned the Victory Institute will honor her in D.C.

Victory Institute Executive Director Elliot Imse described Paredes as “a true champion through her activism and political engagement for decades.”

“Her historic election to the Congress of Peru is just one of many testaments to her status as a true trailblazer who is exceptionally deserving of this honor,” added Imse.

Argentine President Javier Milei’s government has officially closed the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI).

INADI, created in 1995, was a key player in the promotion and protection of human rights in Argentina, offering support and resources to people affected by discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, race, and other characteristics.

Officials announced INADI’s closure on Tuesday during a press conference. Milei’s government has presented the move as part of a reform to streamline public administration and restructure human rights policies.

“One of President Milei’s ideals is the reduction of the state and the elimination of everything that does not generate a benefit for Argentines,” presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said in February when he announced INADI’s closure. “The decision was made to move forward in the dismantling of different institutes that effectively serve absolutely no purpose or are big boxes of politics or places to generate militant employment and the first of them is going to be INADI.”

The international community, including human rights organizations and LGBTQ activist groups, have expressed strong concern. 

INADI has played a crucial role in the implementation of progressive laws in Argentina, such as the Gender Identity Law and marriage equality. Its dissolution raises questions about the continuity of these efforts.

“It is extremely serious, especially because we are in a moment in Argentina, not only because of the local context, but also the global context of a growth, an increase in anti-Semitism, racism, violence, xenophobia, LGBTphobia,” gay Congressman Esteban Paulón told the Washington Blade.

Paulón added Tuesday marked “three months since a triple femicide that occurred in the city of Buenos Aires with three lesbian women who were set on fire by a person who attacked them.” 

“INADI was acting in many cases as an auxiliary of justice, with opinions that although they were not binding, they were a great support for the judicial instances,” he said. 

Alba Rueda is a transgender woman who was Argentina’s Special Representative on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity under former President Alberto Fernández’s government. Rueda resigned last November ahead of Milei’s inauguration.

Milei’s government earlier this year closed the Women, Gender and Diversity Ministry, under which Rueda worked.

“The closure of Women, Gender and Diversity Ministry, the closure of the special representation on sexual orientation and gender identity, the position of the Foreign Ministry’s position in the OAS (Organization of American States) to reaffirm conversion therapies, and INADI’s closure is one of the situations that comes to institutionally break public policies that protect the most excluded sectors of Argentina,” Rueda told the Blade. 

“The closing of INADI is a very, very serious situation,” she added.

Activists are calling on the government to clarify how it will guarantee queer rights in the future and whether it will create alternative mechanisms to address discrimination complaints.

Santiaga D’Ambrosio, an LGBTQ activist who is a member of the country’s Socialist Workers’ Party, told the Blade “the closure of INADI is an adjustment that endorses discrimination, not only towards sexual diversity, but also towards so many other oppressed, violated or persecuted sectors, such as workers in struggle, migrants, people with disabilities.” 

“INADI, in fact, has played a progressive role in the face of discrimination due to political and union persecution in different workers’ conflicts, against dismissals and for the recognition of union privileges in workplaces,” added D’Ambrosio.

D’Ambrosio, at the same time, said INADI’s closure deepens the economic and social crisis through which the Latin American country is going.

“Behind the closure of an agency, there are layoffs and uncertainty among its workers and their families,” said D’Ambrosio, noting layoffs have also taken place at Aerolíneas Argentinas, the country’s national airlines, and other companies. “Meanwhile, the enormous tax benefits for national and foreign businessmen remain untouched.”

D’Ambrosio added LGBTQ Argentines and other marginalized groups have to “self-organize independently from all governments who don’t really care about our lives.”

“We have to debate in our workplaces and study … how to conquer and strengthen our claims in the streets,” said D’Ambrosio.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) on Sunday announced President Nicolás Maduro won a third term with 51.2 percent of the votes, compared to the 44.2 percent it said opposition leader Edmundo González received.

Fifty-nine percent of Venezuelans voted in the election that took place peacefully in most of the country, aside from reports of unrest in Táchira state that borders Colombia.

Authorities announced the results six hours after polling places closed, with CNE President Elvis Amoroso attributing the delay to a “terrorist” attack that affected data transmission. Maduro backed this explanation, suggesting a massive hacking of the electoral system took place.

The opposition, however, denounced irregularities and questioned the process’s transparency. Opposition leader María Corina Machado said she and her supporters have minutes that indicate González received 70 percent of the votes.

“There is a new president-elect and he is Edmundo González, and everybody knows it,” said Machado. 

González entered into a political partnership with Machado, who Maduro’s government disqualified from holding public office. Machado backed González, a former diplomat.

“All regulations have been violated,” said González. “Our struggle continues.” 

Maduro, for his part, called on his adversaries to abide by the results.

“This constitution must be respected,” said Maduro while speaking to supporters outside Miraflores Palace in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, after the CSE declared him the winner. “The referee must be respected and no one must try to tarnish this beautiful day.”

In this regard, Tamara Adrián, the country’s first transgender congresswoman who ran in the presidential primary earlier this year, told the Washington Blade that “according to the information we have from the minutes that witnesses were able to obtain in approximately 40 percent of the polling stations, Edmundo González won with a percentage higher than 65 percent of the votes in all the states and in all the social sectors.”

The former congresswoman added “that is the result we had around 8 o’clock at night, when they started to issue instructions from the National Electoral Council for two things: One, to prohibit the entrance of Edmundo González’s witnesses in the vote counting room, something that continued during the whole night.” 

“That is to say they never had any oversight from González in the computations,” Adrián told the Blade.

“And two, they prohibited the table chiefs from printing the minutes that the law says,” she added.

The elections took place amid widespread distrust of the CNE, whose board of directors includes figures linked to the ruling party.

The opposition questioned the electoral body’s impartiality and lack of recognized international observers. Reports indicate people in several areas of Caracas on Sunday used pots and pans to protest the CNE announcement. 

LGBTQ activist Richelle Briceño told the Blade “the electoral participation in favor of change in the country was a majority and that will has been undoubtedly twisted by those who have dominated the electoral power and the armed forces of the nation.” 

“They gave official results that do not adjust to reality and consequently are unverifiable,” said Briceño.

Chilean president, Biden-Harris administration question election results

Chilean President Gabriel Boric and other regional leaders expressed skepticism about the results. 

American Secretary of State Antony Blinken also expressed concern about the count’s validity. Cuba and Honduras, on the other hand, congratulated Maduro after the CNE declared him the winner.

“The Maduro regime must understand that the results it publishes are hard to believe,” wrote Boric on his X account. “The international community and above all the Venezuelan people, including the millions of Venezuelans in exile, demand total transparency of the minutes and the process.” 

“We are seriously concerned that the announced result does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people,” said Blinken.

The situation in Venezuela remains uncertain, and the next few hours could define a new chapter in the country’s tumultuous political history.

“There is no certain formula for Maduro to leave the presidency while the other powers and institutions of the country are at his service,” said Briceño. “Venezuelans did what was in our hands, which was to express ourselves massively. Now we must continue to demand audited and verified results so that the truth is imposed before the world.”

“The support of the international community is fundamental for these purposes,” added Briceño.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation and LGBT+ Public Policy Institute of Argentina last week released their third annual report on the inclusion of LGBTQ people in the country’s workplaces.

The Global Workplace Equity Program: Equidad AR evaluates major Argentine and multinational companies and policies for their LGBTQ employees.

The total number of participating companies in this year’s survey increased from 76 to 82, which reflects a growing commitment to creating LGBTQ-inclusive policies and practices in Argentine workplaces. The report also notes 224,649 queer employees, which is a 120 percent increase over last year.

The HRC Foundation’s AR Equity Program is based on the HRC Corporate Equity Index, the leading survey that assesses LGBTQ workplace in the U.S. Companies that lead the way in LGBTQ inclusion and equity earn the HRC Foundation’s “Best Places to Work LGBT+ 2024” designation.

Fifty-five of the 82 participating companies in Argentina earned this certification this year. They represent 26 different business sectors.

“As we’ve seen countless times, when organizations implement LGBT+ policies, everyone wins: Workers are better able to reach their full potential and employers reaffirm their commitment to treating all people with dignity and respect,” said RaShawn Hawkins, senior director of the HRC Foundation’s Workplace Equality Program. “We are very proud of our partners for the work they have done to advance LGBT+ equality in their workplaces and look forward to continuing to work with them as partners in this fight.”

The commitment to LGBTQ-inclusive policies and practicies is significant in a different way for the community in Argentina this year.

HRC indicated “recent public administrative changes focused on the LGBT+ community motivated the private sector to generate more opportunities to grow and develop its diverse workforce through business.”

President Javier Milei and his government have faced criticism over the closure of the National Institute against Discrimination and the Ministry of Women, Gender, and Diversity. 

“The complex context that Argentina is experiencing of difficulties, hostility, and refusal of the national government to sustain many of the public policies that were carried out in recent years, puts the private sector at the center, which clearly has all the conditions to make an important contribution and become a decisive factor to support from another place different from the one we have been used to because the State has run away,” gay Congressman Esteban Paulón told the Washington Blade.

The congressman added “the private sector, and from the cooperation between the public sector and the private sector, can work and sustain many of the achievements that have been achieved in these years.” Paulón said they include implementation of a labor quota for transgender people that Milei’s government is no longer implementing, but “could be sustained” with a “firm commitment” from the private sector.

Onax Cirlini, HRC’s AR Equity implementing partner, said that “beyond the institutional efforts highlighted in this report, we see the dynamics generated by activism organized by employee resource groups (ERGs)/business resource groups (BRGs) or affinity groups.” 

“This internal momentum, often led by people in the community itself, enhances institutional equality efforts by providing continuity and persistence,” said Cirlini.

Dolores Covacevich, another HRC AR Equity implementing partner, stressed the group recognizes “the importance of every role within companies and organizations as they work toward the integration of diversity, equity and inclusion policies, and the commitment to LGBT+ inclusion efforts.”

“We know that none of this work would be possible without inclusive leadership that promotes these processes,” said Covacevich.

HRC has worked with groups in Mexico, Chile, and Brazil to implement similar indexes in their respective countries.

A group of hooded men on June 29 attacked LGBTQ activists and others who participated in the Chilean capital’s annual Pride parade.

Witnesses said the men punched and kicked activists and parade participants, threatened them with a skateboard, threw stones and paint at floats and damaged parade infrastructure. The men also broke a truck’s headlight.

The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, a Chilean LGBTQ rights group known by the acronym Movilh, strongly condemned the acts of violence, calling them deliberate attempts to disrupt a peaceful and safe demonstration.

“Vandalism that seeks to transgress the peaceful trajectory of our demonstrations and that is only useful to the interests of the homo/transphobic sectors,” denounced Movilh.

The attack occurred when the hooded men tried to break through the security fence protecting the participants and the truck that was at the beginning of the parade.

“As we do every year, we fence the truck with our volunteers to prevent anyone from being run over or hurt by the wheels,” said Movilh. “The hooded men approached the fence to break it, hitting our volunteers and people outside of our organization with their feet and fists who, in an act of solidarity, tried to dissuade them.”

The motives behind this attack seem to be related to previous calls on social networks to boycott the event, although the organizers stressed that violent acts are alien to the parade’s inclusive and celebratory purpose.

Movilh spokesperson Javiera Zúñiga told the Washington Blade that “after the attack that we faced during the Pride March, we published in our social networks the few images that were available from that moment.” 

“What we are basically asking is that anyone who has seen something and can recognize any of the aggressors write to our email or (contact us) through our social networks so that we can file complaints and do whatever is necessary to find those responsible.”

Zúñiga stated that “not only was there aggression against people, but there was also damage to private property because they broke one of the truck’s headlights.”

“So for these two reasons we are looking for anyone who may have information to contact us,” she said.

The incident has generated widespread condemnation within the LGBTQ community and outside of it. They say it highlights the need to protect human rights and diversity and promote respect for them.

By Esteban Rioseco | VALPARAÍSO, Chile – A political earthquake took place in Chile on Tuesday when the Chamber of Deputies rejected proposed reforms to the country’s nondiscrimination law.

The proposed reforms’ objective is “to strengthen the prevention of discrimination and to promote and guarantee in a better way the principle of equality.” Lawmakers in 2012 approved the law, also called the Zamudio Law, named in honor of Daniel Zamudio, a gay 24-year-old man who lost his life after a group of neo-Nazis attacked him in San Borja Park in Santiago, the country’s capital.

Lawmakers by a 69-63 vote margin rejected the proposed reform that President Gabriel Boric’s government introduced. Thirteen deputies abstained.

The Chilean Senate has already approved the proposal. A commission of lawmakers from both chambers of Congress will now consider it.

Most ruling party members supported the bill, while the opposition rejected it as a block.

Congressman Cristóbal Urruticoechea, who is a close Republican Party ally, defended his vote against the bill. 

“Of course we must respect the deviation of others, but it does not have to be an obligation to applaud them or to tell our children that there are more than two types of sexes, because that is not discrimination,” he said.

Emilia Schneider, the country’s first transgender congresswoman, said “unfortunately the majority of the House (of Deputies) has rejected the protection of victims of discrimination.” 

“This is not understandable, it is unacceptable and we are here with a group of civil society organizations to call upon the majority of parliamentarians to reconsider so that we can fix this disaster in the mixed commission,” she said. “We have been waiting a long time for a reform to the Anti-Discrimination Law. We have been waiting a long time for an institutional framework that promotes equality and inclusion in our country because today lives continue to be lost due to discrimination and we cannot continue to tolerate that.” 

“Unfortunately, today the Chamber of Deputies is once again turning its back on the citizenry,” added Schneider.    

Rolando Jiménez, director of the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, the country’s main queer organization known by the acronym Movilh, in a statement said “today we went back to the past, to the 90s, to the darkest moments for LGBTQ+ people and discriminated sectors.” 

“Far-right congressmen went to the extreme of describing LGBTQ+ people as deviants during the debate in the Chamber,” he said. “We are in the presence of the worst legislative scenario for nondiscrimination of which we have ever had record. It is, by all accounts, a civilizational setback.”

María José Cumplido, the executive director of Fundación Iguales, another Chilean advocacy group, told the Washington Blade that “lies were installed” during the debate.

“This is not a bad law,” she said. “It is a law that follows international standards that prevent discrimination and that improves people’s quality of life.”

“We have been talking about security and discrimination for years, it is a security problem that hundreds and thousands of people live with,” added Cumplido. “We want this project to continue advancing so that the State can prevent discrimination and that people can choose their life projects in freedom.” 

‘We will continue the fight’

The proposed reform’s rejection represents a significant setback in the fight for nondiscrimination and equal rights in Chile. 

The proposal sought to establish an anti-discrimination institutional framework, as well as to broaden the possibilities of compensation for victims of discrimination. It also sought to raise the maximum fines for discriminatory acts and to strengthen the State’s anti-discrimination policies.

“We will not lower our flags,” said Jiménez. “We will continue the fight in the Joint Commission.” 

Movilh has urged LGBTQ Chileans and families to protest against the vote during the annual Santiago Pride march that will take place on June 29.

******************************************************************************************

Esteban Rioseco is a Chilean digital communicator, LGBT rights activist and politician. He was spokesperson and executive president of the Homosexual Integration and Liberation Movement (Movilh). He is currently a Latin American correspondent for the Washington Blade.

On Oct. 22, 2015, together with Vicente Medel, he celebrated the first gay civil union in Chile in the province of Concepción.

By Gabriela Rodríguez Hernández and Siân Kavanagh | SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia – In Bolivia, the collective La Pesada Subversiva faced an onslaught of digital violence they could have never imagined after showcasing their LGBTQ artwork. Thanks to Hivos’ Digital Defenders Partnership, they received critical support and training to protect themselves, and now have tools to fight against online aggression.

La Pesada Subversiva (The Subversive Troublemakers), a trans, feminist, and sexually diverse collective in Bolivia, has emerged as a form of resistance to patriarchy and gender-based violence. Founded in 2018 in Santa Cruz, one of Bolivia’s most conservative regions, the collective uses various art forms — audiovisual, writing, street happenings, and social media content — to express their views in demonstrations, protests, and the virtual realm.

Cristian Egüez (he/him), one of the founders, explains, “In this region, far-right and ultra-religious narratives are prevalent, pushed by very conservative authorities. In such a tough context, collectives are needed with the courage to confront them and maintain a critical approach to the violence that occurs.” 

Pride Month and ensuing violence

The Altillo Benni Museum, the largest in the city, commemorated Pride Month for the first time on June 1, 2022. They opened an LGBTQ art exhibition called “Revolución Orgullo” or “Pride Revolution” led by La Pesada Subversiva. The collective’s groundbreaking LGBTQ art exhibition faced vehement opposition.

“We adorned the museum facade with trans and LGBTIQ+ flags,” Egüez recounts, “but it lasted less than a day because a group of neighbors came to protest violently and aggressively.” 

Despite this, the exhibition attracted over 400 visitors, demonstrating growing public support for their cause. 

Confronting online harassment

To the collective’s surprise, the museum’s director defended the exhibition, stating that no artwork would be removed, and the exhibition would remain until the end of the month. But then an unimaginable wave of digital violence hit them. Egüez recalls the aftermath: “The event left us emotionally devastated. Throughout that year, every day, we had to endure threats and harassment online.” 

Alejandra Menacho (she/her), another founder of La Pesada Subversiva, shares her experience, saying, “They threatened to rape me, to teach me how to be a woman. It overwhelmed us; it started to really hurt because we felt … everything we said or did was being surveilled.” The collective faced constant harassment on social media, with anti-rights groups monitoring their activities and scaring them with false threats.

Seeking protection from the Digital Defenders Partnership

As the onslaught escalated, the collective sought refuge and support. They applied for a grant from the DDP to get digital protection and security. With DDP’s assistance, they underwent comprehensive training in digital security measures, enabling them to protect their online presence effectively. The members learned to protect themselves and their accounts, not to publish certain things, and to be cautious about disclosing their whereabouts. DDP’s training gave them a comprehensive understanding of digital security tools and provided clear guidelines for dealing with future incidents and how to report them. 

In addition to these digital security skills, they learned physical self-defense techniques, blending martial arts with a feminist approach. 

“This has strengthened us immensely. Now we understand digital security holistically and are always safeguarding our networks,” Menacho emphasizes. 

The ongoing struggle of online resilience

Despite the challenges, La Pesada Subversiva remains steadfast in their mission. 

“Digital security must be integrated across the board; it’s not something you attend a workshop for and forget. It must be practiced continually,” Egüez asserts. 

For Menacho, even though she has experienced a lot of frustration and anger, learning to combine these digital tools with psychology and art has helped her express themselves and achieve emotional balance. 

“Because we are rebellious, we want to do these things. Also, because we don’t want these injustices to continue in Santa Cruz. That’s why we keep coming back and reinventing ourselves,” Menacho said. 

La Pesada Subversiva’s journey exemplifies the resilience and determination of marginalized communities in the face of adversity. Through collective empowerment and solidarity, they navigate the complexities of digital violence, emerging stronger and more united in their pursuit of equality and justice. 

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The Digital Defenders Partnership (DDP), managed by Hivos, is an emergency grant mechanism for digital activists under threat launched by the Freedom Online Coalition in 2012. It provides a holistic response to digital threats and creates resilient and sustainable networks of support to human rights defenders.

By Esteban Rioseco | LA PLATA, Argentina — Argentine authorities have arrested 10 police officers and charged them with murdering a transgender woman in 2023.

In the historic development in the fight for LGBTQ+ justice in the country, the officers who were arrested on May 1 face murder and hate crime charges in connection with Sofia Fernández’s brutal death on April 11, 2023. The case has uncovered not only entrenched institutional violence, but also the ongoing struggle against impunity for hate crimes.

The initial investigation, which began last September, faced numerous obstacles, with only three points of expertise completed out of the 16 required for a formal indictment. Ignacio Fernandez, a lawyer who represents Sofia Fernández’s family, told the Washington Blade “the family’s lack of confidence in the initial prosecutor led to his departure, which coincided with my arrival to the investigation in September of last year, collaborating in an arduous but vital investigation.”

Ignacio Fernández described the long process to unravel the truth behind the brutal murder.

The legal and forensic teams faced numerous challenges that included coordination with gender-specialized prosecutors to the meticulous analysis of thousands of pieces of data on seized cell phones.

“The forensic report revealed the gruesome nature of the crime; Sofia was killed by asphyxiation with a piece of mattress and her own underwear, in addition to suffering beatings and physical torture,” Ignacio Fernández told the Blade. “Sofía was kept alone in a cell of the 5th Police Station of Pilar, under the custody of the police of the province of Buenos Aires, which triggered an intense scrutiny of the conduct of the police forces.”

The indictment, according to Ignacio Fernández, charges the three policemen with “triple homicide qualified by hatred of their sexual orientation, by the premeditated participation of three or more persons and by the abuse of their position as policemen; while the remaining seven policemen are implicated for the double qualified cover-up for being a very serious crime and for the abuse of their position as policemen in competition with the falsification of public documents.”

“The application of a gender perspective in the judicial process has been crucial, underlining the importance of recognizing and addressing violence directed towards transgender people,” he added.

The road to justice, however, has been far from smooth. 

Despite the arrests, defense lawyers have requested the dismissal of certain charges, arguing the lack of hearings with the victim and rulings that could be questionable in their gender-specific perspective.

Sofia Fernández’s family, fearful for her safety, hopes the defendants will remain in pre-trial detention during the judicial process. They also yearn for a speedy and fair trial, aware that prolonged time may undermine the search for truth and justice.

Ignacio Fernández indicated “the inaction of the Ministry of Women of the province of Buenos Aires” is serious because “on the other hand, the defense lawyers of all the police officers charged are from the Police Legal Department of the Ministry of Security of the province of Buenos Aires and have proposed as expert witnesses experts belonging to the same ministry, with the conflicts of interest that all this entails.”

Although the judicial investigation could take between two and four months, with possible delays due to legal appeals, it is estimated the trial could be delayed at least another year. The fight for justice, in the meantime, continues with the hope that Sofia Fernández’s case will set a precedent in the fight against transphobic violence and impunity in Argentina.

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Esteban Rioseco is a Chilean digital communicator, LGBT rights activist and politician. He was spokesperson and executive president of the Homosexual Integration and Liberation Movement (Movilh). He is currently a Latin American correspondent for the Washington Blade.

On Oct. 22, 2015, together with Vicente Medel, he celebrated the first gay civil union in Chile in the province of Concepción.