Rainbow Tide Rising: How Latin America Became a Gay Rights Haven
Rainbow Tide Rising: How Latin America Became a Gay Rights Haven
The rise of the Latin American left has coincided with a wide array of successful LGBT activism on the continent.
February 13, 2014 |
The New York Times recently declared Latin America “ahead of the U.S. and Western Europe” on gay rights, smashing stereotypes of a region not known for its social progressivism. The advances have roughly coincided with the ascendance of Latin America’s “Pink Tide” of left-leaning governments in the last decade.
Uruguay approved civil unions in 2008, and Ecuador did the same the next year. In 2009, Uruguay legalized adoption for gay couples and gender changes on official documents. In 2010, Argentina legalized gay marriage. Last year, Brazil’s National Council of Justice declared gay marriage legal nationwide, and Uruguay approved same-sex marriage. Sex reassignment surgery is covered by health insurance in Cuba and Argentina. Left-leaning governments have also approved a host of smaller measures, including anti-discrimination laws in Cuba, Bolivia, and Venezuela, and the decriminalization of homosexuality in Nicaragua and Panama.
Fewer advances have come under conservative governance, though to be fair the region hasn’t had much conservative governance lately. In 2007, Colombia’s Constitutional Court legalized civil unions, gay marriage is legal in Mexico City and two other states, and Mexican law requires that the marriages be recognized nationwide. Chile under conservative billionaire Sebastián Piñera passed a robust anti-discrimination law.
In each country, the changes have taken place despite the vigorous resistance of the Catholic Church and often without widespread social acceptance of homosexuality.
More:
http://www.alternet.org/world/how-latin-america-became-haven-gay-rights
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